3 Cavaliers that first come to mind from 1994-2003 logo era
By Dan Gilinsky
#3: Lamond Murray
One of these three players that first come to mind from that aforementioned logo era for the Cleveland Cavaliers for me is Lamond Murray. Here, I could’ve went with a two-time All-Star in Terrell Brandon, an early Zydrunas Ilgauskas, or perhaps a defensive-minded guard and spot-up shooter in Bobby Phills.
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Murray is a player that I was always a big fan of, though, and I would’ve loved to have seen what he could do in today’s more three-point/perimeter-driven NBA.
Murray was initially acquired by Cleveland via sign-and-trade in 1999 involving the Los Angeles Clippers (now since re-branded as just the LA Clippers), for Derek Anderson and Johnny Newman, and though Murray was not the on-ball/constant defensive presence the likes of Anderson, Murray was a 6-foot-7 small forward that could hit shots consistently from deep.
He was an active cutter and had touch inside that would often lead to finishes off deliveries from players such as Andre Miller, Bob Sura and Brevin Knight and at 236 pounds, Murray could get his on the low block inside against less physical 3’s and at times rise up to shoot along the baseline.
He was capable of hitting pull-ups in the mid-range game, too.
Murray would eventually be traded to the Toronto Raptors for Michael Stewart and a future first-round pick after Murray wanted to be dealt with the Cavs bringing in Darius Miles at the time in 2002 and dealing Miller to the Clippers, but Murray again is a player that I truly enjoyed watching, anyhow.
In his three seasons with the Cavaliers from 1999-00 to 2001-02, Murray was a serviceable 3 man that had 15.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. He hit 39.3 percent of his three-point attempts, too, per Basketball Reference, and again, he’s definitely a Cavs player I think of when looking back at this ’94-03 era.