NBA Draft 2011: Reevaluating Kyrie Irving and the 5 Top PGs
The 2011 NBA draft is pretty scarce on talent, but not so much on point guards.
The top NBA lottery draft picks consist largely of point guards, with other one-guards scattered throughout the first round.
Each point guard offers something: One may be a true, pass-first point guard, creating plays for others, while another may be the type of point-guard who can put up points at will while sucking in defenses and creating floor spacing. Other ones might be sharp-shooters or offensive initiators.
In this draft, we get a little bit of each.
But, of course, these things can get confusing. We're here to sort it out for you.
So go ahead, and take a look at the top point guards in this year's draft.
Click away.
Kyrie Irving
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There hasn't been much buzz around in terms of Kyrie Irving's workouts. He did work out for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who hold the first pick in the NBA draft.
Regardless, Irving is the epitome of a pass-first point guard and exhibited that in his only year at Duke. He's athletic as hell and can cause havoc inside the paint with his aggressive style of driving.
He's only been speaking to teams with top-five selections, too, and that makes sense considering he's the consensus first pick in the draft.
In his time at Duke, Irving averaged nearly 18 points per game, along with five assists.
Oh, and he shot a remarkable 46 percent from the three-point line.
Irving is talented as hell. That was the consensus six months ago, and that's the consensus now.
Jimmer Fredette
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Jimmer Fredette's stock has been sky-rocketing.
As it was, Fredette was last year's marquee college basketball star—he was a prolific scorer at BYU, knocking down shots that should never, ever go in, and causing havoc for teams with his jump shot and nearly arrogant-type confidence.
But since then, he's shown a hell of a lot more than that.
Fredette went on record saying he wanted to work out against Kemba Walker and Brandon Knight, two other point guards whom he'll be competing against for higher draft picks.
Sorry, but that's ballsy.
Of course, there's no way a team can schedule for that to happen, but Fredette showed that he's competitive as hell and has a sense of confidence that's unmatched.
He did work out against Kemba Walker, though. The results? Fredette impressed, because that's just what Jimmer does.
Brandon Knight
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Brandon Knight has done his fair share of rising since the end of March Madness. First regarded as a mid-lottery draft pick, a ton of NBA draftniks now have Knight going as the third overall pick to the Utah Jazz.
Since then, he hasn't done much to keep that spot. He's been in limited workouts recently, and the fact that Jimmer Fredette challenged him to work out one-on-one was something Knight didn't really address.
We know Knight's capabilities: He's a score-first point guard that is explosive enough to take defenders off the dribble and cause some problems inside the paint. He isn't an amazing passer, but a decent one, and that's something teams are fine with (although, the "true" pass-first point guards are regarded in a higher manner).
But if Knight can't start showing some swagger—like his competitor, Fredette, has—then he could see a drop in his stock.
Kemba Walker
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Kemba Walker exploded into the lottery scene after his amazing tournament run with UConn. Walker dominated with his oh-so-sweet stepback jumper, explosive speed and quickness and uncanny ability to score at will.
Since then, he hasn't hurt—nor helped—his case for being a late-lottery pick. His workouts have been going as expected, and the workout for the Utah Jazz with Jimmer Fredette impressed scouts as much as Fredette had.
Walker's workouts have been consistent. He's shown what he showed in his time at UConn, and that was uncanny quickness, craftiness with the ball, solid range on his shot and ability to create shots while using his athleticism to keep up on defense.
Regardless, Walker's a lottery pick, hands down.
Darius Morris
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Darius Morris was expected to just miss being selected by a lottery team shortly after his time with Michigan ended.
Since then, he's inched up into the lottery team's draft board.
And that makes sense; Morris is an intelligent point guard who uses craftiness to make plays for his teammates. He isn't terribly athletic, but he can get into the paint, creating good spacing for others ala Andre Miller.
A late lottery team—such as the Houston Rockets or Phoenix Suns—could definitely use Morris' ability.
Shelvin Mack
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Butler point guard Shelvin Mack was projected to go to the Bulls with their 30th—not 28th—pick in the NBA draft when the Bulldogs lost the National Championship game to UConn.
Of course, things have changed only slightly since then—Mack has worked out for various teams, and has moved his stock up, and is now projected to go to the Bulls with their 28th pick.
I guess that's not a huge jump, but regardless, Mack is definitely a player who can see starting minutes if given the chance—he's smart and has great range on his shot in addition to playing on the dribble, something the Bulls could use more of.
Other than that, Shelvin Mack is still where he was two months ago.
