Irving is not that quick, but he is considered the lone can’t-miss player in the draft — provided the toe injury that sidelined him for most of Duke’s games does not recur. Evidence in the NCAA Tournament was that Irving was just fine. So the Cavs’ rebuilding moves at a pace that, if not quite up to that of the very quickest point guards, is still rapidly accelerated.
I will concede that I was not excited about winning the lottery. I was pleased, but the 48 points Dirk dropped on OKC filled me with more excitement than the prospect of landing Kyrie Irving does. (Those contested jumpers!) This Livingston column reminds me that I’m being sorta silly; Cleveland fans should be enjoying their newfound hope.
I think part of the reason Irving doesn’t excite is just the comparisons from recent drafts: He’s good, but he’s no Wall (and certainly no Rose). As a Longhorns fan, I’m more sold on the All-Star potential of Williams (or even Knight, to be honest), but you guys have a logjam at the 4. Curious to see what the Cavs do with those picks!
NOT EXCITED ABOUT WINNING THE LOTTERY?????
I don’t know why some people are glad but not thrilled by this. Irving is going to be a really good player at the next level. He’ll be a great floor general and a great guy to build a team around.
I really think Kyrie can be very very good. Smart, crafty and not a stiff, he has the upside to be a chris paul type point guard, and you can never underrate the coaching he’s received already from Coach K.
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In my opinion the Cavs absolutely, 100% need to draft Williams with the first overall pick. With securing the number 1 and number 4 overall draft picks there are 3 potential point guards in the top 5 and only one SF with star potential (being Williams). Not to mention Williams has more of a body of experience than Irving, and the Arizona beat Irving’s blue devils (yeah its a team sport but williams and irving had big roles in that game). I know people knock on Kemba Walker’s height, but the guy resembles Dwayne Wade talent and can close games out as wel saw in the NCAA tourny. Take Williams first and then Walker or Knight with the 4th Cavs!
I agree with Chris. Derrick Williams has the chance to be an ELITE scorer, Isos, moving without the ball, running the floor, off the dribble, post ups, shooting off screens, and spot up shots, he can score any way. Irving is good but has an injury risk, and a very small sample size of work. I think Williams is much closer to being “Can’t Miss.”
I’m sorry, but is there any reason that Derrick Williams is just the next Marvin Williams? Point guard is a much safer pick, I don’t think you can miss easily with a top playmaker. Besides, in the modern game the point guard is becoming more and more like a quarterback or offensive general. We absolutely need a potential All-Star at PG, especially with Byron Scott as our coach, if the Cavs are to be successful. I think the #1 should be a no-brainer, Kyrie Irving. The people talking themselves into drafting Williams are just going to end up with the next Beasley or Marvin Wiliams, in my opinion. A tweener who can’t rebound and who plays away from the basket much of the time? This smack of a potential bust to me.
Kyle, your argument doesn’t hold water. Marvin Williams wasn’t even the best player on his team at North Carolina. He only averaged 11 points a game. It was just a bad draft pick. As for the Beasley comparison? How about 38% three point shooting versus 57% three point shooting on 2.2 and 1.9 attempts per game respectively. Derrick Williams shot 19% better, while shooting almost the same amount of shots. He shot 58% from the field and has more blocks and steals than Beasley did. Yes, he’s not as good of a rebounder. Oh yeah, his shooting percentage from three? 25% better than Anthony in college. The comparison to Derrick Williams is Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, not Beasly and Marvin Williams.
Irving was measured at the draft combine at 10.3% body fat. Probably a major reason why he hasn’t had that lightning quick speed, but is definitely something that can be fixed.
I have a problem with people arguing to take Williams #1 and Knight #4. Sure, that could be the best combo, but what if Knight gets taken by the Jazz? Then we would be out of a big PG prospect. My opinion: don’t be fancy, just take the best player on the board, which appears to be Irving.
BTW, Enes Kanter looks very impressive at the combine and is earning top his 5 hype.
It’s hard to knock Derrick Williams, but I think we have to pick Irving. Especially if the alternate plan is to take Williams and get a guard later. The gap between Irving and the rest of the guards is too big.
Irving is a guy with no knocks against him. Walker has two or three big ones: size, passing ability, and outside shooting. Knight is thought to have good size, but Kyrie measured as slightly taller than him. Knight’s strongest skill is his shooting ability, and yet Kyrie is a better shooter than him. None of these guys is going to be Derrick Rose or even Gilbert Arenas with their scoring ability, so we need our pick to at least be a good passer and savvy floor general. That’s Kyrie Irving.
Just because a lot of superathletic point guards are prominent in the league right now, doesn’t mean guys can’t succeed by bringing different strengths. Remember Andre Miller, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups, and Chris Paul? Point guard will always be a position where skills matter.
And don’t forget, he was the best player on a team that returned it’s NCAA-championship-winning core. As a freshman. That’s really impressive.
As for Derrick Williams comparisons, how about this: David West meets Kevin Martin. His scoring efficiency as a sophomore in college was absolutely historic. He will be a very good, efficient, and multi-faceted scorer in the NBA. But will he be much more? His strength and toughness will help him as a rebounder, but based on what he’s done and his lack of height (for the 4), he’ll be above-average at best and will probably just hold his own as an NBA rebounder. He hasn’t really shown any ability as a playmaker (similar to Kevin Martin). And I don’t know about his defense. How he fares on D will probably determine whether he’s good or great in the NBA. But I think it’s clear that he’ll be a fairly specialized player (scorer), at least on offense.
Irving may not be able to carry the team with his scoring, but ideally we will start building a team with enough talent that no one player needs to do all the scoring. Besides doing his share of scoring, Irving will make plays for teammates, and space the floor as a shooter. Some of the big guys in this draft (available at #4) will rebound, defend the paint, post up, and maybe even make plays. From a team perspective, having those things will be just as crucial as pure scoring talent.
I have two main concerns with Derrick Williams. First is that I really wonder if he’ll have a position to play in the NBA. There seems to be a good chance he gets abused defensively by both PFs and SFs in the pros. Also, while he is a great shooter I seriously wonder about his ability to create shots for himself and for others. We need a guy who can create shots, and I think that would be Irving over Williams. There are just too many ifs with Derrick Williams for me to be sold on him as a #1. You always go with the can’t miss at 1, and that’s Irving.