Ranking the Cavs top international players as listed by HoopsHype

How the Cavs should stack up on HoopsHype’s Top 75 list.

HoopsHypes posted their list of the Top 75 International players in NBA history, and among their Top 75 are some of the best stars in NBA history and several guys who never took the leap. It’s a really solid list, with Hakeem Olajuwon, Dirk Nowitzki, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steve Nash, and Pau Gasol representing your first through fifth picks. Just about every team has at least one representative on the list, the Cavs included.

The Cavaliers are represented pretty well, with six-ex players making the list and one former first overall NBA Draftee.

It should come as no surprise that Zydrunas Ilgauskas is on the list, but what about the rest of the players? Well here’s how HoopsHype saw them, and to be clear, this is how they saw their NBA careers. Not just their stint with the Cavs.

Ex-Cavs on the HoopsHype list.

"#31 Luol Deng (South Sudan)#32 Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Lithuania)#34 Andrew Bogut (Australia)#36 Ricky Rubio (Spain)#52 Andrew Wiggins (Canada)#55 Jose Calderon (Spain)#58 Tristan Thompson (Canada)"

What would a Cavs-centric version of the list look like?

So I thought it’d be fun to look at this list if we ranked it from a Cavs-specific perspective. How would it look?

Well, looks look at the first spot and go from there.

1. Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Ilgauskas is without a doubt the best foreign player the team ever had. He played all but one of his pro seasons in Cleveland, totaling 771 games. He averaged 13.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game during his time in Cleveland while going to the NBA Finals once and making two All-Star Games.

2. Tristan Thompson

You could argue and easily so, that Tristan Thompson is a borderline bust. Being a Top 4 player in the NBA Draft means you make at least one All-Star Team or a non-rookie All-NBA squad, and Thompson did neither. His career per game isn’t great either, averaging just 9.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, across his 619 games as a Cavalier. He did win an NBA title and did start 68% of his games while in Cleveland.

3. Ricky Rubio

In just 25 games (as of press), Ricky Rubio is scoring 13.5 points per game, while averaging 6.2 assists per game. Primarily one of two major bench players for the Cavs during the 2021-2022 season, his impact on the Cavaliers revival season helps him jump over some of the others on this list. Though, admittedly, it’s not exactly hard to leap over everyone else.

4. Luol Deng

Primarily known for his time in Chicago, the Cavs got Luol Deng for half-a-season in 2013-2014, the last year of”suck” from the previous Cavs rebuild. Deng came to Cleveland for Andrew Bynum a projected first, some pick-swaps, and some seconds. He only played 40 games and looked bad doing it, (42% from the floor, 32% from three). It’d go down as one of the worst trades in franchise history if the team didn’t come back the next year with LeBron James, Kevin Love, and four straight NBA Finals appearances (and one win). Deng averaged just 14 points and five rebounds during his brief stint

5. Jose Calderon

The former Toronto Raptor legend, Jose Calderon, came in during the 2017-2018 season and averaged just four points and two assists per game across 57 games for Cleveland. In that time he started 32 and was along for the ride in the team’s quest to win their second NBA title in four years.

6. Andrew Wiggins

Andrew Wiggins never played a minute for the Cavs’ main squad but did play for the franchise during the Summer League, so I’m counting it. He was then useful in getting an NBA Championship in Cleveland by being trade bait for Kevin Love.

7. Andrew Bogut

The Cavs signed former rival Andrew Bogut to be a major piece in their last-ditch effort to take another title home. Bogut was a trade casualty by the Warriors in their quest to get Kevin Durant. Bogut’s landing in Cleveland was a huge coup but just 57 seconds into his career with Cleveland he broke his leg and was done for the year.