2. Jim Cleamons
The Ohio State product picked up a championship ring in his first season in 1971-72 as a bench player for a Los Angeles Lakers squad that went 69-13 during the regular season.
After that season, the Cavaliers dealt a second-round pick in 1974 for Cleamons, and during those first two years, he served an apprenticeship under Wilkens. By the 1974-75 season, Cleamons took over point guard duties and came close to leading the team to its first playoff berth.
Cleamons came into his own the following year, becoming a major part of the Miracle of Richfield that saw the Cavs reach the Eastern Conference finals.
In Game Five of a first-round series against the then-Washington Bullets, Cleamons hit one of biggest shots in Cavalier history by grabbing an air ball in the closing seconds and putting in the basket to pull out a one-point win.
After another playoff season the following year, Cleamons signed as a free agent with the New York Knicks. As compensation for signing him, the Knicks sent the aging Frazier to the Cavs, but the team soon slid into obscurity for much of the next decade.
