The Boston Celtics have plenty of question marks heading into this offseason.
Will Boston pursue Anthony Davis even though Rich Paul says the All-Star big man only would stay for one season? Will Kyrie Irving return or bolt for the Brooklyn Nets? And what will Boston do with its three first-round picks? As you can see, there’s a lot on the Celtics’ to-do list, and co-owner Wyc Grousbeck is well aware.
“This is the most uncertain offseason since 2007,” Grousbeck told Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
Grousbeck has a point, and much of that uncertainty weighs on Irving’s impending decision.
Between the point guard leaving his longtime agent to join Roc Nation and the Boston Herald’s report that Irving is preparing to sign with Brooklyn once he hits free agency, it’s not looking great for the Celtics. Whether this impacts Boston’s pursuit of Davis remains to be seen, but Grousbeck says discussions with Irving will continue over the next few weeks.
“Asked if he has directly asked Irving to come back, the Celtics co-owner said, ‘I haven’t talked to Kyrie in those terms, and our two free agent negotiators are Brad (Stevens) and Danny (Ainge). But Kyrie knows how we feel about him, that we feel very positive about him, and the discussions will go on over the next few weeks.'”
Grousbeck was there when the Celtics’ eventful summer of 2007 went down, which included he and the rest of the front office convincing a star of their own to stick around.
“A meeting with Paul (Pierce) in my office right here, with Danny and Steve Pagliuca, and saying please stay,” Grousbeck detailed. “We’re going to try and get better this summer. But if Paul had left, then what did we have?”
Time will tell if they’ll be able to sell Irving on the same concept.
