Doc Rivers says Boston is a 'perfect situation' for Kyrie Irving

Nationally, opinions have been divided about whether Kyrie Irving is worth the hefty price tag the Celtics gave up to acquire him from the Cavs last week. One man that loves what Boston did in the deal is Doc Rivers.

The Clippers head coach was back in town Wednesday to host the annual ABCD Hoops Dream fundraiser at TD Garden and spoke in glowing terms about Boston's new point guard.

"This is a perfect situation (for Irving), other than LA," Rivers said with a laugh. "This is a perfect situation for him. Celtics gave up a lot to get him, but he's 25 years old and that's the other thing people forget about: He's so young. He's going to be a star here for a long time."

Rivers seemed particularly solid on Irving's ability to finish off games with his isolation scoring, as seen famously during Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

"He's great. He's a closer," Rivers declared. "If I've learned anything in my 18 years coaching, you need a closer at the end of games. It's important. You don't win without them. There is no team that has ever won without having one or two closers on their team. Kyrie is one of the better closers in the league. He's one of those guys that can struggle for three and a half quarters, but you need someone with those last four minutes on the line that can take the game over. Kyrie has exhibited that and he'll do that."

Rivers also went out of his way to defend Irving from criticism for asking his way out of a winning situation in Cleveland this past summer.

"I don't know if I was surprised," Rivers said when asked about his reaction to Irving trying to move out of LeBron James' shadow. "I think it's a little unfair. I think it was more than that is what I'm trying to say. I don't think Kyrie cared about being in the shadow. I don't think he cared about it being his team. I think that's the way it was portrayed and I thought that was unfair to him.

"I've known that kid for a long time, before he went to Duke, and that is not who Kyrie is. I hate when I hear that, because it's not true. I think he was unhappy for another reason, but I'll let him figure that one out, but it's not because he was selfish or because he wanted his own time. I think he wanted to go somewhere to play basketball, and be happy playing basketball, and I have no problem with that."

The Irving deal wasn't the only thing that impressed Rivers. After skipping town to avoid a potentially long rebuild, the veteran head coach marveled at what Boston's brass was able to accomplish since the summer of 2013.

"It's amazing what they've done over the last four years really," Rivers said. "I don't know if I've seen a makeover this quickly ever. I'm sure there are some that I can't think of, but what they've done over the last four years (is awesome). They get a lot of credit for the Brooklyn deal, but they've done a lot more than that. They are going to be really good this year."

Rivers makes his yearly return to the Garden floor as Clippers head coach on February 14th.