Ron Harper is best known for winning five NBA Championships, three with the Chicago Bulls and two with the Los Angeles Lakers.  He brought those teams a veteran presence and a high basketball IQ, but this was very different than what he was asked to do when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Craig Ehlo had some big shoes to fill as he was brought in to replace the injured Mark Price and the former Washington State Cougar had his share of moments, most notably a 31 Point Game against Michael Jordan, although Jordan would later torch him on “The Shot” that took the then underdog Bulls over Cleveland in the 1989 Playoffs.

Terrell Brandon was the 11^th Overall Pick in the 1991 Draft, and he would spend his first three years and change serving as the backup Point Guard to Mark Price.  Brandon would officially become the team's starter in the 1995/96 season, during which he would go on a two-year streak of All-Star Game appearances, average 19.4 Points per Game, and be regarded as one of the most accurate shooters in the sport.  He would have a PER of 25.2 and 21.5, respectively, and was in the top three in Free Throw Percentage both of those years. 

John “Hot Rod” Williams could not enter the NBA after he was drafted out of Tulane in 1985, as he was arrested for point-shaving.  Still, he was later found not guilty and was able to join the league for the 1986/87 campaign, where he started all 80 games and averaged 14.6 Points, 7.9 Rebounds, and 2.1 Blocks per Game.  Williams would later see his starts diminish but not his time on the court as the Cavaliers generally used him as their sixth man.  "Hot Rod" would have his best season in 1989/90, when he set career highs with 16.8 Points and 2.3 Blocks per Game, while also averaging 8.1 Rebounds.  

The Cleveland Cavaliers struck gold when they landed the #1 Draft Pick in 2003 to select their home-state hoops prodigy, LeBron James.  After James left, the Cavs were blessed by the lottery Gods again in 2011, when they won the draft lottery and selected Kyrie Irving, the consensus best player in the draft.

Traded midway through his eighth season (1982/83) in the NBA, World B. Free remained a top scorer in the NBA when he was a Cleveland Cavalier.  That year, he finished 8^th in Points per Game finishing with a 23.9 PPG.  Free continued to produce over the next three years with scoring seasons of 22.3, 22.5 and 23.4 respectively and over his 275 Games as a Cav he averaged 23.0 Points per Game.

Kevin Love would spend the first six years of his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he was the team's star, but the T-Wolves lacked much else, and he never made the playoffs while he played there.  LeBron James would return to Cleveland, and the Cavs would orchestrate a trade to bring Love to the Cavaliers to join him and Kyrie Irving.  Love was now the third option on a superteam, but, like many stars, he had to take time to adjust, and eventually he found his footing.  The triumvirate would take Cleveland to its first NBA Championship in 2016.

Austin Carr was one of the most exciting players that the Cleveland Cavaliers had in the 1970s and a lot of the success that they did have.  Carr was the first overall Draft Pick in 1971, and the four-year player from Notre Dame wasted no time showing off his shooting skills.  Named to the First Team All-Rookie squad, Carr averaged 21.2 Points per Game, and he would keep up the 20 PPG average over the next two seasons.  In the last of that three-season stretch, he would be named to the 1974 All-Star Game, the first and only time that Carr would make that game.  He never hit that yearly average but did have two more where he exceeded 16.  Overall, he would post a 16.2 PPG over nine seasons as a Cavalier.

A sweet shooter from the University of Michigan, Michael “Campy” Russell was the 8^th Overall Pick in 1974, and the Small Forward would become a starter in his second season, and from there he would average at least 15 Points per Game, peaking at 21.9 in the 1978/79 campaign.  That year, Russell would be named to the All-Star Game.  He would be traded to the New York Knicks, but a brutal knee injury took him out for two seasons.  Russell was traded back to Cleveland, but he would only play three games before he was waived by the organization.  He would average 16.1 Points per Game with a PER of 17.8.

From Brazil, Anderson Varejao arrived in Cleveland as part of a trade a month after he was drafted (by Orlando) and it is safe to say that the big man exceeded every expectation that anyone could have had for him.

Andre Miller is considered one of the best players never to play in an All-Star Game; a snub should have likely been rectified when he was a Cleveland Cavalier.  Playing his first three seasons of his career with the Cavs, Miller’s most efficient years occurred there.  He would have a PER of 20.2 and would average 14.5 Points in hi 245 Games there.  As a Point Guard, Miller was expected to be a good distributor, and in the 2001/02 campaign, he would lead the NBA in Assists and Assists per Game and had a career-high of 16.5 Points per Game.  Miller was shipped off to the Los Angeles Clippers the following season.

Tristan Thompson was drafted fourth overall in 2011, which made history as that made him (since broken) the highest-drafted Canadian.  While it can be argued that Thompson has not lived up to the lofty expectations that were placed upon him, it has been a good career thus far.  Four times as a Cavalier, Thompson would average more than 10 Points per Game, but his real strength has been rebounding, specifically on the offensive side of the ball.  In four straight seasons (2012-13 to 2015-16) he finished in the top five in total Offensive Rebounds and in the 2015-16 campaign he finished first in Offensive Rating.  That season he would help the Cavaliers win the NBA Championship.

Thompson left Cleveland after nine seasons for Boston as a Free Agent, but he returned in 2023 to add a veteran presence in the paint.  He played there for two years, but was not resigned.  

Larry Nance spent the first half of his career with the Phoenix Suns, where he was an All-Star in 1985.  The Power Forward would be traded in the 1987/88 Season in a mega-deal, and both teams would come out ahead.  The Power Forward brought defensive stability to the Cavaliers, making them a more significant threat in the East.  The Power Forward would be named to two All-Star Games as a Cavalier, and he was a three-time All-Defensive Selection (one First Team and two Second Teams), and he would have five straight seasons averaging eight or more boards per game.  In that same stretch, he never dipped below 2.0 Blocks per Game in a year, and he never fell below 11^th in that metric. 

From the basketball-mad country of Lithuania, Zydrunas Ilgauskas was drafted 20th overall in 1996 and was named to the All-Rookie Team.  Injuries piled up on the big man over the next few seasons, but he would be healthy, and from the 2002-03 season to the 2005-06 season, he would elevate to become one of the top Centers of the time.  In that stretch (which also coincided with the arrival of LeBron James), he would be named to two All-Star Games and averaged 16.2 Points, 7.9 Rebounds, and 2.1 Blocks per Game.  Ilgauskas would play 12 seasons with the Cavaliers, and he is second all-time in Points, Rebounds, and is first in Blocks.  He would have his #11 retired by the Cavs after his career was over.

Brad Daugherty was the number one Draft Pick of 1986, a pick they obtained many years before in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers.  Along with Ron Harper and Mark Price who they also picked up that season, Daugherty was the literal centerpiece of a Cavs team that would regularly win 50 Games, and he was named an All-Star five times, and while he may not have been on the upper tier of NBA Centers, he wasn't far from it.  Daugherty was a Third Team All-NBA Selection in 1991/92, and he would have six straight seasons where he averaged 9.0 Rebounds per Game, with the last four seeing him go over 10.  Daugherty would also have three straight 20 Points per Game Seasons (1990-91 to 1992-93).

Mark Price came to Cleveland as part of a draft-day trade when he was chosen in the 2^nd Round in 1986 by the Dallas Mavericks for a future 2^nd Rounder of 1989.  Cleveland got Price, but Dallas would pick Jeff Hodge, who never played in the NBA.  

Were you expecting someone else?

LeBron James was so highly touted as the eventual number one pick that his high school games were broadcast on ESPN.  The Cleveland Cavaliers were thrilled to land the number one pick, and the native of Akron fittingly began his career with the team he grew up an hour away from. 

It was announced today by the Golden State Warriors that their former Center, Nate Thurmond died at the age of 74 after a bout with leukemia.

Thurmond, a member of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players list, played collegiately at Bowling Green before being drafted third overall in 1963 by the Warriors.   Thurmond was an All Star by his sophomore season and made the mid-season festivity seven times.  Thurmond was not known for his offense, a little surprising considering he exceeded 20 Points per Game per season.  Rather, he was known for his rebounding prowess finishing in the top five in boards per game six times.

Thurmond would be traded to the Chicago Bulls however thirteen games later he would be moved to the Cleveland Cavaliers, close to his hometown of Akron, Ohio.  The big man was a vital part of the Cavs miracle run to the Eastern Championship.

His number would be retired by both the Warriors and the Cavaliers.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Nate Thurmond at this time. 

Former NBA Power Forward, John “Hot Rod” Williams passed away today at the young age of 53 after losing a battle with prostate cancer. 

Williams, while never an All Star, was a popular player with the Cleveland Cavaliers but had to endure trials (literally) and tribulations to get there.

While playing at Tulane, Williams was not exactly an honor student and was labeled as a troublemaker in some circles.  Most notably, he would be charged with point shaving in three games.  Williams went to trial twice, the first resulting in a mistrial, the second being found not guilty, but as he was going through the judicial system, he was not able to suit up for the Cleveland Cavaliers who had selected him 45th overall in the draft.

Williams would play for Cleveland for nine seasons beginning in the 1986/87 season and would average over 10 Points per Game every season.  Overall, his Cavalier numbers were very good, as over 661 Games he averaged 31.5 Minutes, 12.9 Points, 7.1 Rebounds and 1.8 Blocks per Game with a PER of 16.4. 

“Hot Rod” would play another four seasons in the NBA, with the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks.

While he was perceived by some as a problem in college, his Cavaliers teammates praised him for personality and devotion to his team. 



We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of John Williams at this time.

One of the great shooters of all time, Austin Carr’s college run overshadows a very good pro career that was lost in the obscurity of playing in Cleveland.  However, shouldn’t the all time NCAA tournament scoring average leader be considered?  He scored sixty-one once in an NCAA tourney game, showcasing his legendary shooting.  Considering all the nonsense the Cavs have had to deal with recently, Carr, who is Mr. Cavalier, would give the city a nice boost with an induction.  Of course his induction in the College Hall of Fame in 2007 really hurts his chances of getting in the version in Springfield.