Cleveland Cavaliers: Top 30 all-time greatest players
By Ben Beecken
<ul> <li>12 seasons with Cavaliers (1997-2010)</li> <li>Averaged 13.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game</li> <li>2x All-Star with Cavs</li> </ul>. C. . Zydrunas Ilgauskas. 6. player. 156
Zydrunas Ilgauskas was the 20th overall selection in the 1996 NBA Draft out of Lithuania. He came stateside in 1997 and immediately had an impact, playing in all 82 games as a rookie and averaging 13.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game.
After only playing in five games in his second season, Ilgauskas went down with a dreaded foot injury that caused him to miss the entire 1999-00 campaign. Then, just 24 games played in 2000-01, and 62, including just 23 starts, the following year.
But by 2002-03, Ilgauskas played in 81 of 82 games in his age-27 season, averaging a career-high 17.2 points in 30 minutes per game. He was named to the All-Star team, and made the squad again two years later.
He was a key cog on the LeBron James-led teams during The King’s first tour in a Cavs uniform, appearing in 67 playoff games from 2005-10, averaging 10.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
Though he finished his career with James in Miami, Ilgauskas still managed to spend 12 of his 13 NBA seasons in the same uniform, and there’s something to said for that.