Cavs’ Draft: 5 best players to go 14th in NBA Draft history
Cavs’ Draft: 5 best players to go 14th: No. 4 – Tim Hardaway, 1989
Not to be confused with his son, this entry is for Tim Hardaway (no junior) who entered the league out of UT-El Paso in the 1989 NBA Draft. That draft eventually saw nine players make All-Star teams, but its best players all went late: Shawn Kemp went 17th, Vlade Divac went ninth and Hardaway went 14th. The only stud to go in the Top 10 was Glen Rice out of Michigan, who went fourth.
Hardaway was an explosive point guard whose scoring exploded off the court, and who was not afraid to pass the ball to an open teammate. He averaged 17.7 points and 8.2 assists per game for his career, numbers that were even higher before a couple of lost seasons at the end of his career. He made five All-NBA teams and is in the Hall of Fame.
Cavs’ Draft: 5 best players to go 14th: No. 5 – Bam Adebayo, 2017
Bam Adebayo makes it here over some decorated players such as Dan Majerle, K.C. Jones and Peja Stojakovic. In the end, Adebayo has already accomplished nearly just as many, if not more, high-end outcomes than anyone else taken with the 14th pick.
The former Kentucky big man is a one-time All-Star primarily because of the poor timing of injury luck, but he is also a three-time All-Defense winner and has led his team to the Conference Finals once and the NBA Finals. He can switch, handle, score and rebound and should only continue to develop into a dominating presence.
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Honorable Mentions: Peja Stojakovic (1996); Dan Majerle (1988); Tree Rollins (1977); K.C. Jones (1956)