Cleveland Cavaliers: Top 30 all-time greatest players

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(Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) /

25. player. 156. <ul> <li>5 seasons with Cavaliers (1972-77)</li> <li>Averaged 9.4 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game</li> </ul>. PG. . Jim Cleamons

After playing just 201 minutes as a rookie with the Los Angeles Lakers, Jim Cleamons was traded to Cleveland in exchange for a second-round draft pick prior to the 1972-73 season.

Cleamons immediately became an important cog in the Cavaliers’ rotation, averaging 28.1 minutes per game over five full seasons with the team.

He averaged more than five assists per game in three consecutive seasons, running the point for the 1975-76 Eastern Conference Finals squad and the 1976-77 team that lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Cleamons was a solid player for a half-decade in Cleveland, and saw his overall numbers dip significantly after joining the New York Knicks and then the Washington Bullets to finish his career.