Feb 17, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Eastern Conference guard Kyrie Irving (2) of the Cleveland Cavaliers dribbles in the fourth quarter of the 2013 NBA all star game at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to the thirty-second installment of Right Down Euclid’s “Weekly Roundtable.” This Friday Jerry Bulone and Dan Pilar sit down and discuss the latest trending topics concerning your Cleveland Cavaliers and the NBA. The combination of rotating RDE duos answer three questions regarding the hometown Wine and Gold and two questions surrounding the league.

Today the discussion revolves around Kyrie Irving’s impressive weekend, Cleveland’s ESPN game against the New Orleans Hornets, inactivity at the trade deadline and the losers and winners on Thursday.

Cavaliers Corner

First Question: What was Kyrie’s most impressive feat during All-Star weekend?

Jerry Bulone: I think it has to be the All-Star Game on Sunday. The biggest reason is that he seemed liked he belonged. The big stage as usual had no effect on him. While he did not technically “start,” he played starter minutes and played well. That’s a lot for a 20-year old in his second year to pull off, and Kyrie did it with ease. That’s more impressive than the Three-Point Contest victory because while I am glad he won the contest, but that is no indicator of his stardom. I mean Craig Hodges won the thing three straight times!

Dan Pilar: He certainly held his own during the All-Star Game. Like Jerry said, he didn’t receive a lot of minutes, but he did do a damn good job out their with the minutes he did receive. It just looked like he belonged out there, you know? And prior to that, so many players around the league were tweeting about him and mentioning him in interviews. The entire league – players, coaches, fans – now know what Irving is capable of.

Second Question: How did you think the Cavaliers performed on a national stage for the first time since LeBron’s return to Cleveland on TNT?

JB: I thought they performed well, and showed us they are right on track in this massive rebuilding process. Kyrie led the way (as usual), Tristan had his solid double-double performance and Waiters continued his nice shooting month in February. The bench didn’t play as well as it has been, but played good enough. I realize that the Cavaliers were at home and playing against one of the Western Conference’s worst teams, but I still think it was a good win. The Cavaliers are 8-6 in their last 14 games; the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer and closer with each game.

DP: It really felt great seeing them Wednesday night. All season the Cavs have played down to the level of their opponents, but against the Hornets they were able to get the win. Waiters really impressed me shooting, like he had all month. Tristan wasn’t great, but good enough down low to free up other players. Zeller is still struggling defensively, and Robin Lopez pointed that out. He continues to struggle with the transition from NCAA to NBA, but he’s going to be a great player for us one day I believe.

Third Question: Did you think there was a move for the Cavaliers to make before the trade deadline?

JB: Yes I do. I think the player the Rockets got from the Kings, Thomas Robinson, would have been a good pick up for the Cavaliers. I think Robinson is a good young player and the asking price was pretty low for a player drafted fifth overall this past year – right after Dion Waiters. This is usually the type of value Grant looks for. I also think they should have moved Speights. I understand he is playing well, but make no mistake that he will opt out of his contract, and will ask upwards of $8 million a year. I just don’t see the Cavaliers shelling that out for a backup forward.

DP: Man, the Sacramento Kings. Wow. I don’t know what to say about them. They drafted a player I thought they had no business drafting in the first place, and then they trade him away halfway through his rookie season. I’m so glad ownership is changing for the Kings because they are an embarrassment. But the Rockets are doing a great job at getting young talent via trades, and that is something that is hard to do with the new CBA in place. They have a pretty decent core of guys right now, but if they add some depth in the next year, I can see them competing for a four seed in the West.

NBA Roundup

Fourth Question: Which team was the biggest trade deadline winner?

JB: I think there is no true winner, but if I had to choose I would pick the Bucks by default. They got J.J. Redick who will provide some great shooting off the bench and can also provide as an insurance policy if the Bucks lose Monta Ellis in free agency this offseason. This move may not put them in the championship hunt, but they made themselves better, which is more than anyone else can say after yesterday’s deadline

DP: Yes, the Bucks did well. Not only J.J. Redick, but they got Gustavo Ayon, who is a talented second-year big man. I can’t say that Redick will stay in Milwaukee, but the likelihood of them keeping both Reddick and Ellis next year is unlikely. But I thought OKC did well. They shipped out a back-up point guard, Eric Maynor, for a second-round pick, and they dished another second-rounder to the Knicks for Ronnie Brewer. Brewer may not be a flashy pickup, but he adds depth to an already dominant team. I like that trade.

Fifth Question: Which team was the biggest trade deadline loser?

JB: I am going to say the NBA and us fans. You know it’s a bad day at the office when the big move was the Bucks acquiring Redick! All the talk of Josh Smith or Dwight Howard or any of Boston’s aging stars in the end was just that: talk. The inactivity in a sense was mind-boggling. I mean, most deadline trade talk doesn’t materialize, but for nothing to happen is pretty rare. Also, there is usually a surprise player, or surprising move, that happens right at the buzzer, but again: nothing.

DP: It was really an uneventful NBA trade deadline, but that means that the new CBA is working. The new CBA was put in place to prevent franchises like Miami from forming these “mega” teams. With the new luxury tax and cap rules, it isn’t as easy to make a deal like it was in the past. Yes, it sucks for the fans during this time, but it makes the NBA more competitive. So ipso facto, it’s good for the NBA and fans.

Make sure to check back next week to see what Jerry Bulone and Zak Kolesar have to debate at the “Weekly Roundtable.”

Feb 6, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Fans hold up a sign mentioning Miami Heat forward LeBron James (not pictured) and Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (not pictured) during a game between the Charlotte Bobcats and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

A week ago, the hype around Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving was just that: hype. Sure, he was the NBA’s sixth leading scorer, had some big games on big stages and had gotten major praise from chief figures in the media. But he was lacking that signature moment that truly took his profile outside of Lake Erie. But today, we live in a different time. Irving has truly taken his profile outside of Cleveland for the first time. Looking at him today, he is truly a star  – and here is why.

When I say that Irving had never had a real signature moment, I truly believe that. Sure, he’s had game winners was MVP of the Rising Stars Challenge last year, but none of that really made people outside of Cuyahoga County really look at Irving as a star. All it did was tell people that Irving is a talented player on a struggling team that has the potential to be great point guard. At best, people looked at him as the second best point guard in his own division behind Chicago’s Derrick Rose.

That is not the case anywhere. Last week, in his second appearance on All-Star weekend, Irving was a star. On Friday, in the Rising Stars game, he scored 32 points in 26 minutes of action. More importantly, Irving made what I thought was the highlight of the weekend. In the fourth quarter he was matched up one-on-one with the Pistons Brandon Knight on the wing. After a few dribbles, Irving went to work: he crossed over Knight so well that when he pulled up for a jumper, Knight just fell down. That play was replayed over and over again over the weekend. It’s gotten so big that when you Google search “Brandon Knight defense,” 95 percent of the results are about that play from All-Star weekend.

On Saturday, Irving won the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest in a field that included noted marksmen Stephan Curry, Steve Novak and Ryan Anderson. A career 41 percent shooter from behind the arc, Irving isn’t really known as a sharpshooter. At best, he was a dark horse in this competition. But he won. He beat out Novak in the East and then took out the Spurs Matt Bonner in the final. So, on Saturday, Irving was 2-for-2.

On Sunday, Irving didn’t explode like some thought he would, but he did have a good game. Scoring 15 points, Irving played alongside the NBA’s elite. While he didn’t get the start at the beginning of the game, Irving did get to start the second half alongside the likes of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Kevin Garnett. To be frank, that is where he belongs.

In a way, Irving starting the second half was the moment of the weekend. It wasn’t a particular play that will be part of his highlight reel for years to come, but it was a moment that showed the world that Irving belongs there.

Irving then saw his next actin on the court in a nationally televised game against Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Hornets. The game, which aired on ESPN, was the one Cavs game this year that the entire nation could watch. He started out slow and looked a little fatigued from his long weekend in Houston. The game itself wasn’t aesthetically appealing either, but then came the fourth quarter.

We’ve known for a long time now that Irving can close out games with the best of them. We saw that against Oklahoma City and Boston last year, and against Toronto just a few weeks ago. But his performance against New Orleans was something else.

In the fourth quarter, Irving scored 20 of his 35 points. Of those 20 points, Irving scored 11 in a row at one point and 18 of 20 at another. This all occurred in the last 7:08 of the game when Irving came back after a rest. To break that down, that’s 2.82 points per minute of scoring while he was on the floor. That’s absolutely incredible. Without that performance, the Cavs don’t win that game. They lose another game in a lost season that is destined to see the Cavaliers back in the lottery, even with Irving playing as well as he has.

Irving also made that game watchable. Without Irving, that game is between two bad basketball teams playing on national television. With Irving, and his fourth quarter magic, that game was watchable and exciting.

So what does this all mean? It means that Irving has become the new king of Cleveland basketball and that he is a star right now. Not only do the stats say that, but he is making the “wow” plays that only stars make. On All-Star weekend, the only play that rivaled Irving’s crossover was Kobe Bryant’s block on LeBron.

Some people think Irving is the best guard in the league right now, ahead of guys such as Chris Paul and Derrick Rose. I still would put Paul ahead of him, but that gap is not as big as it once was. Irving is the total package – scoring, passing, shooting, charisma and improving defense. He has it all and there really is no ceiling on how great he could be.

Kyrie is king. He is a star in the truest sense of the word. Embrace it, love it and enjoy it while it lasts. This is the Kyrie Irving era. It’s here and it’s only going to become more spectacular.

Feb 16, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Toronto Raptors guard Terrence Ross leaps over a youngster as he attempts a dunk during the 2013 NBA all star slam dunk contest at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Although many may not know who he is, Terrence Ross is bound for stardom in the NBA. He made his mark on Saturday night during All-Star weekend by winning the 2013 Sprite Slam Dunk contest. Fans voted on the final round of the challenge, and after going up against reigning champion Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz, Ross garnered 58 percent of the fan votes to be crowned dunk champion.

The competition started off great for the Eastern Conference, as Gerald Green and Ross of the Toronto Raptors earned perfect scores on their first dunks. That netted the East 20 easy points in the East vs. West competition. James White, a favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the final round, brought out too much flair for his performance. Flight attendants created a runway for his first dunk attempt, but he couldn’t convert on the first try.

Ross, who went third for the East, missed his first five attempts, but still netted a perfect score of 50. On his second dunk he earned a score of 49 on a jam that really wasn’t that impressive. Green and White faltered on their second attempts and didn’t even finish within the restricted time limit. They both earned scores of 32 on their second tries, bringing the Eastern Conference’s total to 258 points.

The Western Conference had the exact opposite performance, as the struggled with their first attempts and flourished on their second tries. Kenneth Faried and Eric Bledsoe started off with safe dunks, as they both earned scores of 39. Evans then converted on a backward jam that added 47 points to his team’s total.

On the second go-around, Faried and Bledsoe didn’t disappoint with two 50-point dunks. Faried had one of the highlights of the night with a between-the-legs throw down. Not to mention that Faried grabbed the ball with one strong hand high up in the air. Bledsoe then followed suit with a backward windmill that had the crowd oohing and aahing. Evans then finished with a two-basketball dunk that seemed more like an attempt to earn him an appearance in the final round than as an all-out slam. He scored 43 points on his second try, netting him a total of 90 points. The Western Conference finished with 268 points, which gave the West 50 points in the competition.

So the stage was set for an Evans vs. Ross matchup that started with an interesting and original twist. Evans began with a high-rising slam over a veiled painting. After the dunk he unveiled the painting, which was of Evans making the said dunk. Evans is an artist, so he knows how important presentation is. Ross then tried to one-up him when he came out in a Vince Carter jersey. Carter is one of the most glorified dunkers of our time, and for the Raptor to honor him like that made it a special moment. For his dunk, Ross caught the ball off the side of the backboard backward at a high point and then slammed it with one hand.

It was a close match and there was no telling who would come away with the victory after the first round of dunks. Terrence’s final dunk was the selling point for fans, however, as he jumped over a ball boy, carried the ball between his legs and jammed it with authority. His two dunks were enough to earn Ross honors of winning the contest.

His winning performance added 55 points to the Eastern Conference’s total, but that wasn’t enough to overcome what the Western Conference had done all night long. The West came away with the title of State Farm All-Star Saturday Night champions, but Ross won’t let that spoil what he did in the dunk contest.

Final Score: Western Conference 140, Eastern Conference 125