Cleveland Cavaliers Regular Season Rosters

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1997-1998 Cleveland Cavaliers Regular Season Roster

Jersey Player Pos HT WT YOS Pre-Draft Team Draft Status Nationality
23 Derek Anderson G 6-5 194 0 Kentucky 1997 Rnd 1 Pick 13 United States
2 Scott Brooks PG 5-11 165 10 UC Irvine 1987 NBA Draft, Undrafted United States
6 Mitchell Butler SG 6-5 210 4 UCLA 1993 NBA Draft, Undrafted United States
27 Tony Dumas F 6-6 190 3 UMKC 1994 Rnd 1 Pick 19 United States
35 Danny Ferry PF 6-10 230 7 Duke 1989 Rnd 1 Pick 2 United States
20 Greg Graham G 6-4 183 4 Indiana 1993 Rnd 1 Pick 17 United States
45 Cedric Henderson SF 6-7 215 0 Memphis 1997 Rnd 2 Pick 16 United States
11 Zydrunas Ilgauskas C 7-3 260 1 BC Aisciai-Atletas (Lithuania) 1996 Rnd 1 Pick 20 Lithuania
32 Henry James PF 6-8 220 7 St. Mary's (TX) 1988 NBA Draft, Undrafted United States
4 Shawn Kemp C 6-10 280 8 Trinity Valley CC 1989 Rnd 1 Pick 17 United States
12 Brevin Knight G 5-10 170 0 Stanford 1997 Rnd 1 Pick 16 United States
1 Wesley Person SG 6-6 195 3 Auburn 1994 Rnd 1 Pick 23 United States
52 Vitaly Potapenko C-F 6-10 280 1 Wright State 1996 Rnd 1 Pick 12 Ukraine
44 Shawnelle Scott C 6-10 250 2 St. John's 1994 Rnd 2 Pick 16 United States
3 Bob Sura G 6-5 200 2 Florida State 1995 Rnd 1 Pick 17 United States
30 Carl Thomas G 6-4 175 4 Eastern Michigan 1991 NBA Draft, Undrafted United States

1997-1998 Cleveland Depth Chart

  PG SG SF PF C
Starters B. Knight W. Person C. Henderson S. Kemp Z. Ilgauskas
Rotation   D. Anderson D. Ferry   V. Potapenko
Rotation   C. Thomas      
Rotation   B. Sura      
Lim PT S. Brooks M. Butler   H. James S. Scott

1997-1998 Central Division Standings

RankTeamRecordGB
1Chicago Bulls62-20-
2Indiana Pacers58-244
3Charlotte Hornets51-3111
4Atlanta Hawks50-3212
5Cleveland Cavaliers47-3515
6Detroit Pistons37-4525
7Milwaukee Bucks36-4626
8Toronto Raptors16-6646

1997-1998 Cleveland Awards & Honors

Player Award / Honor
Wesley Person Player Of The Week (12/07/97)
Brevin Knight All-Rookie First Team (1998)
Zydrunas Ilgauskas All-Rookie First Team (1998)
Cedric Henderson All-Rookie Second Team (1998)
Derek Anderson All-Rookie Second Team (1998)
Shawn Kemp Eastern All-Star Fan Vote Selection (1998)
Cedric Henderson Rising Stars Challenge Participant (1998)
Zydrunas Ilgauskas Rising Stars Challenge Participant (1998)
Brevin Knight Rising Stars Challenge Participant (1998)
Zydrunas Ilgauskas Rising Stars Challenge MVP (1998)

1997-1998 Cleveland Season Stat Leaders

Player GP MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK TOV
Shawn Kemp 80 34.6 18.0 9.3 2.5 1.4 1.1 3.4
Wesley Person 82 39.0 14.7 4.4 2.3 1.6 0.6 1.3
Zydrunas Ilgauskas 82 29.0 13.9 8.8 0.9 0.6 1.6 1.8
Cedric Henderson 82 30.8 10.1 4.0 2.0 1.2 0.5 2.0
Derek Anderson 66 27.9 11.7 2.8 3.4 1.3 0.2 1.9
Brevin Knight 80 31.0 9.0 3.2 8.2 2.5 0.2 2.4
Vitaly Potapenko 80 17.6 7.1 3.9 0.7 0.3 0.3 1.6
Danny Ferry 69 15.0 4.2 1.7 0.9 0.4 0.2 0.8
Bob Sura 46 20.5 5.8 2.0 3.7 1.0 0.2 2.0
Henry James 28 5.9 2.9 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.4
Scott Brooks 43 7.3 1.8 0.7 1.1 0.4 0.1 0.3
Carl Thomas 29 9.4 2.7 1.3 0.3 0.6 0.2 0.4
Shawnelle Scott 41 4.6 1.1 1.4 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2
Mitchell Butler 18 11.4 2.1 1.2 1.0 0.4 0.0 0.4
Greg Graham 6 9.3 2.7 0.2 1.0 0.2 0.0 1.7
Tony Dumas 7 6.7 2.0 0.7 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.7

1997-1998 Cleveland Cavaliers Roster Composition

Selected via Draft

Derek Anderson was selected as the #13 pick in the First Round of the 1997 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Derek Anderson signed a multi-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on July 7, 1997.

Cedric Henderson was selected as the #16 pick in the Second Round of the 1997 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cedric Henderson signed a multi-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on September 17, 1997.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas was selected as the #20 pick in the First Round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Zydrunas Ilgauskas signed a multi-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on August 1, 1996.

Brevin Knight was selected as the #16 pick in the First Round of the 1997 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Brevin Knight signed a multi-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on July 7, 1997.

Vitaly Potapenko was selected as the #12 pick in the First Round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Vitaly Potapenko signed a multi-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on July 26, 1996.

Bob Sura was selected as the #17 pick in the First Round of the 1995 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bob Sura signed a multi-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on September 29, 1995. Bob Sura signed a multi-year extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers on September 26, 1997.

Acquired via Draft Rights Trade

Draft Rights to Danny Ferry, the #2 pick in the First Round of the 1989 NBA Draft, were acquired by the Cleveland Cavaliers from the Los Angeles Clippers on November 16, 1989. Danny Ferry signed a multi-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on June 1, 1990.

Acquired via Trade

Shawn Kemp was acquired in a trade by the Cleveland Cavaliers from the Seattle SuperSonics on September 25, 1997. Shawn Kemp signed a multi-year extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 16, 1997.

Wesley Person was acquired in a trade by the Cleveland Cavaliers from the Phoenix Suns on October 1, 1997. Wesley Person re-signed to a multi-year contract as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 29, 1997.

Acquired via Free Agency

Scott Brooks signed a contract as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers on December 12, 1997.

Mitchell Butler signed a contract as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers on September 30, 1997.

Henry James signed a contract as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers on September 18, 1997.

Shawnelle Scott signed a contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on August 28, 1996. Shawnelle Scott re-signed to a multi-year contract as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers on September 9, 1997.

Carl Thomas signed a contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on February 2, 1998. Carl Thomas re-signed to a contract as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers on February 12, 1998. Carl Thomas re-signed to a contract as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers on February 22, 1998.

1997-1998 Cleveland Cavaliers Front Office

Staff Member Position Start Season Previous Job
George Gund Owner 1983-1984 N/A
Gordon Gund Owner, Majority Owner 1983-1984 N/A
Marvin Cross Director of Team Security 1981-1982 N/A
Mike Fratello Head Coach 1993-1994 Head Coach (Atlanta Hawks, 1983 to 1990)
Ron Rothstein Assistant Coach 1993-1994 Head Coach (Detroit Pistons, 1992 to 1993)
Sidney Lowe Assistant Coach 2021-2022 Assistant Coach (Detroit Pistons, 2018 to 2021)
Marc Iavaroni Assistant Coach 1997-1998 N/A
Wayne Embry General Manager 1985-1986 General Manager (Milwaukee Bucks, 1972 to 1980)
Mike Wilhelm Video Coordinator 1996-1997 Assistant Video Coordinator (Cleveland Cavaliers, 1993 to 1996)
Gary Briggs Head Athletic Trainer 1982-1983 N/A
Stan Kellers Strength and Conditioning Coach 1996-1997 N/A
Joe Tait Radio Broadcaster 1970-1971 N/A