Irving Belongs in Elite Group of Point Guards

Kyrie Irving has one of the more difficult jobs in the NBA. Being the face of a franchise is a burdened bestowed on few men in the league, but being the face of the franchise for the Cleveland Cavaliers comes with extra burdens and pressures. Irving happened to come along just one year after Cleveland's favorite son, LeBron James, took his talents to South Beach. With the poor aftertaste of rejection still fresh for all Cavs fans, Irving has done more than enough to help Cleveland move on. Now in his second season, and first full NBA season, the 20-year-old has stepped up his game and has become one of the top point guards in the league.

Cleveland is currently 17-37, which is good for last place in the Central Division, and it is certainly nothing to brag about. However, with Irving they have their centerpiece and due to good drafts, have pieces around him that could develop. Through the first 54 games Irving is averaging 23.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He has raised his points per game by five from last season and is also averaging more assists and steals while shooting a higher percentage from the field and from long range.

Irving owned All-Star weekend in Houston, winning the three-point contest, putting on a show at the Rising Stars Game and then held his own in the All-Star Game. Consider it his coming out party to the world because now the world knows that Kyrie Irving is the real deal. He has finally stepped out and is no longer a mystery. His college career, if you could call it that, was gone in the blink of an eye. He played just 10 games at Duke, but it was obvious that he was something special. Despite the foot injury that sidelined him for much of the season, Cleveland drafted him number one in 2011 and now he has been given the task of leading the Cavs back to the top of the Central Division.

He is the perfect man for the job due to the fact that he has such a complete game. He is and incredible ball-handler (just ask Brandon Knight) and can get to the rim at will. However, sag off of him to defend the drive and he will rise up and shoot the jumper. He shoots 42 percent from three and is a solid free throw shooter. If defenses try and stop Irving from scoring then they allow him to pass the ball, which he is equally good at. He rebounds well for a point guard and averages just shy of two steals per game.

Irving's numbers rank right up there with some of the best point guards in the league as well. He averages more points than any other point guard and is sixth overall in the NBA. He averages more rebounds than Chris Paul or Deron Williams and averages more steals than Williams and Rajon Rondo.

The crazy thing about it all though is that Irving is in just his second season and he is not even 21 years old yet. He's made great strides from his rookie season and as the Cavs continue to rebuild, Irving will improve. That's scary news for the rest of the league because he has already proven he can just about beat any team by himself on a good night. On Wednesday night he dropped 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter to defeat the New Orleans Hornets and its something we may need to get used to. Kyrie Irving himself is somebody we better get used to as well because he has proven that he is the future of the point guard position.