Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 best No. 5 picks in NBA Draft history
By Ryan Piers
5. Walt Frazier
The list of No. 5 picks over the past decade is underwhelming. DeMarcus Cousins and De’Aaron Fox bookend a group of busts or under-performers (with one exception being Jonas Valanciunas).
Those two, albeit very good, miss the cut of the top five best players selected at the spot. The last name to make the list is an NBA pioneer and one of the best New York Knicks of all time, Walt “Clyde” Frazier.
Walt Frazier is on the short list of ultra-great defensive point guards. His speed was next to none while his quick hands pestered offenses and shrunk passing lanes as he averaged 1.9 steals per game. Keep in mind that’s with the statistic only being kept for about half is prime. Essentially, he was so good a swiping passes some statistician probably pinned up his glasses and said, “We need to call that something.” Frazier also averaged 18.9 points, 6.1 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game throughout his career.
His bonkers double-double of 36 points and 19 assists as the Knicks won their first NBA championship in 1970 is probably his career defining moment. Frazier should have been arrested for the amount of times he stole the ball from Jerry West.
Cleveland is unlikely seek a point guard at the No. 5 spot, but maybe skilled defender like De’Andre Hunter turns out to be Frazier-like. If Hunter averages 18 points, two steals and brings Cleveland a title, he’d turn out a major steal with the No. 5 selection.