Cavaliers take Irving

A slick ball handler with size and speed, the Australia-born Irving is expected to be an immediate contributor when he joins a Cavaliers team that crumbled into ruin last season after twice MVP LeBron James spurned them to sign with the Miami Heat.

It is unlikely Irving will make jilted Cleveland fans forget James but he may be able to help erase the embarrassment of a 26-game losing streak last season that secured the Cavaliers the number one overall pick.

"I didn't have any doubts about going to number one," Irving said. "I was looking to the organisation to pick who they felt was the right choice.

"I've got some big shoes to fill.

"Number one picks, they have a lot of expectations on them and I plan on exceeding them.

"I'm really not looking to replace LeBron honestly, just try to be Kyrie Irving and just contribute to the Cleveland organisation as much as I can."

Irving played in only 11 games last season after suffering a toe injury but the Cavaliers saw enough to convince them that he was a player to rebuild their team around.

The freshman averaged 17.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game in his shortened season that also caught the attention of Australian basketball officials, who hope to have the guard leading the national team one day.

"Right now I'm in discussion with the (Australian) head coach, Brett Brown and we have been talking for a while about me transitioning from the USA to playing for Australia but it's a position that's not going to be made right now," said Irving.

"Like I said, we are in conversation ... that will be a decision that I will make further down the road."

The Minnesota Timberwolves used the second pick to grab Arizona forward Derrick Williams before the draft quickly returned to an international flavour with the next five picks coming from outside the United States.

With a nasty labour war looming, international players were expected to figure prominently in this year's lottery with several highly rated American college prospects choosing to remain in school and ride out a potential lockout as the NBA and players union negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.

The Utah Jazz sparked the foreign invasion by taking Turkish forward Enes Kanter with the third pick while the Cavaliers looked north with the fourth selection to claim Canadian forward Tristan Thompson.

The Toronto Raptors, already one of the NBA's most cosmopolitan teams, added Lithuanian Jonas Valanciunas to their diverse roster while the Washington Wizards went with Czech Jan Vesely.

The Sacramento Kings took Congo's Bismack Biyembo but shipped the forward to the Charlotte Bobcats in a pre-draft three-team deal to make it six foreign players claimed in the first seven picks.