Even to this day, Boston Celtics fans would love nothing more than to forget the Kyrie Irving era. Despite being a future Hall of Famer, he proved to be one of the worst decisions in franchise history. His "leadership" spearheaded a tumultuous season in which they never quite figured it out despite their immense talent, all culminating in him ditching Boston for nothing the following summer.
And that's only from his time with the Celtics. It got worse from there, but we don't have to stroll too much down memory lane. Why bring this up? Well, Kawhi Leonard followed a very similar path in his fallout with San Antonio the year before Kyrie did with Boston. And yet, Leonard is reportedly down for a reunion. If Irving were to do the same, would the Celtics entertain that idea?
NBA Insider Jake Fischer revealed that Leonard wouldn't mind reuniting with his old teams if the los Angeles Clippers trade him.
"Sources close to the situation tell The Stein Line that, when it comes to potential trade talks, there are only two other teams that Leonard would consider signing an extension with: The two teams he played for before becoming a Clipper.
"Toronto and San Antonio," Fischer wrote.
Fischer did not make it clear if the feeling was mutual. For anyone who isn't familiar, if you think what Kyrie did in Boston was bad, Kawhi's breakup with the Spurs was worse: he not only didn't communicate with them, but also held himself out for most of his final season with the team before they traded him.
At least they got some (not much) value for him while Irving left the Celtics in the dust. But it's evident from this that enough time has passed for Leonard to let bygones be bygones. There's no indication that Kyrie feels the same way, but if he were, would Boston think about it?
Irving still is an excellent scorer who could be a prime buy-low candidate, having come off an ACL tear. Yeah, he's expensive, but could be had for fewer assets. For what it's worth, the Celtics had the right idea when they acquired him. Unforeseen circumstances caused the experiment to fail.
Plus, it seems like he's cleaned up his act since his even more controversial tenure in Brooklyn. If he's willing to come back, wouldn't cost much, doesn't come at the cost of the Jays or Derrick White (possible but tricky), and is willing to accept a third banana role, is that the worst idea in the world?
That's a lot of ifs, for sure, but Boston wants to be a title contender again and likely will look for the cheapest way possible. If Irving
Stars who didn't work out with their teams have gone back to them
Dwight Howard had a very infamous tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers, but both sides were willing to move on from the past when they brought him back in 2019 to be a backup center. Such a move proved instrumental in their title run in the bubble.
Scottie Pippen had a bad falling out with the Chicago Bulls even before he got traded. He still came back to them as a sentimental farewell before his career wrapped up.
Time heals all wounds as they say. There hasn't been any indication that Boston wants Kyrie, or even if they would, if Kyrie would want to go back. The opportunity might be there this summer. If it is, this just might be something the Celtics could think about, especially if there no better options emerge.
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