NBA Draft 2011: Better Pro—Kyrie Irving, Brandon Knight or Kemba Walker?
There is no hotter commodity in the NBA these days than a talented point guard to run your team's offense.
Despite what is widely considered one of the weakest draft classes in the past 20 years, three point guard prospects with incredibly high ceilings will be staring teams down at the top of the first round.
While injuries limited Duke guard Kyrie Irving to only 11 games this season, he has been the front-runner to be selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first overall pick for quite some time now. Kentucky's Brandon Knight and UConn's Kemba Walker had stellar runs in the NCAA Tournament, which boosted their respective draft stocks.
However, which of these three studs will be most successful in the NBA?
Let's take a closer look at Irving, Knight and Walker and how each of their games will transfer to the next level.
Duke PG Kyrie Irving
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It is all but a certainty that the Cleveland Cavaliers will select Duke point guard Kyrie Irving with the first overall pick in this month's NBA Draft.
Assuming they do, Irving will begin his career at the next level with little help around him.
Irving will likely have to depend largely on the fourth-overall pick in the draft—widely believed to be Turkish big man Enes Kanter out of Kentucky who worked out in Cleveland this week—to ignite his transition to the NBA.
Whoever the Cavs choose with the fourth pick, if they do not trade out of it, Irving and his future teammate will be expected to be the cornerstones of Cleveland's organization for the foreseeable future, and perhaps more importantly, guide them out of the "post-LeBron" era.
That's quite a bit of pressure for a 19-year-old.
Overall, though, Irving has the skills to fit the bill.
At 6'4", Irving has plenty of size at the position and can use his ability to become a lockdown defender.
Though he is not in the John Wall/ Derrick Rose echelon, Irving enters the league with plenty of speed, along with good range on his jumper and the ability to penetrate a defense and get to the basket.
With great court vision and a high basketball IQ, Irving is widely-considered one of the safest picks in the draft.
Irving appears to have checked out medically, or else, the Cavs wouldn't be considering him. The fact that he appeared in just a handful of college games after hurting his toe hasn't scared them off either.
Therefore, the only knock on Irving is that although he is good at just about everything, he doesn't seem to particularly great at any one thing.
Kentucky PG Brandon Knight
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Replacing perhaps the most electrifying figure in arguably college basketball's most storied program was not going to be easy.
However, Brandon Knight did not disappoint in taking the reigns of Kentucky's offense from John Wall.
In fact, Knight and his clutch performances in the NCAA tournament played a large role in Kentucky's first Final Four trip in 13 years—the school's largest-ever drought between Final Four appearances.
Now—like Wall, Tyreke Evans and Derrick Rose before him—Knight will enter the NBA draft after just one season under John Calipari.
Early indications are that Knight could come off the board as soon as No. 3 to the Utah Jazz.
Knight would be an excellent fit in Utah to replace Deron Williams, who the Jazz traded to the New Jersey Nets. Also, as ESPN's Chad Ford points out, "the Jazz love big guards, players who can defend multiple positions, guards who can shoot the basketball and high-character players." Knight appears to fit that bill.
Much like Kyrie Irving, Knight has plenty of speed but isn't a superior athlete in the Wall/ Derrick Rose mold.
However, Knight is an incredibly smart guard with an excellent jumper and enters the NBA draft among the best defenders and finishers at the rim, as far as point guards are concerned.
Knight also loves to have the ball in his hands in key situations. He hit game-winning shots in this year's NCAA tournament against both Princeton and Ohio State.
ESPN's Ford also notes that when he asked NBA execs who they prefer between Knight and UConn point guard Kemba Walker, the majority seem to be leaning toward Knight, citing his size, shooting ability and upside.
At just under 6'4", there are some concerns that Knight may project as more of a combo guard in the NBA than a pure point guard because of his size and scoring ability.
If that is the only problem at the next level, then Knight's transition to the NBA should be a fairly smooth one.
Connecticut PG Kemba Walker
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Despite Kemba Walker's sensational senior season and impressive NCAA tournament run, he enters this month's NBA draft projected to be the third point guard taken behind Duke's Kyrie Irving and Kentucky's Brandon Knight.
However, the point guard of the NCAA champion UConn Huskies is a proven winner.
What Walker was able to achieve in his junior season was nothing short of remarkable.
UConn entered the 2010 season unranked. Walker—surrounded by freshman, many of them not particularly heralded—led this team to win the Maui Invitational, the Big East tournament, and ultimately, the national title.
Though he doesn't have the outside jumper that Irving and Knight have, Walker possesses superior athleticism.
Walker is extremely quick and very shifty, able to finagle his way through defenders and get to the basket in a hurry.
Whether he can do that at the next level, though, remains to be seen.
Walker is a shoot-first, pass-second point guard.
Without a strong, consistent outside jumper, his bread and butter throughout his college career, he has to penetrate, creating his own shot. Listed (generously) at 6'1", Walker is undersized at the point guard position at the next level and could struggle against longer and more athletic competition at the next level.
Walker may have to develop into more of a distributor in the NBA and capitalize on scoring opportunities when they present themselves rather than looking to create them.
Conclusion
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I believe that Kyrie Irving will become a very solid point guard in the NBA for a number of years. However, I'm not so sure that he will be able to compete athletically at an All-Star level amongst the new breed of point guard taking over in the NBA—the likes of Derrick Rose, John Wall, Russell Westbrook, etc.
Irving may also encounter some growing pains for several years, likely joining a very weak Cleveland Cavaliers team with multiple holes that need to be filled. We may not see Irving meet his potential until he gets some formidable help around him.
Despite his agility and craftiness, I have my doubts as to whether Kemba Walker can flourish as a scoring threat in the NBA. Undersized and lacking the consistent outside jumper to keep defenses honest, I predict Walker will not be able to slither his way to the basket against top competition as easily as he did at the collegiate level.
Also, Walker's one-year wonder status worries me. Averaging 23.5 points per game in 2010-11, Walker averaged just 14.6 his sophomore year and a very pedestrian 8.9 during his freshman year. Which is more indicative of what we will see from Walker in the pros—his junior season or his first two?
Of this trio, I like Brandon Knight to prevail at the next level in typical Calipari-pedigree fashion. Though it will take Knight some time to adjust to the pros—as it will with Irving and Walker, also —Knight possesses a rare blend of scoring ability, court vision, smarts and capability in the clutch that will allow him to prevail in the NBA.
Though Knight shares a similar skill set with Irving, I feel his ceiling is higher, and he has no history of injury concerns.
I like Knight over Walker for the same reasons ESPN's Chad Ford eluded to: his size, shooting ability and upside.
Look for Knight to further cement Kentucky head coach John Calipari's reputation for recruiting pro-ready and star-caliber point guards at the professional level.
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