Following up on Patrick's article regarding the difficulty of ranking rookie players, I am here to update you on the status of Cavaliers rookie, Kyrie Irving. Obviously, it is no easy task to rank 500 players in the NBA and that problem is compounded when you have to consider guys that are yet to register a single minute on the court. Well, as you may know by now, that's what ESPN is trying to do.
Thursday, it was revealed that Kyrie Irving comes in at #140, according to the bloggers and NBA writers over at ESPN. Each participant was asked to rank every player in the NBA on a scale of 1 to 10 and then the scores were averaged out to compile a list of the best players in the league. According to the voters, Kyrie Irving earned an average rating of 4.99 out of 10.
I find it hard to argue that he is deserving of anything higher at this point. However, I would be willing to bet that once the NBA season starts, you will not be able to find 139 better players. The fact of the matter is that the voters have nothing to base the rookie rankings on and are most likely hesitant to rate them too high without any NBA track record.
Feel free to voice your own opinion in the comments below, especially if you think Irving isn't getting enough love from the boys at ESPN. It's worth mentioning, however, that Kyrie's rank of 140 is a staggering 54 spots higher than the 2nd highest rookie, Derrick Williams (196). All in all, it's not worth putting much stock into such subjective rankings, but it's fun to see where the Cavs end up. Ultimately, I just hope that a new CBA gets worked out so Irving can get out there and show what he can really do on the court.