NBA: Cavs take Irving with No.1 pick but international stars prove biggest story

As many expected, the Cleveland Cavaliers used their number one pick in the 2011 NBA Draft to land point guard Kyrie Irving from Duke. Arizona's Derrick Williams then headed to the Minnesota Timberwolves as the number two selection.

But it was the prominence of the international hopefuls that particularly caught the eye - four of the top seven picks were from outside North America. The Utah Jazz took Turk Enes Kanter at number three and Lithuanian Jonas Valanciunas headed to the Toronto Raptors at number five, followed by the Washington Wizards swooping for Czech Jan Versely at six and the Sacramento Kings picking Congolese big man Bismack Biyombo at seven (before dealing that pick to the Charlotte Bobcats).

Irving's arrival in Cleveland to attempt to fill the void left by LeBron James will dominate the headlines but, after a season in which German Dirk Nowitzki led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA title, it was certainly noteworthy that international players' stock continues to rise.

Tom Oldfield