In 2005 Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James got unlucky after the team signed Larry Hughes as his second option for $70 million.
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LeBron James, the kid from Akron, was the hope of Cleveland. He was the messiah expected to lead the franchise to its first championship.
With that hope, the team picked him as the first overall draft pick in 2003. Bron went on to win the Rookie of the Year. Effectively proving to Cleveland fans and management his worth.
In his Sophomore season, James averaged 42.4 minutes and registered 27.2 points, 7.2 assists, and 7.4 rebounds. He shot 47.2% from the field while attempting 21.1 shots per game.
To put things into perspective, Steve Nash, the regular season MVP in 04-05, averaged 50.2% field goals on 11.4 attempts.
Yet, LeBron’s exceptional performance was not enough to help Cavs qualify for the playoffs. Seeing their crown prince struggle, the management decided to bring in a number 2 who could help Bron carry the team.
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Cleveland Cavaliers’ newest GM Danny Ferry signed the Wizards’ shooting guard to ease LeBron James’ workload
In 2005, Danny Ferry replaced Jim Paxson as Cleveland’s GM. His first decision as the general manager was to sign Larry Hughes.
A 6’5″ shooting guard, Hughes averaged 22 points, 4.7 assists, and 6.3 rebounds per game in 2004-05. He wasn’t just the second-best scorer on the Washington squad, trailing Gilbert Arenas by 0.5 points per game. But he also led the entire league in steals per game.
It was only natural for the Cavs management to consider such a prospect who was both offensively and defensively sound. Though they were pursuing Ray Allen as well, they ended up settling with Hughes.
His contract was estimated at $70 million over 5 years. The Wizards offered him a counteroffer of $70 million over 6 years but it wasn’t enough to keep Larry loyal to Washington.
Larry Hughes ended up being one of the worst signings in Cavaliers history
To be fair to Danny Ferry and Larry Hughes, Cavs did make the playoffs in 05-06. However, Hughes’ contribution to LeBron’s first career playoffs appearance was, to put simply, not enough.
He appeared in only 36 games in his first season with James and averaged 15.5 points. Apart from his contribution on the scoring end, Larry was a liability on defense.
He was poor at defending the perimeter and was easily dominated in the paint. Even his steals average had fallen to 1.5 per game. The steal champ of 2004-05 wasn’t even the best in his team anymore.
Larry’s career never was the same after his move to Cleveland. One of Washington’s big three, his steady decline that started in 2005-06 continued until the 2011-12 season, after which he quietly retired.
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