Imagining a Boston Celtics Offense With Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving is not going to end up in Boston, but it is fun to think of what that might look like

First things first, there is absolutely no reason to believe that there is any real chance the Boston Celtics will trade for Kyrie Irving. Danny ainge made his obligatory call because of his unlimited assets, but that should be the end of it.

That being said, inserting Irving into the Celtics lineup would create an offensive juggernaut like no other. Of course, this would require the Celtics to give up no starters in a trade (which is impossible), but lets just play the theoretical game that Ainge once again robbed someone blind in a trade.

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At first glance, it may seem weird having Isaiah Thomas and Irving next to each other. They both want to be primary ball handlers, and they are both scorers above anything else. If you take a bit of a longer look, you can also see that both these players have experience playing on and off the ball, which is essential to Stevens’ offense.

Irving and Thomas would essentially both be playing a hybrid guard position, they would both handle the ball and they would both play off the ball.

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Irving said one of the reasons he wants to leave is to become the go to player. That does not necessarily mean he needs to play a Chris Paul like role of stopping the ball and instigating every half court set.

What the Celtics can do for Irving is run their system to accommodate his skill. Stevens did this with Thomas, then he did it with Al Horford and now he is going to do it with Gordon Hayward. He adapts how the team will play in order to bring out the talent he has.

Stevens will have all the sets Irving needs to get the open looks he did not find in Cleveland, and he will have the offensive sets that will allow Irving to handle the ball in more situations other than just isolation scoring.

Of course, the Celtics will also use his isolation scoring. Irving would give the Celtics another option for a player that can manufacture points when the offense slows down, and staggering him with Thomas in those situations will make things easier for everyone.

Stevens could give Irving a lot more control and run the team around him, without needing him to do everything. Irving will be able to showcase what he is capable more, without having to do every bit of work to get there.

Simply put, a back court of Thomas and Irving would be as good of an offensive back court as we have in the NBA right now.

Putting Irving next to Thomas means that all the ball handling will come front the back court, which works perfectly for the wings. The Celtics have wings that can handle the ball, but that is not their strength. The Celtics need their wings to be aggressive on offense, hitting the open shots that are created for them.

Thomas’ driving to the rim alone opened up so much, and is a big reason why Jae Crowder is a 40 percent three point shooter. You put one of the greatest lay up artists in the history of the game next to Thomas, and those wings will have more open looks than they know what to do with.

The front court is then the most exciting thing about this offense with Irving. If you start Horford and Marcus Morris, you have two bigs that will spread the floor and defenses will have to respect. The problem is that you cannot respect shooting bigs when you are trying to stop Thomas or Irving in the paint.

Putting Irving next to Thomas leaves defenses with an impossible dilemma. Either you blitz the paint and leave the three point shooters wide open, which is the fastest way to get blown out. Or, you respect the shooters and trust your rim protection against arguably the two best drivers and finishers in the game. It is impossible to stop.

Irving would have to change his game to make it work, but it sounds like he is ready for a change. Irving would have to fully buy into everything that Stevens is doing. But if he did that, this offense could start closing the gap with the Warriors.

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While it is fun to think about what this team could do with Irving, it will not happen. Even if the Celtics pulled off that blockbuster trade, a 25 year old elite point guard with two years left on a good deal is going to command an outrageous haul, and the the only way this offense would really work properly would be if the Celtics could keep this core entirely in tact while adding Irving.