Kyrie Irving: Not Franchise Worth-It?

Many consider Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers to be the NBA’s next best point guard.

A 6-3 Chris Paul with a silky-smooth jumper.

His seemingly supernatural abilities remain in such rarified air, that he certainly has the potential to one day be the best lead guard in the NBA.

But, as his latest injury has shown, maybe, just maybe, he’s got a little too much Uncle Drew in him…

2015's Best Point Guard: Not Kyrie Irving

There are many reasons to read NBA articles on ESPN.com. The site has a couple of excellent evaluators/writers—David Thorpe and Kevin Arnovitz being the crème de la crème. But among the reasons not to read ESPN is it's shameless self promotion.

This month's ESPN the Magazine features Cavs starting point guard Kyrie Irving on the cover. So, of course, the day after Christmas, ESPN posted a piece by Amin Elhassan detailing why he'll be the best point guard in three years.

Another reason not to read ESPN--Henry Abbott and his Truehoop network. Case in point, Elhassan's story was followed up with an article by five members of the Truehoop network regarding who they believe the best point guard will be in 2015.

Overwhelmingly, Irving was the choice (with a Derrick Rose and a Chris Paul thrown in for good measure).

I bring this up because Russell Westbrook got no mention.

Great Expectations: LA Clippers 12-13 Preview (Pt. II)

The NBA has really developed into a talent-rich league over the past half decade. Besides producing a better, more visually appealing brand of basketball, it has also increased the importance of depth. While I am skeptical regarding how high the Clippers can go with their new additions, the fact remains that the team is legitimately 11-12 players deep. The team's depth should propel the squad to a high seed, but is a mixed bag of super athletic youth still learning the game, and once productive players already in decline.

Once the playoffs begin, I'm not sure that will be enough to legitimately challenge for a ring this year.