Damian Lillard vs. Kyrie Irving: Who Had the Better Rookie Season?

Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard both had terrific rookie seasons. But whose was better? (Photo by slimm978/Flickr.com)

Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard are the last two Rookie of the Year award winners. Kyrie is quickly being called the next superstar point guard, so it begs the question: Is Damian Lillard on that same path to stardom one day? Unfortunately, I haven’t perfected any supernatural future-predicting abilities yet, so the best we can do here is compare their rookie seasons to answer the underlying question, “Which of these young, gifted point guards will be better five or 10 years down the road?”

For starters, let’s take a look at the cold hard stats for each player’s rookie season, per NBA.com:

2011-12 Kyrie Irving:  18.5 ppg, 5.4 apg, 3.7 rpg, 1.1 spg, 0.4 bpg, 3.1 tpg,  47 FG%, 40 3P%, 87 FT%

2012-13 Damian Lillard: 19.0 ppg, 6.5 apg, 3.1 rpg, 0.9 spg, 0.2 bpg, 3.0 tpg, 43 FG%, 37 3P%, 84 FT%

From a simple statistical standpoint, it’s pretty obvious that Lillard’s numbers per game are slightly better in the three main areas that people look at first when judging a point guard: scoring, assists and turnovers. However, Irving’s rookie numbers are a little more well-rounded and his shooting splits are clearly superior. So from a purely statistical perspective, this is really a pick ’em. Do you value simple results or balanced efficiency? Let’s take a look at the supporting cast for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Portland Trail Blazers and answer that question.

When Kyrie came into the league, there were doubts about what Cleveland would be getting from a guy who missed so much time in his only college season at Duke. But there was a severe lack of talent on the Cavaliers’ roster following LeBron James‘ departure and Irving proved himself at the NBA scouting combine, so he rightfully became the No. 1 draft pick. The Cavs improved their win total from the year before by two games with Irving on the floor, but keep in mind his first season in the league was a 66-game season shortened by the lockout. So, it’s safe to say that Cleveland significantly improved with Kyrie Irving stepping in to fill the superstar void on a roster whose best players up to that point were an aging Antawn Jamison, Anderson Varejao and youngster Alonzo Gee.

Irving immediately made his presence felt on the offensive end, scoring 20 or more points in 10 of his first 23 games. One such game was a loss to the Nets in which he dropped 20 points in the fourth quarter on his way to 32 points:

Through the first 85 games in his NBA career, Kyrie Irving hit five game-winners. Through Damian Lillard’s first 82 games, he had one game-winner (against the New Orleans Hornets). That stat on it’s own really isn’t that telling or noteworthy, but it is indicative of the one clear fact that separates Kyrie Irving’s rookie season from Damian Lillard’s: Irving was immediately required to step into a leadership role for the Cavaliers, while Lillard had a lot more help. From day one, Irving was his team’s go-to offensive player. Yes, his defense was (and still is) shabby, but any Cavs fan would tell you that Kyrie Irving was A) their best player and B) the face of the franchise. With Damian Lillard? That’s not really the case.

There’s no doubt that Portland’s talented new point guard elevated the Blazers to new levels after an incredibly disappointing year last season. Lillard had the Blazers competing for a playoff spot down the stretch of the season, until it fell a few games out of reach and Portland went into full tank mode for a better draft pick. In that respect, Lillard’s impact was more successful in his rookie year than Irving’s, since the Cavaliers still finished near the bottom of the East even with their new superstar. But again, Lillard had LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, J.J. Hickson and Wesley Matthews to pass the ball to. That supporting cast is a considerable upgrade in talent compared to Irving’s supporting cast, which played a huge factor in how many dimes Lillard was dishing out.

The only legitimate argument you can make for Damian Lillard’s leadership role is how many minutes he logged as a rookie. Lillard led the league in minutes, playing an absurd 38.6 mpg and playing all 82 games. Because Portland’s bench was so unbelievably bad this year and the Blazers had zero depth at the guard position, Lillard was called upon to log way more minutes for the team to be competitive. Irving had an incredible amount of responsibility placed on his shoulders as a rookie as well, but his team never put that much of a physical burden on him.

Moving on to the subject of athleticism, it’s pretty clear that we’re dealing with two lightning quick point guards with incredible ball-handling and passing skills. Lillard made the Trail Blazers one of the most entertaining teams to watch at the start of the season with dazzling cuts in and out of defenders, while Irving singlehandedly pulled his team back into games with electrifying drives to the basket. But Kyrie is just on another planet in comparison. Just compare Damian Lillard’s top ten plays of his rookie season to Kyrie Irving’s:

Keeping all this in mind, I’m entirely compelled to declare that Kyrie Irving had a better rookie season, which is ultimately indicative of where I see their careers going. Other than some obviously lackluster defense, Irving seems destined for greatness as the next big thing at the point guard position in the East. Lillard had tremendous production this year, but he’s not the alpha dog in Portland. And as terrific as Lillard was in his first year in the league, he may not even get an All-Star spot for the next few years with Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Tony Parker and more in the West.

So even though these two Rookie of the Year award winners had remarkably similar numbers, Irving had to do it with no help and an incredible amount of responsibility on his shoulders in the shadow of LeBron’s departure. Lillard just seemed to fit the system of a team that needed a point guard and had a talented ensemble around him. I’m not trying to discredit anything Lillard did this year, because he was truly the best candidate for the award and head-and-shoulders above his competition. But Kyrie Irving was just a little bit more efficient and electric as a rookie, which might be a good representation of what we’ll say about these two incredible players throughout their careers.