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.

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.  As of this writing, he is still with the Cavaliers.

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 number three 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 their first NBA Championship in 2016.

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.