2001–02 Cleveland Cavaliers season

The 2001–02 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 32nd season for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association.^[1] For the third consecutive year, the Cavaliers received the eighth overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft, and selected high school center DeSagana Diop.^[2][3][4] During the off-season, the team re-acquired former Cavaliers forward Tyrone Hill, and Jumaine Jones from the Philadelphia 76ers,^[5][6][7] acquired Ricky Davis from the Miami Heat,^[8][9] acquired Michael Doleac from the Orlando Magic, and signed free agents Bryant Stith and Brian Skinner.^[10][11] The team also hired John Lucas as their new head coach.

Under Lucas and with the addition of Hill, Davis and Jones, the Cavaliers got off to a horrible start by losing nine of their first eleven games of the regular season, then suffered a 12-game losing streak in January. Hill only played just 26 games due to sore back spasms,^[12] and Diop failed to live up to expectations only playing just 18 games due to knee, ankle and foot injuries. The Cavaliers lost 50 games for the third consecutive season, finishing in seventh place in the Central Division with a 29–53 record.^[13]

Lamond Murray averaged 16.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and contributed 101 three-point field goals, while Andre Miller averaged 16.5 points, 10.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and Wesley Person provided the team with 15.1 points per game, and also led them with 143 three-point field goals. In addition, Davis contributed 11.7 points per game off the bench, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas averaged 11.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, Jones provided with 8.3 points and 6.0 rebounds, and second-year center Chris Mihm contributed 7.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Hill averaged 8.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, Doleac provided with 4.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, and Skinner contributed 3.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.^[14]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Person participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout,^[15][16] while Mihm was selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as a member of the Sophomores team.^[17][18] The Cavaliers finished 23rd in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 596,115 at the Gund Arena during the regular season.^[14][19]

Following the season, Murray was traded to the Toronto Raptors,^[20][21][22] while Miller and Stith were both traded to the Los Angeles Clippers,^[23][24][25] and Person was dealt to the Memphis Grizzlies.^[26]