Is Kyrie Irving the "real deal" - a player worthy of #1?

[77ncaachamps]

Sell me on this kid because I can't see the comparison and worthiness between him and John Wall, last year's #1.

[Hards Alumni]

Irving is just the best of what is available this year.

We will probably look back on this draft as one of the weakest ever.

[Jay Bee]

Kanter rocks.  Take him.

[77ncaachamps]

Kanter rocks.  Take him.

I think so as well.

Shoot, just draft him on his Ringo Starr 'do alone!

[HouWarrior]

Irving is just the best of what is available this year.

We will probably look back on this draft as one of the weakest ever.

Agree;Agree.
It may work to Butler's favor, and good for him...but this draft class has less on paper, than I have seen in the last 10 years. ..no big sure things in the lottery group, and more D league material, than real NBAers further down.
Of course, I didnt get a feel for the foreign players avail. --maybe there are some secrets out there.

[brewcity77]

Agree;Agree.
It may work to Butler's favor, and good for him...but this draft class has less on paper, than I have seen in the last 10 years. ..no big sure things in the lottery group, and more D league material, than real NBAers further down.
Of course, I didnt get a feel for the foreign players avail. --maybe there are some secrets out there.

I don't if this draft is quite as bad as people are making out, but it's not good. It certainly doesn't look as bad now as the 2000 draft does in retrospect. Any list where Michael Redd is clearly the best player simply isn't all that good.

Personally, I think Irving and Knight are really good. If injuries don't continue to hamper Irving, both of these guys have All-Star potential. Not sure what Derrick Williams will become, he seems to be one of those late-bloomers that sometimes do really well, but more often never pan out. But there are a lot of European upsiders. Kanter, Biyombo, Vesely, and Valanciunas all could be very good. Of course, the odds are there's at least two Darkos in there.

Beyond that, there aren't many stars, and that's probably the killer to this draft. But there are a number of guys that could be pretty good for awhile. Butler, JaJuan Johnson, Darius Morris, Faried, and the Morris twins all look like they could be good contributors.

Still, I'm really looking forward to the next draft. Anthony Davis, Michael Gilchrist, Perry Jones, Harrison Barnes, Jared Sullinger, Quincy Miller, Austin Rivers, Terrence Jones, Jeremy Lamb, James McAdoo...all of those guys would probably be top 3 picks in this year's draft, and most of them would probably go #1. 2012 is looking to be just as good as 2011 is bad.

[wyzgy]

i'd take kemba over kyrie

[brewcity77]

i'd take kemba over kyrie

Why?

Kemba isn't big enough to be a shooting guard and hasn't really shown the acumen to be an NBA point. He's like Allen Iverson but without the lightning quickness. Sure, he'll be a lottery pick, and probably have a solid career, but he's a prototypical NBA sixth man. Irving's injuries may prevent him from reaching his potential, but he could potentially be the next great point guard, mentioned with the likes of CP3, Deron, and Rose.

[wyzgy]

Why?

Kemba isn't big enough to be a shooting guard and hasn't really shown the acumen to be an NBA point. He's like Allen Iverson but without the lightning quickness. Sure, he'll be a lottery pick, and probably have a solid career, but he's a prototypical NBA sixth man. Irving's injuries may prevent him from reaching his potential, but he could potentially be the next great point guard, mentioned with the likes of CP3, Deron, and Rose.

 kyrie seems a little more fragile/injury prone.  kemba is built like a brick sh!t house and performs well under pressure.  ice water in his veins and experience