No. 7 Cleveland Cavaliers big man: Kevin Love
When Kevin Love arrived in Cleveland prior to the 2014 season, when LeBron James was leading the Cavs charge toward a championship, you probably didn’t have him still being a Cavalier today. He’s now in his ninth season with the Wine and Gold. He came to them when he was just entering his prime as a player at the age of 26, and he’s now 34 years old. Will this be his last season? It could be, but what an amazing ride he’s had, and he’s helped the Cavaliers over that stretch with some great play.
Love has played the forward spot but has jumped into the center role as well and is definitely one of the best Cleveland big men of all time. In his tenure as a Cav, he’s averaged 16 points and nine rebounds. In recent seasons he’s become a three-point sharpshooter but when he was playing with LeBron James, he managed to do still some of the dirty work down in the paint.
In the Cavs 2016 championship season he averaged 16 points with 10 rebounds, and he’s had seven seasons in his career where he averaged more than 10 rebounds in a game. While both his points and rebounds have fallen over these last few seasons, his contributions to the organization over this last decade can’t be overstated.
He’s made five All-Star teams, and he made the All-NBA 2nd Team in the 2011 and 2013 seasons. He’s currently fifth all-time in total rebounds among active players with 8,659 and his 10.5 average rebounds per game in his career is currently seventh among active players as well.
The list goes on and on for Love and he will likely rise as one of the best big men in Cavs history once he retires.
No. 6 Cleveland Cavaliers big man: Roy Hinson
Hinson was brought to Cleveland during the 1983 NBA Draft as he was drafted at No. 20. He was a big part of those early 1980’s teams and helped the team reach the playoffs by 1985. He was later traded in a massive deal prior to the 1986 NBA Draft that sent him to the Philadelphia 76ers and allowed the Cavs to draft Brad Daugherty, who we will discuss in a bit.
From 1984-1986, Hinson was everywhere for those Cavs teams. He averaged 16 points in 1984 and almost 20 points in 1985, and he also was averaging about eight rebounds in each of those seasons. He was a blocking machine too during those years. He averaged close to two blocks a game. He was usually ranked in the top 10 in blocks during his career and was ranked as high as fifth in both the 1983 and 1984 seasons.
Before the Cavs became the playoff-contending group that they were in the late 1980s, Hinson was a staple on those Cavs teams that struggled to get wins. But that didn’t stop Hinson’s efforts and his contributions, like those of Phil Hubbard as mentioned before, should be honored.