Starting tonight: An All-Time Cleveland Cavaliers Dream Team

Over the last 50-plus years, the Cleveland Cavaliers have had some great teams and players that have contributed to the franchise’s successes. We’ll take a look back at several of those teams and players as we give you the Cavs Dream Team of the best starting five of all-time. Any guesses as to who’s going to be the No. 1 player?

Before we get there let’s go down “Memory Lane” and enjoy reminiscing about the many great players that have played for the Wine and Gold. The fact is that the Cavaliers have had moments and years of greatness where they were challenging for championships. They’ve also had too many years struggling to reach respectability. When you start looking at the team’s history from a record point of view, one can see how some of their great players had a direct link to their success as a team.

I grew up in the era of watching the great Cavs teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Before that window of time and after that period times were really tough for the team. That all changed for the better when one Lebron James was drafted by the team in 2004. I wonder if he makes our list?

Guard: Mark Price

I grew up when Mark Price was the point guard for the Cavaliers. That’s the time when the team went away from the Wine and Gold uniform and were wearing the white/orange and light blue uniforms. I can still remember playing hoops in my neighbor’s driveway acting as if I were Price dishing the ball off to a Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance Sr. or a “Hot” Rod Williams. Those were some of the “Glory Days” of Cavalier basketball.

Those Cleveland teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s were some of the very best and Price was a huge reason why. When you want to define a “point guard” in the dictionary, Price’s picture should be there.

The kid played in Cleveland from 1986-1995. His points per game average was just over 16 points and his assists average was a solid 7.2 per game. He was a four-time All-Star, an NBA First Teamer, and a 2X Three-Point Contest Champion.

He still holds the best free throw percentage record of 90.6 % for his career. Outside of one LeBron James, he is still considered the best offensive player in Cavalier history. His three-point shooting was outstanding. He finished his career in Cleveland shooting 41% from beyond the arc.

During the 1989-90 season Price made over five threes a game and averaged a career-high 19.6 points a game. The Cavs were regulars in the playoffs and Price was an integral part of that.