Cleveland, Please Pick Kyrie

If the Cavaliers don't pick Kyrie Irving with the first overall pick in this year's draft, and in all likelihood select Derrick Williams instead, they will be making one of the worst draft decisions in NBA history. Not quite Bowie over Jordan, but certainly on the level of Oden over Durant.

The fact of the matter is that in this god-awful excuse for a draft, Irving is widely considered the one sure thing, a notion that I actually agree with. He's explosive, and a player who can create his own shot, and a shot for others, something that is necessary in this league, a fact that Kevin Durant learned the hard way in the Western Conference Finals. He is a player you build around. His skills allow him to not only excel as an individual, but allow him to take his teammates to a higher level.

And it's all the better that he's a point guard.  If the Cavaliers have any intention of fulfilling their owner's ludicrous prediction of winning a title before Lebron, they have to deal with the likes of Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, John Wall, Deron Williams, Brandon Jennings, Jrue Holiday and Darren Collison in the Eastern Conference alone. Unless you're the Heatles, you don't get by without a steady point guard in this league.

He's also calm. And dedicated. And quietly confident. Not a hype machine who already has a deal with Nike proclaiming that he's some kind of monarchy. No, Cleveland doesn't need another superstar who cares just as much about his brand as he does his team. They need a foundation. Irving gives them that. That rock you need in this league if you want to have success, not for the next three or four years, but for the next 10 or 12.

Sure, he's not Lebron James. He's not Dwayne Wade or Blake Griffin. Hell, some could argue he's not even Derrick Williams, the specimen who put on as athletic a show as we have ever seen in the NCAA Tournament, and had pro scouts practically wetting themselves.

And you know what? Good. Perfect. Because Cleveland doesn't need another jaw-dropping athletic freak who will make 2 to 3 "holy-shit" plays a game, then fold when it gets tough, or worse, bail.

They don't need a Chris Webber or a Vince Carter. They need a Paul Pierce. A Dirk Nowitzki.

They need a player who's in it for the long haul. They need a leader. They need a competitor who won't let the Cavaliers sit around as a perennial lottery team. They need a guiding force out of the cellar of the NBA. They need Kyrie Irving.

So pick him, please.