Cleveland Cavaliers: The all-time ‘ones who got away’ team
Wings
Danny Green: 42nd overall selection (second round), 2009
Stats with Cleveland: 20 games, 2 points per game / 0.9 rebounds / 0.3 assists
Career stats: 8.4 points per game / 3.4 rebounds / 1.4 assists. One-time NBA Champion. One-time All-NBA Defensive team.
Danny Green was considered a steal when selected at the beginning of the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft. The Cleveland Cavaliers were in the midst of the LeBron Era 1.0 and Green never got playing time. He was waived by the Cavs, and signed with the San Antonio Spurs and bounced around the then D-League Austin Toros and Reno Bighorns. Green broke into the Spurs’ rotation in the 2011-12 season playing 66 games.
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While Green was never a superstar, he developed into one of the top “3-and-D” guys in the NBA. In nine seasons and counting, he’s shot the three-point shot over 39.0 percent and eclipsed the 40.0 percent mark in five seasons. Green was a key rotation player on a champion team.
Green never got his chance with the Cavs, and to be fair, no other team took a flyer on him. He worked hard to develop his game and became a really solid NBA player.
Allen Crabbe: 31st overall selection (second round), 2013
Career Stats: 9.4 points per game / 2.6 rebounds / 1.2 assists
Allen Crabbe may not constitute a star or even a great sixth man, but on the Cavs “ones that got away” team, he could provide some depth.
Crabbe was selected by the Cavs and promptly traded for two second-round picks to the Portland Trailblazers (per initially ESPN’s Jeff Goodman). Crabbe is noted for his shooting ability and had a breakthrough year in his junior campaign, putting up 10.3 points a night and shooting the three-ball at 39.3 percent. After a solid 2015-16 season, Crabbe signed a four-year extension worth 75 million dollars. A year later, he was traded to Brooklyn, where he remains.
Crabbe is a solid backup wing player, with the ability to get hot from outside the arc. The Cavs could use some shooting right now, in fact.