Cleveland Cavaliers: Assembling their all-time starting five

The all-time Cavs starting C: Brad Daugherty

In terms of the the Cavs all-time starting center, I have to go with Brad Daugherty here.

Just like Nance and Price, Daugherty was a player who was among those initially featured on the Cavs Wall of Honor in the recently-renovated Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, which debuted this season and features the players that already have their jerseys retired and also features non-players, such as the Wine and Gold’s first owner that led a group that brought the club to fruition in Nick Mileti.

To me, this decision was a pretty easy one in regards to Daugherty being the guy rounding out the Cavs all-time starting five. It was really a shame that Daugherty only was able to play eight seasons for the Cavaliers due to seemingly chronic back ailments, but he clearly made the most of his time when he was able to go for Cleveland.

In his tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1986-87-1993-94, the true 7-footer had outstanding footwork, rare touch on hooks/as a pick-and-roll finisher, was a high quality screener, rebounder and though wasn’t much of a rim protector, he was solid positionally in the post and at least rotated well.

What was a certainty with Daugherty, especially in the short roll, was he would make opposing bigs pay if they dropped to contain his roll. Daugherty, similarly to Nance, was a knockdown mid-range shooter, and coupled with his passing vision and acumen (3.7 assists per game for his career), it was no shock that he was a five-time NBA All-Star and one-time All-NBA 5.

Granted, Jim Chones, who was a key member of the Miracle of Richfield, was someone I considered here as well with his tough inside presence on both ends, and it was truly a shame that his broken foot played right into the Cavs’ first postseason run ending in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Chones was not nearly the player offensively Daugherty was as a scorer (19.5 points per game for his career) and passer, though. Neither has a defensive stalwart (for much of his career) and offensive rebounding/screener extraordinaire in Tristan Thompson, who is reportedly likely to play elsewhere next season (whenever that is), but TT is a player I’ll always appreciate.

Additionally, the all-time blocks leader in Cavs history, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, whose foot issues unfortunately limited him in his career, was a rock solid team defender/rim protecting presence, rebounder and mid-range shooter as well. Even so, Daugherty was again, the clear choice for me here as a player that would FEAST playing alongside the likes of James and Irving, in particular, and was again, a five-time All-Star.

Alrighty then, well that wraps up my Cleveland Cavaliers all-time starting five. How does mine compare to yours, Cavs fans?

Feel free to let us know your starting five in the comments section, on Twitter (@KJG_NBA) or on Facebook (@fansidedkjg). Thanks as always, readers!