Is he worth the trouble?ย
That is the question Kyrie Irving will answer this postseason, once and for all.ย
He will become a free agent after it is over, after he opts out and before Brooklyn weighs the price of opting back in. Irving is eligible for a deal worth five years and about $248 million, and if the Nets lose to Boston in Round 1 or match last yearโs Round 2 exit, man, that would be a tough investment to make in a full-time artist who paints on a part-time schedule.ย
Injuries. Sabbaticals. Unwanted vaccines. Yep, itโs always something, and itโs always going to be something. Irving once tired of playing with LeBron James, an all-time great, just as he once tired of playing for the Celtics, perhaps the most storied franchise of all, and just as it seemed inevitable heโd tire of playing with another all-time great, Kevin Durant, Irving pledged a few weeks ago that there is โno way I can leave my man 7 anywhere,โ meaning Durant, lucky No. 7.ย
Buyer beware: Irving has broken more promises than ankles.ย
But at the same time, he is a captivating playmaker who has proven capable of draining a huge Game 7 shot to win a championship. When the ball is in Irvingโs hands, itโs impossible to take your eyes off him. He has managed to dominate without great size or the kind of explosive athleticism deployed by a Ja Morant, or an in-his-prime Russell Westbrook. Irving has used his intelligence, vision, body control and stop-on-a-dime misdirection to become a future Hall of Famer and the kind of generational talent who inspired Celtics legend Bob Cousy to tell The Post last spring he was โstill shaking my headโ over Bostonโs failure to re-sign him in 2019.ย
Kyrie Irving (11) against the Cavaliers on Tuesday.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Kyrie Irving Jason Szenes
A year later, as part of my annual Boston-Brooklyn checkup with the granddaddy of all creative point guards, the…