Cleveland Cavaliers: 15 greatest draft steals in franchise history

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Ron Harper, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Four seasons w/Cavaliers (1986-89)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1986-87)
228 career games w/Cavaliers
19.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 1.0 blocks per game

Ron Harper is probably best known for two things in his NBA career: being the best player on the Los Angeles Clippers in the early 1990s, and of course, being a five-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. That being said, he got his professional start in Northeast Ohio playing for the Cavaliers.

Drafted No. 8 overall out of nearby Miami University, Harper would play part of his first four seasons in the NBA with Cleveland. The two-time MAC Player of the Year and a consensus All-American in 1986 would make the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1986-87.

Harper averaged 22.5 points, 4.8 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game during that first year in the NBA. Though his scoring margins would drop in his next two seasons, Harper was a guy the Cavaliers could count on at the 2-guard to give them buckets down the stretch.

Unfortunately, like many lottery picks in Cavaliers history, Harper would not get a second contract to stay in Cleveland. Harper was traded along with two future first-round picks and a future second-round pick to the Clippers in exchange for Danny Ferry and Reggie Williams in 1989.

In total, Harper averaged 19.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in 228 career games for the Cavaliers over parts of four seasons. After several years scoring a ton of buckets, but not getting it done in the Western Conference, Harper would sign with the Bulls as a free agent in Summer 1994. He would be part of the second three-peat with Michael Jordan in Chicago.

After being released by the Bulls in 1999, Harper would join his former head coach Phil Jackson with the Lakers. Harper won his final two NBA titles in his last two years in the league with the Lakers in 1999-00 and 2000-01. Overall, Harper was a man of sacrifice. He could have been a good stats, bad team guy forever, but wisely opted to be a team player later in his career to win NBA championships in Chicago and Los Angeles.