LeBron James says Kyrie Irving reminds him of Chris Paul

Kyrie Irving has been impressive this season. Sure, he was the No. 1 overall pick for the Cavaliers, so you had a feeling he wasn’t going to suck, but after he spent most of his one year at Duke injured we weren’t totally sure what to expect.

He’s not the explosive athlete that Derrick Rose or John Wall are, but he is so fundamentally sound and smart, he sees the floor so well he is a beast off the pick-and-roll and he is destroying guys in isolation. He sees the floor and reads defenses and plays like a veteran. He can shoot, too — 17.4 points per game on better than 50 percent shooting and 42 percent from three.

Remind you of anyone? It did LeBron James, who spoke to Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida about it.

“He reminds me of (Chris Paul) early in his days, as well,” said James.... “They definitely remind me of each other. Just how in control, and how they think the game. They show that you’re not in like a rookie mindset. You’re trying to put guys in a position to succeed. I’ve been looking forward to going against him. . . . He’s definitely beyond his years as a rookie point guard.”

High praise. And deserved. While Irving has a long way to go to be at that level, there are similarities in their games. Irving can be special, maybe not CP3 exactly, but how many teams wouldn’t take Irving as their point guard right now? The Lakers and Knicks would kill for this kid.