With 18 days left until the start of the Cavs’ 2026/27 season, the countdown has reached a number with a surprisingly solid footprint in Cleveland history. The No. 18 list includes eight players, and it stretches all the way back to the franchise’s first season in 1971.
The earliest name on that list is 6-foot-9 forward John McLemore, who wore 18 during the Cavaliers’ inaugural NBA campaign. He played 58 games for Cleveland that season before being traded, then finished the year with 28 more appearances for the Milwaukee Bucks, giving him 86 games overall. In his lone season with the Cavs, he averaged 11.7 points per game.
The most decorated player to wear 18 for Cleveland is Hot Rod Williams, who became one of the team’s longest-tenured No. 18s. He was part of the Cavaliers under coach Lenny Wilkens and shared the floor with Mark Price and Brad Daugherty.
Williams earned All-Rookie honors in his first season and built a reputation as a defensive force. Even though he never officially won Sixth Man of the Year, he was widely viewed as one of the NBA’s best and most versatile sixth men.
His 1990 season pushed him into a different financial tier, too. After averaging 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks, Williams landed a seven-year, $26.5 million contract that made him one of the five highest-paid players in the league at the time.
Over nine seasons in Cleveland, Williams piled up a résumé that still sits near the top of the franchise record book. He ranks second all-time in blocks with 1,200, third in minutes with 20,802, fourth in rebounds with 4,669, sixth in games played with 661, and seventh in points with 7,451. Williams died in 2015 at age 53 after battling cancer, and he was part of the inaugural Wall of Honor class in 2019.
Another familiar No. 18 for Cavs fans is Matthew Dellavedova, who returned for a second stint and wore the number in 2019. Cleveland acquired him from the Bucks during the 2018/19 season, and he went on to play 106 games in 18.
During that stretch, he also helped with Darius Garland’s development. Dellavedova’s switch to 18 came with a playful online reveal: his old No. 8 jersey, then being worn by Jordan Clarkson, got a handwritten 1 added next to the 8 in the announcement.
The Cavaliers will honor Dellavedova this year on December 12 against the Golden State Warriors, a nod to the defense he played on Steph Curry in the 2016 Finals.
The rest of the No. 18 group includes Charlie Davis in 1972, Kornel David in 2000, Anthony Parker in 2012, Mike Miller in 2015, and Chuma Okeke in 2025.
In Other News...
Peyton Watson Opened Up About Why Cleveland Won Him Over
Peyton Watson had no shortage of options before settling on Cleveland, with multiple teams in the mix and the Lakers among those pursuing him. Instead, he landed with the Cavaliers on a four-year, $88 million contract and quickly settled into training camp with the kind of enthusiasm teams hope to see from a major addition. For a club trying to keep building on its defensive identity, the fit was obvious from the outside.
Watsons arrival matters because Cleveland already has Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley anchoring the front line, giving the Cavaliers a chance to make opponents work for everything in the paint and on the perimeter. Watson is expected to add another layer to that group, and his early commitment to the team only strengthens the sense that this was more than a simple free-agent decision. The Cavaliers wanted a defender, and they appear to have landed one who believes he found the right place, too. [Read more 🡒]
Peyton Watson Sounds Ready To Be Exactly What The Cavs Need
Peyton Watson arrives in Cleveland with the kind of profile the Cavaliers have been chasing, a young wing with defensive juice and enough upside to matter on both ends. The Cavs brought him in from Denver as part of a five-team trade that sent Dennis Schrder, Max Strus and a 2031 first-round pick the other way, a clear signal they were willing to pay for a player they believe can help shape their next step.
Watson has already sounded as if he understands the assignment, saying he is fully committed to the Cavaliers and sees Cleveland as the best place for both his basketball and cultural development. For a team still trying to push past its Eastern Conference Finals ceiling, that blend of buy-in and potential matters, because the Cavs are banking on Watson to grow into a piece who can add scoring, defend multiple spots and fit a roster with higher ambitions than just another good regular season. [Read more 🡒]
Kenny Atkinson Just Put Clevelands Expectations Under A Brighter Spotlight
ESPNs latest look at the leagues most pressure-packed coaching situations included Kenny Atkinson among five NBA coaches facing heightened expectations, a reminder that the Cavaliers are no longer being evaluated like a team simply trying to take the next step. With the roster built to chase bigger goals, the standards in Cleveland now come with the kind of urgency that leaves little room for slow starts or prolonged growing pains.
Atkinsons spot on that list reflects the larger challenge in front of him: guiding a team with real ambitions while balancing star power, inevitable roster turnover, and the constant demand to keep the season pointed toward the playoffs. For Cleveland, the attention is another sign that the conversation has moved beyond progress and into results, where the pressure only grows once the chase shifts from improvement to expectation. [Read more 🡒]