When it rains in Boston, it really does poor. First, the Celtics lost Gordon Hayward for the season. They also watched Daniel Theis' season officially end. Marcus Smart may be at risk of missing the rest of the year, and Jaylen Brown remains out with a concussion. Now, news came down Saturday that Kyrie Irving will reportedly be out 3-6 weeks after undergoing a "minimally invasive procedure" to alleviate soreness in the ailing left knee that has kept him out since March 11. 

Boston expects Irving back in 3-6 weeks. Basically, the Celtics better plan to play the first round without their best player.

In the meantime, let's state the obvious: The Celtics aren't going anywhere of any significance without Irving. They already struggle at times to score. Without Kyrie, they're left depending on too many guys having to go outside their games to generate offense that Irving usually creates. 

How vulnerable would they be without Irving? Put it this way: If seeds hold for the rest of the year, they'll face Miami in the first round in the 2-7 matchup. If Smart is out alongside Irving, this series, to me, becomes something pretty close to a toss-up. The Heat are gritty as hell. They won't make anything easy, even against a full-strength Boston team. 

Looking at how the Celtics might view -- and potentially treat -- this situation from a more big-picture standpoint, let's go back to the conference call Dany Ainge held on the night he traded for Irving, on which he repeatedly said that Irving "fit [Boston's] timeline." 

In other words, he's younger than Isaiah Thomas (not to mention a better player), and will still be in his prime a couple years from now, which is really when the Celtics are planning their league takeover, once Golden State ages a bit and LeBron James potentially bolts from Cleveland. Through that lens, would it be the worst thing in the world if Kyrie didn't get back on the court this year? 

After all, the Celtics are major long shots to compete for a title anyway. So you let Hayward and Irving fully heal, and you come back next season with a more experienced Jayson Tatum and Brown ready to rock. In the short term, nobody wants to hear this. We all want the playoffs to be as competitive as possible, and we have enough injuries getting in the way of that already. 

Jimmy Butler is out for the time being. DeMarcus Cousins is done for the season. The Warriors are pretty collectively hobbled at the moment. In a perfect world, everyone would be healthy come playoff time and we could truly settle the championship on the court at full strength. 

But that's not the typical reality in the NBA, or in any sports league for that matter. Injuries almost always end up playing a role in the playoffs. There's also another reality to consider here: At every turn, Ainge has taken the long view. When everyone wanted him to start selling off his trove of assets for win-now players, he never did. He waited, and waited, and he finally got Irving and Hayward. 

The Celtics will not hesitate to wait some more if it's the right thing to do.

Now, surely Irving wants to get back on the court this year, and with the information we have right now, that doesn't sound unreasonable. In the glass-half-full scenario, he takes care of this lingering soreness and comes back refreshed, and a refreshed and healthy Kyrie Irving can carry a team pretty far. I wouldn't call a healthy Boston team the favorite to come out of the East, but you certainly can't rule it out. Other than LeBron, they have the most playoff-tested player in the conference in Irving. 

Or, at least they hope they'll have him.