No. 1 – Dwyane Wade, 2017
One of the most infamous free agent signings in Cleveland history, the Cavaliers signed perennial All-Star guard Dwyane Wade just prior to the 2017-18 season to join their veteran-laden run at the NBA Finals in LeBron James’ fourth year of the “return.”
Anyone who was following the Cavs that year knows how much of a disaster the start of that year was. The Cavaliers had added a number of players as part of the Kyrie Irving deal or to replace departed veterans, and as a group, those players all fell flat on their face.
Wade was the most well-known of the players and so his wobbly play was the most pronounced, although in reality, the inability of Isaiah Thomas to provide much of anything due to his hip injury was the more damaging. Wade shot only 43.8 percent from the field, was careless with the basketball and wasn’t able to find a balance between being the on-ball star he had always been and providing off-ball value.
The Cavaliers got out of the situation in the best way possible, trading the 36-year-old guard back to the Miami Heat where he finished out his career in a sort of reconciliation with his longtime team. The combination of Wade and LeBron was lethal in Miami; it was toothless in Cleveland. The 13-time All-Star had none of that juice left with the Cavaliers, which places him at the top of this list.