Windhorst: Kyrie Irving Signing New Contract with Celtics 'Not in Stone'

A Kyrie Irving contract extension with the Boston Celtics is reportedly "not in stone" despite the point guard's public declaration he wants to re-sign with the organization.

On Wednesday, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reported Irving is "ready" to accept a five-year, $190 million offer, but the Celtics are monitoring the situation given the five-time All-Star selection's injury history before formally presenting the deal.

Irving is in the final guaranteed season of his five-year, $94.3 million contract signed while he was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, per Spotrac. He can either exercise a player option for the 2019-20 season for $21.3 million or decline it to hit unrestricted free agency.

Windhorst noted "plenty of executives" list the dynamic guard on the "UFA" portion of their offseason whiteboards with the expectation he'll end up becoming one.

Irving missed the latter stages of last season, including the Celtics' playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals, because of two procedures on his knee. He sat out at least seven games in each of his first seven years in the NBA and played in 60 or fewer contests four times.

Making a long-term investment in a player with a concerning durability track record is a risk, so it sounds like Boston wants to make sure he's back to full strength before offering the lucrative extension.

Kyrie Irving Highlights

That said, there's no doubt about the 26-year-old Duke product's talent. He averaged 24.4 points, 5.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals while shooting 49.1 percent from the floor, including 40.8 percent from three-point range, across 60 games for the Celtics last season. He also ranked ninth in the league in player efficiency rating, per ESPN.com.

"Kyrie's one of the smartest players I've been around," head coach Brad Stevens told reporters last month. "He knows both ends of the floor, he thinks the game, spent a lot of time studying the game. He knows when it's right to attack and when it's right to spray it."

The Celtics own one of the NBA's most dangerous cores with Irving, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford, so it's unlikely they let the point guard hit the open market if he wants to remain in Boston for the long haul.

Another substantial injury setback could force the front office to think twice, though.