Yes, you read correctly.  Damon Jones is the 5th greatest Cavalier of all-time (of the last 15 years).  There's not really a whole lot room for of debate on this one.  Although not currently with an NBA team, Damon is quite a talented player and made his impact on the Cavaliers organization, while exuding a prodigious amount of swagger that P Diddy could only dream of. 

Damon was born in the great state of Texas in 1976.  He played his high-school ball for the Ball High Gordon Tornadoes, and was such a good perimeter shooter that he single-handedly helped create a popular cheer.  "Three's Please!" the crowd would chant, and Jones would deliever more times than not.  He graduated high school in 1994 and decided to stay in-state, playing his college basketball for the University of Houston. 

Damon Jones would only play 3 years at Houston and still left as the school's all-time leader in 3 point field goals.  After his junior season he decided to take his talents to the NBA, and effectively declared himself eligible for the 1998 NBA Draft.  Little did he know that no team wanted him, as he went undrafted. 

Jones eventually signed with the New Jersey Nets and would bounce around the league in his first few years in the Association.  All before 2004, he wore the jerseys of the Nets, Celtics, Warriors, the Mavericks, Grizzlies, Pistons, as well as the Kings and then Bucks.  He probably racked up some solid frequent flyer miles just by being traded alone. 

DJ would finally find a team he would have a significant impact on when he signed with the Miami Heat for 2004-2005 season.  It was in Miami that he would see career highs in minutes (31 per game) and points (11 per game).  He also shot 43% from behind the 3 point line.  The Cleveland Cavaliers took notice and decided to give Jones a 4 year, $16 million dollar contract for his services. 

Bringing in Damon was part of an ongoing effort to surround LeBron with excellent perimeter shooting, and Jones was just the man for the job.  He made a career sitting at the 3 point line, waiting for a pass to come his way, as Shaq and then LeBron drew double teams.  It's no surprise that the supremely self-confident Jones would become famous for his proclamation, "I am the Best Shooter in the World." He would later refer to himself as the "Black Brad Pitt." 

Damon brought a new level of excitement to the Cavaliers that meshed well with the emergence of Cleveland as a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference.  Damon's most notable performance of his career in a Cavalier uniform undoubtedlty came on May 5, 2006.  DJ has not been seeing much of any playing time in the playoffs, but was inserted into Game 6 vs. the Washington Wizards in the 1st round of the playoffs, late in the game.  How late?  DJ came off the bench in overtime, and in his first minute of action he hit the game-winning shot to bounce the Wizards out of the playoffs.  LeBron would show his apprecation.

Less was made of another game, my personal favorite of his time in Cleveland.  On November 13th, 2006, Damon would play one of the best games of his career. 

The Cavaliers traveled to Madison Square Garden to dominate the Knicks.  Everyone expected LeBron to tear the roof off of the building he says he loves playing in.  Enter Damon Jones, who in this game would match King James with 29 points, setting a franchise record for 3 pointers in a half making 7 of 10.  Jones was simply on fire, and and I could not have been happier as I sat there watching Damon light up the Knicks at basketball-mecca MSG.  Damon definitely let the crowd know about it too. 

Although he would never average more than 6 points per game in any of his 3 seasons with the Cavaliers, Damon was one of the most exciting players on the team to watch.  His high leg-kick to back off defenders, and "Three's on a platter" made him a fan-favorite, and Damon was truthfully my second favorite player on our team from 05-08.

Another interesting fact about Damon is that he sold his soul (or sole) to the Chinese company "Li Ning" for his shoe deal.  Much like LeBron, he had aspirations to become an international business man and make his name known around the globe.  He truly marketed himself as the greatest shooter in the world, whether or not that statement was justified (it wasn't).  Damon was the first NBA player to ink a shoe-deal with a Chinese company. 

D-Jones is also known for his outlandish wardrobe selection;  He has been seen in some of the most inexplicable outfits ever seen.  Damon on the NBA dress code:  "I created the dress code. I am the dress code. A lot of guys were upset about the fact we had to put suits on. But when you go into the business world, you have to be presentable, you can’t go into a Fortune 500 company with jeans, a T-shirt and do-rag on your head."

Another great quote from DJ came after a game where he played against the best player in NBA history, Michael Jordan.  Listen to him recall his first on-court conversation with Michael Jordan:

“I told him if he left me open again that I was going to burn him,” Jones said.  “He looked at me like, ‘Do you know who I am?"

“So he left me open again,” Jones said, “and I burned him.”

Damon was one of the most colorful players in NBA history and took trash-talking to another level.  He never underestimated his abilities, which made him highly quotable and he became regarded as one of the most comedic players in the league.  The Cleveland Cavaliers were the only team in his career that he would play consecutive seasons for.  Damon Jones is a Cavalier-Legend in my book.  Damon Jones is Underrated

                    

Enough time has passed.  Resuming the countdown, we arrive at the 6th greatest Cavalier of all-time, Andre Miller.  Andre had several years with the Cavs where he was one of the few consistent players who legitimately deserved to have the prestige of representing the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Andre was born 34 years ago in Los Angeles, California.  The 6 foot 2" point guard played all 4 years at the University of Utah, something you rarely see great players do now-a-day's. 

In 1998, Andre led Utah to the NCAA championship, where they lost to Kentucky.  He had the pleasure of playing alongside the great Keith Van Horn.  Miller also made headlines when he had a rare triple-double in the NCAA tournament.  Unlike a select few un-educated players in Miami, Andre actually has a college degree as he earned his Bachelors in Sociology. 

The Cavaliers saw real upside with Miller and drafted him with the 8th overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft.  In his rookie season, he started 36 games and quickly proved his worth on the court.  Andre averaged an impressive 11 points per game, to go along with almost 6 assists.

After the Cavaliers moved Shawn Kemp out of the picture, this was pretty much Andre's team.  In the 2000-2001 season he would lead the Cavaliers in points scored.  He averaged 15.8 per game, on a team with Lamond Murray, Wesley Person, Trajan Langdon, and Brevin Knight.  Unfortunately, that year the Cavaliers weren't exactly playoff-caliber, as the 30-52 record might suggest. 

After the season, coach Randy Wittman was replaced and in came John Lucas.  Andre was already established as the starting point guard and his numbers would only get better.  He shot 45% from the field that year, and led the Cavaliers in just a few minor categories: games played, minutes played, assists, field goals attempted, free throws attempted, and he posted an impressive 126 steals on the year.   

Other than a few Ricky Davis dunks, Andre Miller pretty much was the 2001-2002 Cavaliers.  Without enough (or any) help surrounding him, the Cavaliers record would get worse, and they finished 29-53 on the season. 

After the season, Andre Miller was inexplicably traded to the Los Angeles Clippers for one, Darius Miles.  Although Darius also could dunk, this was essentially throwing in the towel on the 2002-2003 season, as we gave away our best playmaker in Miller.  Andre's stats and play had improved every season and he should have been held on to for much longer.

Andre would spend only one year in Los Angeles before he was signed a multi-year deal with the Denver Nuggets.  He would play a huge part in the Nuggets rise to respectability in the Western Conference.  He has never had problems with durability;  Andre had only missed 3 games in his first 7 seasons in the NBA.  Compare that to one, Prince James, who for all intents and purposes missed two games in the playoff series with the Boston Celtics this year.

He would play 3 productive seasons in Denver before playing from 2006-2009 with the Philadelphia 76ers.  They really were never going to be a competitive team, and in 2009 Miller decided to take his talents to Portland, inking a 3 year, $21 million dollar contract. 

During his time in Cleveland, he was on the NBA All-Rookie First Team, became the first player in Cleveland history to win player of the week twice, and also set a franchise record for total assists in a season (882).  He also was the only NBA player to average 10+ assists and points during the 2001–02 NBA season.  He played the game at an uptempo speed and caused match-up problems against other Point Guards in the league. 

I'll never forget how his feet barely came off the floor when he took 3-point shots.  It was like he was barely even jumping.  Luckily he escaped Cleveland before the 17-65 team took the floor the next year.  Andre was a great Cavalier and he gave the Cleveland franchise far more than they deserved at the time.  He rarely dunked, but as you'll see, when he decided to, he was going to do it big.  His passing ability was spectacular and he always played to win.  Andre Miller is Underrated