Kyrie Irving Rookie of the Year 2012: Award Proves Playoffs Aren't Far off

When LeBron James took his talents to South Beach, the playoffs—and any success, in general—looked far off for Cleveland.

Now, with Kyrie Irving leading the charge, it's a different story.

The Cavaliers point guard, who was named the NBA Rookie of the Year on Monday according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, has already begun turning the tides in Cleveland. After being selected with the No. 1 overall pick out of Duke in the 2011 draft, he averaged 18.5 points, 5.4 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 51 games this season, all at the ripe old age of 20.

Pretty good for someone tasked with resurrecting a franchise deserted by a three-time NBA MVP.

More important than Irving's numbers (though those aren't too shabby) is what he represents for Cleveland: he is the symbol of a new age for the Cavs, which aims to build a team around superstars, plural—not around one superstar, which has burned them pretty badly in recent history.

Along with fellow rookie Tristan Thompson, Irving helped the Cavs improve slightly from a 19-game winner to a 21-game winner. But with another lottery pick in this year's draft—which could be used on anyone from Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to Bradley Beal—they'll be in good shape to fulfill that prophecy sooner rather than later.

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert told the Associated Press:  

"

We learn from everything we do, right decisions made, wrong decisions made, right strategies, wrong strategies and you try to repeat the things you do right. We want to build a franchise with Kyrie or with other superstars—not around superstars. We think that's probably not a great formula for success or else we would have rings already here. We would have championship trophies. 

"

Irving was limited this season by a shoulder injury, so next year—when he's healthy, and when he has even more help from a supporting class that will include one more high-ceiling lottery pick—the Cavs will be a force.  Given the dark days that surrounded LeBron's defection, when it was hard to even talk about the Cavaliers with a glimmer of hope, the simple idea of saying there's any hope at all is an accomplishment.

Irving is the kind of player who can finally, somewhere down the line, get people to stop talking about the LeBron Days. A few years from now, they'll be talking about the Irving Days, and if all goes to plan, they'll be talking about an NBA champion when they do.