Kyrie Irving is Cavs draft pick to start post-LeBron era

Kyrie Irving Picked No. 1 Overall in NBA Draft

Kyrie Irving was the consensus number one pick coming into the NBA Draft 2011 event, and the rebuilding Cleveland Cavaliers made it happen.

Drafting Kyrie Irving was just about the surest thing in this year's draft characterized as thin and lacking in high-impact players in years past. But even Irving was picked by the Cavs mostly based on potential rather than pure talent.

It does not help that the 6-4 guard just played one year at Duke and looks unpolished to make an instant impact on the struggling Cavs team.

No one is saying that Kyrie Irving is the same caliber as that of former Cavs number one pick and former team cornerstone LeBron James. But with a spurned city like Cleveland, the pressure is on Irving to produce right away.

"I'm really not looking to replace LeBron honestly, just trying to be Kyrie Irving and just contribute to the Cleveland organization as much as I can," Kyrie Irving said.

Helping Irving bring back the Cavs to respectability again is number four pick Tristan Thompson out of the University of Texas. With the selection of Irving and Thompson, the Cleveland Cavaliers made the most of their two high picks in this lightweight NBA Draft 2011.

The Minnesota Timberwolves selected 6-9 power forward Derrick Williams of Arizona as the number two pick. He will further strengthen the frontline already manned by rebounding machine Kevin Love and center Darko Milicic.

Turkey's Enes Kanter was picked at number three by the Utah Jazz. Kanter is considered a legitimate NBA center and has good shooting range.

There are good players in this NBA Draft 2011 that could blossom into stars in a few years and the Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping that Kyrie Irving might be just that.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Friday June 24 2011, 11:34 PM EST. Ref: NYT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0