Why Garland will end up as the best Cavs guard of all time

Competition for best Cavs guard – Kyrie Irving

The next guy on this list would be the guy who currently is the best guard in Cavs history: Kyrie Irving. Kyrie came to Cleveland after Lebron James left the Cavs for the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010, drafted in 2011 No. 1 overall out of Duke. Kyrie came to a team that was in pretty bad shape after Lebron left the previous summer. They didn’t have a ton to build with and Kyrie was truly the first building block.

It’s very possible, if not likely, that when all is said and done it will be clear that Kyrie’s peak years were in Cleveland. Kyrie in his six years here was a six-time All-Star, All-NBA third-team selection ( 2015), 2011-2012 Rookie of the Year, All-Star Game MVP and an NBA champion in 2016.

At his best Kyrie is one of the better talents in NBA history. He arguably has the best handle in NBA history and as far as point guards go the league may have never seen anyone better at finishing contested layups at the rim. On top of that Kyrie was a terrific shooter as well. With his handle, shooting, and ability to stop on the dime, there was a time when Kyrie was arguably the toughest player to defend. Kyrie for his career in Cleveland averaged 23.1 points, 5.5 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals, all while shooting 38.7 percent from 3 and 45.7 percent overall.

As good as Kyrie was in the regular season, he elevated his play in the playoffs.  In his four seasons in the playoffs in Cleveland Kyrie averaged 23.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals while shooting 41.5 percent from 3 and 46.5 from the field overall.

For me what separates Kyrie is that Garland and the next guy on this list don’t have enough of a track record yet to be ranked over Kyrie’s resume in Cleveland. Some might argue Mark Price, who certainly elevated his teammates more and was a better passer/ playmaker, but Kyrie is just the better talent. Kyrie at his peak in the playoffs averaged over 25 points per game while shooting over 46 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3.

It goes well beyond the numbers, as at the time Steph Curry was the reining two-time MVP and head-to-head Kyrie just dominated Steph and was the second-best player to Lebron James. Kyrie played like a top-seven player during those two years. The level he played at in the playoffs on the biggest stage is likely why Kyrie gets the edge over Price. Since Kyrie left Cleveland he’s had his fair share of injuries and hasn’t been able to stay on the court, but there is no question his peak was in Cleveland.