Kyrie Irving is the first elite player to not succumb to the LeBron James effect. We saw it in Miami; Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade both saw their stats plummet when he took his talents to South Beach. And now Kevin Love has undergone the same treatment in Cleveland last season thanks to the King’s return. Kyrie’s production, however, remained steady despite playing alongside James.

Not only did he stay an effective fantasy player when teaming up with Love and James, but he’s done so his whole career. Since being drafted first by the Cavs in 2011, Irving has kept solid numbers year to year. He averaged 18.5 points and 5.4 assists his rookie year, and delicately these stats have grown to 21.7 points, 5.2 assists and 1.5 steals per contest.

LeBron is holding Irving back from his full potential as an individual player, though. There’s no doubt James has led Cleveland into a contending franchise with his return, but Irving could easily be a first-round fantasy pick if he was still by himself in Cleveland.

Irving had some of his best games when LeBron wasn’t on the court, like in January when he put up 55 points in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers. He wouldn’t play at quite the level he did against Portland if James weren’t on the team, but fantasy owners would see more nights with 30-plus points and 10-plus assists.

One problem with drafting Irving in fantasy basketball is he doesn’t necessarily put up point guard numbers. He’s a magnificent scorer and can shoot lights out from beyond the arc. Last season though, he only totaled double-digit assists in five of his 75 games, and ranked 22nd in assists per night. On top of that, his assists to turnover ratio is a measly 2.1, as opposed to Chris Paul’s league leading 4.4. Irving doesn’t necessarily hurt the turnover category with 2.5 a game, but for only dishing out five or so assists, those TO’s are undesirable.

Now that Irving’s teamed with LeBron, he’s bound to have off nights here and there when the King takes over. He maintained steady point production last season, ranging from 15 to 35 points a night with a few exceptions here and there. Where the major inconsistency comes is with his assist totals. As mentioned before, he rarely breaks out for a ton of assists, which is odd considering he has Kevin Love and LeBron James at his disposal. More often than not, Irving tallies two to six assists a night, an unacceptably low number for a first to second-round point guard pick.

Adding to his list of negatives, Kyrie Irving is a dumbed-down Derrick Rose when it comes to injuries. While he’s not missing entire seasons, there always seems to be a problem with his knees or ankles. Irving was forced to miss all but one game of the Finals against Golden State, and missed two games in Cleveland’s sweep of Atlanta in the Conference Finals. He’s heading into this year banged up as usual. It’s not a major problem when deciding whether or not to draft him, but it’s certainly something to consider when looking at the 52 games he’s missed throughout his four-year career.

It’s evident there’s a lot of possible downside to drafting Kyrie Irving, but he’s still a great early second-round pick. He shoots good percentages from the field and the line, and scores more than most point guards in the league. While his assist numbers aren’t something to die for, they don’t hurt you either. It’s always an option to draft someone like Ricky Rubio later on in the draft to make up those lost assists. Plus, Irving has quick hands and averages 1.5 steals a night. In the end, however, his lack of assists allows other guards like Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and John Wall to overtake him in this mock draft.

Durability: C

Overall Stats: B+

Consistency: A-

Mock Draft Ranking: #13