7 Former All-Stars the Cavaliers signed past their prime

No. 5 – Shawn Marion, 2014

Some stars are on-ball first options on a team, handling the ball and scoring in bunches. Others are elite role players, able to elevate their play alongside other stars. You need at least one player in that first category to win a championship, but if you don’t have the second category you’re toast, too.

Shawn Marion is one of the best examples of that second category from the last two decades. He could certainly score the basketball when called upon, but Marion was best deployed as a supporting player, and he was elite. He could defend four positions, rebounded extremely well for his size and was a part of a number of elite offenses around players such as Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki. Marion’s contributions earned him four All-Star selections and he made two All-NBA teams.

He was clearly on the decline when the Cavaliers signed him in 2014 as a veteran role player to fit around LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love; they weren’t prepared for just how drastic that decline was, however. A 36-year-old Marion was unable to make much of an impact, especially on offense, averaging just 4.8 points per game and turning the ball over as often as he assisted.

By the playoffs Marion was out of the rotation, playing only 25 minutes in their run to the NBA Finals. That would be his final season in the league, a successful one by team standards and a clear individual indicator that his career was over.