![LeBron James has played 11 seasons with the Cavaliers. [Image Source: Flickr | Keith Allison]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2019/6/4/660x290/b_502x220x82/lebron-james-has-played-11-seasons-with-the-cavaliers-image-source-flickr-keith-allison_2274287.jpg "LeBron James has played 11 seasons with the Cavaliers. [Image Source: Flickr | Keith Allison]")
While the Cleveland Cavaliers had plenty of postseason appearances throughout the history, they never reached the NBA Finals until after they drafted LeBron James first overall in 2003.
While he is clearly the most impactful draft choice by Cleveland, he also isn't the only one that played an important role for the Cavaliers. Here are their 10 best draft choices since 1990.
As a subjective list, the players on the list and the order in which they are placed can be debated. In order to make the list, the player must have actually been drafted by the team. Only impact while with the Cavaliers is considered (Danny Green barely played for the Cavaliers before becoming a starting player on a championship Spurs team). This also isn't exactly a top-10 players drafted by Cleveland since 1990 list since where they were selected makes a difference (if a 28th overall pick has about as much impact as a 4th overall pick, the 28th pick will be higher). Someone like Collin Sexton will likely find his way on this list after a couple more strong seasons.
All Cavaliers' draft picks were found at Basketball Reference.
LeBron James - 1st round, 1st overall (2003)
In 11 seasons spanning two different stints with Cleveland, James won an NBA title (made five NBA Finals), won two MVPs, made the All-NBA First Team eight times, and averaged 27.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 7.3 assists.
Kyrie Irving - 1st round, 1st overall (2011)
An All-Star in four of his six years with Cleveland, Irving was a member of the 2016 championship team, won Rookie of the Year, and averaged at least 18.5 points each season.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas - 1st round, 20th overall (1996)
In the team's history, Ilgauskas has the most blocks (1,269) in a Cleveland uniform and is second in rebounds (5,904), points (10,616), and games (771).
Terrell Brandon - 1st round, 11th overall (1991)
Brandon was an All-Star in each of his last two seasons with Cleveland (1995-96 and 1996-97) when he combined to average 19.4 points, 6.4 assists, and 1.8 steals.
Chris Mills - 1st round, 22nd overall (1993)
Becoming a full-time starter by his second season, Mills played for the Cavaliers for four years and averaged 13.6 points while connecting on 38.7 percent of his three-point tries in his last three seasons with the team.
Tristan Thompson - 1st round, 4th overall (2011)
While Thompson may not necessarily have reached the heights expected of him after he was selected fourth overall, he was a full-time starter on the 2016 championship team and averaged a double-double (10.9 points, 10.2 rebounds) in 43 games last season. Cavs Nation recently reviewed how he performed in the 2018-19 season.
Carlos Boozer - 2nd round, 35th overall (2002)
He just played two seasons with Cleveland, but Boozer had a large role as a second round pick especially in his second season when he posted averages of 15.5 points and 11.4 rebounds.
Andre Miller - 1st round, 8th overall (1999)
Miller led the league in his last season with Cleveland (2001-02) in assists per game at 10.9, and he ranks eighth in franchise history with 2,015 assists despite only playing three seasons with the team.
Daniel Gibson - 2nd round, 42nd overall (2006)
Gibson spent the entirety of his seven-year career with the Cavaliers, and his 578 made three-pointers are the sixth-most in a Cleveland uniform.
Brevin Knight - 1st round, 16th overall (1997)
Knight averaged at least seven assists a contest in each of his full three years with Cleveland, and he averaged two steals in his 190 career games with the Cavaliers.
