Unfortunately, the idea of the Cavs ever luring a marquee NBA free-agent to sign here still draws chuckles from many basketball insiders.

Pardon their French, they say, but that ain't happening - even if the Cavs have a player-friendly head coach in John Lucas.

Still, the insiders say if the Cavs are smart, they should already be sharpening this point in their pitch to convince star guard Andre Miller - a potential free agent after next season - to stay here.

Recent history shows there are worse things that can happen to an NBA player than remaining a big fish in a small NBA pond like Cleveland.

For example, say the basketball folks, the Cavs should quietly point to former players like Vitaly Potapenko, Derek Anderson, Chris Gatling, Bob Sura and Clarence Weatherspoon to help convince Miller that wearing a Cavs uniform long-term isn't exactly a prison sentence.

All five players, they say, could have had hardcore Cavs fans wrapped around their fingers had they simply shown patience and focused on playing while here - and not assume there were greener NBA fields over the fence.

With the exception of Anderson, who had a breakout season with San Antonio last year (but now treads water with underachieving Portland), none of the recent ex-Cavs have really done much away from Cleveland.

If the Cavs do

become a playoff contender this season - and, naturally, they had a losing streak after we recently predicted they would make the playoffs - there are plenty of well-known, unemployed NBA players available as veteran bench help. In addition to former Cavs Chucky Brown, Shawnelle Scott and Ron Harper (and onetime St. Joseph High star Kevin Edwards), some recognizable names now looking for NBA jobs include Matt Maloney, Robert Pack, Vinny Del Negro, Chris Carr, Vernon Maxwell, J.R. Rider, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Mario Elie, Cedric Ceballos, A.C. Green, Otis Thorpe, Olden Polynice, Wil Perdue and Arvydas Sabonis.

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Cleveland Cavaliers

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