Worst Cavaliers free agent signings No. 2: Donyell Marshall, 2005
Two players remain on this list, and they both share something in common: they were signed in the summer of 2005. At that point, two seasons of LeBron James had convinced the Cavaliers (correctly) that he was ready to compete at a high level, and they handed out big money (for the time) to upgrade around him. The problem was that they chose the wrong players.
The Cavs had a strong one-two punch with LeBron and Zydrunas Ilgauskas and a bunch of defense-first players like the aforementioned Ira Newble. What they desperately needed was shooting, and they handed a four-year, $22 million contract to 32-year-old forward Donyell Marshall.
The prior season Marshall had flashed a 3-point shot, hitting 41.6 percent from long-range. That accuracy did not carry over to the Cavs, as he hit only 32.4 percent in the 2005-06 season. When over half of his shots came from deep, that lack of accuracy constricted the Cavs’ offense and plummeted Marshall’s personal efficiency.
His lack of contributions in any areas other than rebounding and missing shots led to fewer and fewer minutes, and after 2.5 seasons the Cavs finally gave up and shipped him to Seattle at the 2008 Trade Deadline. In 173 games he shot 33.5 percent from deep, 40.3 percent overall from the field, and averaged only 7.8 points. He was not the weapon the Cavs needed…and neither was the final player on our list.