Starting tonight: An All-Time Cleveland Cavaliers Dream Team

Center: Brad Daugherty

He was the No. 1 selection of the 1986 NBA Draft and the Cavs future in the period of years that followed was a fantastic time for the organization and its fans. He helped tremendously, along with the selections of Mark Price and Ron Harper in that draft to turn the team’s fortunes around.

Daugherty came from North Carolina and wasn’t the sexy pick that year. That went to Len Bias, from Maryland, who actually died a few days after the draft. Bias was considered a future Michael Jordan-type player so the tragic news was stunning to the NBA at the time.

Daugherty made an instant impact on the team and would help Cleveland gain respectability and become regulars in the NBA postseason. He played all eight seasons of his career for the Cavs. He finished averaging 19 points and almost 10 boards. That’s a great accomplishment to average a double-double for his career. Even more impressive was that his average rebounds per game continually went up almost every season.

For his career, he was a 5-Time All-Star. He made the All-Rookie NBA Team back in 1987 and was named as a member of the All-NBA 3rd Team back in 1992. More importantly, the Cavs made the playoffs five times while Daugherty was with the squad. The team made it to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Chicago Bulls in 1992. The Bulls had the Cavs number over the years past as they had faced off in 1988 and 1989. The 1989 series is remembered because it was when Michael Jordan hit “the shot”.

Daugherty did all he could against the Bulls over the years but he and the team could never get past the Bulls. I believe if that Cavs team could have made it to an NBA Final during that time frame, Daugherty today would be considered an even more iconic figure in Cavs history.