5 greatest players the Cleveland Cavaliers regret giving up on too soon

No. 4 - Kevin Johnson

In 1987, the Cavs drafted Kevin Johnson at No. 7 out of California. He came in after the likes of Mark Price and Ron Harper were already playing the guard position for the team. There just weren't the minutes or starts for the rising star and future 3-time NBA All-Star. So in February of that first season, Johnson was traded to the Phoenix Suns for Larry Nance, Sr., other players and draft picks.

For Cleveland, getting Nance was a huge deal. Pairing him alongside Brad Daugherty gave Cleveland an era of elite frontcourt presence. The Cavs would have plenty of success with their team in the years to follow; however, Johnson would have an equal amount of success as the Sun's primary guard. He helped Phoenix get to the playoffs routinely. That included a run to the Western Conference Finals three times and one appearance in the NBA Finals in 1993.

No. 5 - Andre Miller

The savvy point guard Andre Miller was drafted by Cleveland in the 1999 NBA Draft at No. 8. He immediately became a solid point guard for the Cavs over the next three seasons. He would average 14.5 PPG and he dished out over 8 assists a game. However, the teams that Miller played on in Cleveland were pretty bad and by his third season, the Cavs organization wanted to mix things up and traded Miller to the Los Angeles Clippers for a young player named Darius Miles.

Miles had been drafted by the Clippers in 2000 at No. 3, straight out of high school. There was a lot of potential with Miles so the Cavs made the deal in the summer of 2002 for him and sent Miller to LA. The trade backfired for the Cavs as Miles never made a serious impact on the team. By January of 2004, he was traded for practically nothing to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Miller on the other hand had a stellar 18 year NBA career making multiple All-Star Games and being considered a Top 5 guard for many of those years. If the Cavaliers managed to keep Miller and still draft LeBron James in 2003, Cleveland's basketball history could have been entirely different.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have drafted and cultivated incredible talent since establishing the franchise in 1970. But, for every Cavs legend, Cleveland has had just as many missed opportunities. From Hall of Famers and eventual NBA Champions, the Cavaliers likely regret the decision to move on from these five talents.