Top 15 NBA Players Drafted Since 2010

Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas – USA Today Sports

7. Kyrie Irving
Draft: 2011
Pick: 1st overall
College: Duke

Number one overall pick? Check. NBA rookie of the year? Check. NBA All-Star Game MVP? Check. NBA Three-Point Contest champion? NBA record in first playoff game? Check. NBA Finals Appearance? Check. All-NBA Team? Check. Best handles in the NBA? Check. Kyrie Irving has had his share of accomplishments in his first four seasons in the NBA.

With a career average of 21 points per game with a shooting percentage line of 45.4/39/86.2 Kyrie Irving has had one of the best first four years that any player could possibly have. Few players have the smooth offensive skill-set that Irving has; incredible three point shooting combined with beautiful finesse ball handling and absolutely insane smooth-touched finishing ability at the rim. All of this puts Irving near the top of the list of best scoring point guards in the NBA.

What normally hacks out Irving’s success is his low assist numbers for a point guard; only a 5.7 assists per game average for his career. Another thing is his lack of leadership ability, which really showed before LeBron James made his way home to Cleveland. The Cavaliers had some decently talented teams that included Irving for most of those first three years of his career; teams that very well could have and should have gotten Cleveland in the playoffs.

However, the Cavs vitally struggled in those years; some of that was surely due not being able to get true leadership from their best player, who also was known for not getting along with some of his teammates. Injuries are also a major concern now; Irving has suffered a major torn ligament in his toe in college and a broken hand, index finger, nose, also dealing with lower back tightness and now coming off major knee surgery suffered during the playoffs last season.

You just hope Irving can come back from all of that though, just because he’s such an entertaining and easy-loving player. Irving’s scoring can easily make him a Hall of Fame player; we saw after he scored 55 points and 57 points in two games last season. Also becoming the first player ever to score 30 points with five three-pointers in his first career playoff game.