By the way, the NBA held its draft Thursday night

Jimmer Fredette

Yawn. They may not even play this upcoming season. Plus, the draft pool this year wasn't exactly teaming with major stars, but never the less, the NBA held its annual selection show of International and occasional college players.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were obvious big winners, if for no other reason than they had the 1st and 4th picks. They took Duke point guard Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson, a forward from Texas.

NCAA Tourney MVP Kemba Walker went 9th to Charlotte and the big headline grabber was the Sacramento Kings trading with Milwaukee to get the 10th pick which they used on the Jimmer, Jimmer Fredette.

Another interesting tidbit: The Morris twins, Markieff and Marcus went 13th and 14th to Phoenix and Houston respectively.

And yeah, they held a second round too, those picks were guys who will be bench fillers and NBDL players for the most part. The NBA Draft isn't like the other sports, it only lasts two rounds and really, there isn't a ton of drama involve.

We won't go through and grade everyone for the simple fact that if we did, we'd probably have to give every team involved an "Incomplete" since the season may or may not happen and in the NBA more so than the other leagues, you really have to see how they fit in before you can say how successful they can be.

NBA.com gives us your 1st pick video:

No Surprise, Kyrie Irving Going Pro

In December not only was Duke's Kyrie Irving hands down the best freshman in college basketball, he may have been the best player in the country.

Then Irving hurt his toe against Butler and sat out until returning to play in the NCAA Tournament.

Wednesday Kyrie Irving announced what was pretty obvious, he's going to the NBA.

Here's Kyrie Irving explaining his decision. (Thanks goduke.com)

Kyrie Irving To Play In NCAA Tournement

If you have Duke going to the Final Four in your office pool you might be looking good. Kyrie Irving is coming back.

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said that Irving will play limited minutes in Duke's NCAA Tournament opener against Hampton. Duke will now have the best sixth man in the tournament.

"It's a big step for me and my family to make one of the biggest decisions in my life to go out there and be integrated with the guys in practice and now return to the game," Irving said to the Raleigh News Observer.

Here's video of Irving at practice today: (Thanks WRAL-TV)



Here's Mike Krzyzewski's comments. (Thanks WRAL-TV)

Kyrie Irving Staying Strong Through Injury

[HT: goduke.com]

Imagine if Duke's Kyrie Irving didn't injure his toe in the Butler game on December 4th, 2010, would he be the odds on favorite for national player of the year?

Heck Duke might be up there with Ohio State as undefeated teams in college basketball.

"I'm not going to sugar coat it," Irving told Michael Tomko of GoDuke.com. "It has been really tough, just seeing my teammates getting ready for games in the layup line and just the ball being tipped. I miss that feeling being out in Cameron and playing away games and big time games on ESPN."

Instead Irving has become a cheerleader on the bench and embracing that role.

"I am the best cheerleader there is," Irving said. "I still get excited like I'm on the court when my teammates do something really exciting."

You can read Tomko's article in GoDuke.com by clicking on the link below.
http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=205089945

Plus here's a great feature put together by GoDuke.com. (Thanks GoDuke.com)



Photo Courtesy: AP