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Kyrie Irving is Ready to Buy In With Brad Stevens

By Joshua Bateman

BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 1: Brad Stevens looks on as Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward get introduced as Boston Celtics on September 1, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 1: Brad Stevens looks on as Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward get introduced as Boston Celtics on September 1, 2017 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Kyrie Irving is committed to growing with Brad Stevens

There has been a lot of discussion following the Kyrie Irving trade about whether or not he can become a better player. Irving has one of the most established offensive skill sets in the NBA, and the Cleveland Cavaliers always let him take advantage of his unmatched ability to score in isolation.

For a lot, that is the peak of Irving. Considering the immense success he’s had as a scorer, there is a good chance that he really does not have any room to grow. Irving, on the other hand, believes in Brad Stevens’ ability to optimize a players’ talent, and sees himself growing as he plays under the new coach.

Irving touched on this topic in his introductory press conference, by saying “To understand those frequencies and understand how you exist and all that and get the maximum potential out of who you have on the floor, I mean, that’s Coach Stevens” (Via MassLive).

Irving has noticed that Stevens’ offense functions differently than every team, and the most significant part is that it is not the players adapting to the system. Instead, as Irving points out, all these different steps are put in place because of the talent that is on the court.

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It is not a coincidence that every player that has played for Stevens buys into his system. The Celtics have stayed away from players with the kind of ego that would prevent them from wanting to change, but so much of that has to do with the way Stevens accommodates and adapts to his talents.

Irving added how “I just can’t wait to steal some stuff and honestly learn and grow with a guy like that”, making it abundantly clear that he is ready to commit to Stevens.

It is impossible to know with certainty whether or not Irving will grow as a player. That being said, he is just 25 years old, and has now vocalized his commitment to buying into what the coach wants.

Irving wants to learn from Stevens. He wants to adapt his game in order to get better, and he believes that Stevens is the one that can guide him through that process.

This is not going to be a situation where everything Stevens does with his offense has to adapt to Irving’s incredible isolation scoring, and it is not a situation where Irving has to change everything to accommodate the ball movement offense of last season.

Instead, this is going to be the two of them working together. It will surely take time to figure out, but both of these guys are going to look for what they need to do, in order to get the best out of each other.

The Celtics absolutely transformed their roster this offseason, and you know that Stevens will not get caught trying to plug different pieces into the offense he ran last year.

With much less roster turnover, we saw Stevens change his system from one of the fastest paces in the league, to a more patient and pure ball movement oriented attack because he got more shooters he could trust.

Stevens always plays with a system, but that system is changing and adapting as the talent that is being used also changes.

Maybe Irving will be one player that Stevens is not able to improve, or not able to accommodate. What matters right now is that both of these players are committed to working towards finding how they can improve.

Next: Next Trade for the Celtics

If that is the case, I’m putting my money on both Stevens bringing the best out of Irving, as well as Irving allowing for the most successful offensive system of Stevens’ career.

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