Kyrie Irving Excited To Lead Celtics, Assistant Coach Larranaga Says

Kyrie Irving is really excited ahead of the new NBA season and is said to be very happy with the direction the Boston Celtics are moving in at the moment, according to Celtics assistant coach Jay Larranaga.

The point guard’s future at the Celtics has been a regular topic of discussion in recent weeks with multiple reports suggesting that he will leave the most successful franchise in NBA history next summer.

Irving has the option of declining his player option in 2019 and becoming an unrestricted free agent. He is almost certain to enter free agency with many claiming he will leave the Celtics rather than re-sign on a new much more lucrative deal, which the Boston franchise is hoping for.

They are keen to retain Irving, who is considered one of the best ball handlers in NBA at the moment, in order to build a team around him. But more than one NBA insider in recent weeks has predicted that he is headed away from TD Garden with the New York Knicks touted as a potential destination.

Apart from the Knicks, there are talks that the Brooklyn Nets are also planning to make a move for the Celtics guard, who still has 11 months to run on his current contract before he can enter free agency. The speculation began to intensify after he confirmed he will not sign a new deal with Celtics this summer.

However, Larranaga, who was with Irving at the Team USA minicamp in Las Vegas last weekend, admits that the former Cleveland Cavaliers guard is excited and is looking forward to the start of the new campaign. The Celtics assistant coach also revealed that the 2016 NBA champion is looking forward to leading the team that has a number of young talented players.

“We’re both just anxious for the season to get started,” Larranaga said Thursday in a phone interview from Italy, as quoted on The Boston Globe. “I think he’s doing great. You read his body language, and I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but he seems really excited for the direction we’re going, and I think he’s very excited to lead us as well.”

Irving made a big impact in his debut season as he helped the team finish as the second seeds in the Eastern Conference. But his season was cut short due to a knee injury, and he missed the entire post-season, where the Celtics were within one game of making the NBA Finals.

They lost in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals to the LeBron James-led Cavaliers, but proved they have the potential and with Irving returning to the team, they are again one of the favorites from the East.