4. Kyrie lrving, Cleveland Cavaliers
Counting Stats: 19.6 points, 4.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds
PER: 19.96
WS: 5.0
VORP: 1.5
Irving dominated the latter portion of the 2016 NBA Finals by averaging 27.1 points per game, shooting 46.7 percent from the field (40.5 percent from 3), and totaling a +33 BPM throughout seven games. Down the stretch, Irving showed up as Cleveland’s primary scoring option outside of LeBron and became a staple to their championship run.
At the surface, there’s a lot to like about Irving. First, he’s a stout ball-handler with incredible handles that rarely turns it over – based off his 9.3 TO rate, which is the fourth lowest among qualified point guards. Second, for the majority of the time he’s on the court, Irving is shooting at an efficient rate. During his first five full seasons in the NBA, just once did he have an eFG percentage under 50 percent and a FG percentage less than 45 percent – both coming in 2014.
Very few point guards in the league have shown the ability to blow past their primary defender quite like Irving can. However, as paralleled of a driver that Irving is, he isn’t finishing at the rim to the level that PG’s ahead of him are. Case in point, Irving is connecting at only 55.2 percent for shots within five feet.
Staying healthy also factors into Irving’s potential. In three of his five seasons, he’s played in less than 60 games, and even though it was a remarkable stretch in the NBA Finals, it remains to be seen if he can sustain it for prolonged periods of time.
Next: No. 3