Top Five Cavs Point Guards Of The Gund/Q Era

Dec 4, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Denver Nuggets point guard Andre Miller (24) reacts after he was called for a technical foul in the third quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

To commemorate twenty seasons of Cleveland Cavaliers basketball at Quicken Loans arena, King James Gospel is looking at the best in various categories during that span. Today we look at the top five point guards for the Cleveland Cavaliers during The Gund/Q Arena era. Last year finished up the Cavs 20th season in their hallowed arena.

#5: Andre Miller

Heading into the 1999 offseason, the Cavaliers were a couple years removed from the great Mark Price and Terrell Brandon and were looking for their new franchise point guard. They believe they found him in the ’99 draft in the form of Andre Miller who was coming off a dominant senior season at the University of Utah. Miller was lauded as a team player and fantastic floor general coming out of college and was viewed by many as the most complete point guard in the draft.

Miller did not immediately live up to his draft status as he began the season on the bench with little playing time, but as the season progressed, Miller quickly rose to the top of the depth chart, emerging as the team’s starter midway through the year.

Once Miller got onto the court, during his rookie season, it was clear the Cavaliers had something with him. He would go onto score 11.1 points and dish out 5.8 assists per game, which was good enough to earn the honor of being selected to the All-NBA Rookie First Team.

Unfortunately, Miller’s stellar rookie season did not finish in a playoff berth as the team failed to reach the tournament again and finished just 32-50.

The same can be said for Miller the following year. During his sophomore season, Miller’s numbers all saw an uptick as he saw ten more minutes of game time (from 25 to 35). Ultimately averaging 16 points and 8 assists. Both of which were outstanding numbers for a second year player, but the team saw no improvement to their record.

Things took a turn off the court for the team and Miller during and following his third year; a year in which he led the league in assists, racking up nearly 11 per game. At the end of the 2001-02, Miller was eligible for a contract extension and with his great play it appeared he was heading towards a max deal, something then GM Jim Paxson was simply not wanting to do. As a result, Miller and his agent, Lon Babby, requested a trade. A request that was granted July 30^th, 2002, as he was shipped off to the Clippers in exchange for Darius Miles and Harold Jamison.

Looking back now, it was a blessing in disguise that Paxson was unwilling to pay his budding superstar point guard. With Miller gone for the 2002-03 season, the Cavaliers faltered from not very good to the worst team in the league. What did that do? It set them up to win the lottery and the right to draft LeBron James.

Next: Mo Gotti