LeBron James leads the Cavaliers franchise with 6,228 assists.
There is zero surprise about who has the most assists in Cleveland Cavaliers history. Arguably, no franchise is more associated with one man, yet it is also defined solely by that one man. Kobe Bryant is a Lakers icon, but so are Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and others. Cleveland has had some good players, but LeBron James stands as a living legend, and he’s done that even though he’s spent much of his career not playing for the franchise. So beyond the Cleveland Cavalier, who else has picked up enough assists to be in the top five?
The day the Cleveland Cavaliers found out they had the No.1 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft was the most important day in the history of the franchise, and this is a franchise that goes back to the early 1970s. LeBron wasn’t just a kid from Akron. He was seen as the best prospect since Michael Jordan. Turns out, that wasn’t hyperbole. While the 2024-25 season will mean that LeBron has played as many seasons away from Cleveland (11) as with the Cavaliers, he’s still the best player in Cavs history. He’s the franchise leader in goals (8,369), rebounds (6,190), steals (1,376), and assists (6,228). In fact, LeBron is the leader in assists by a comfortable margin (+2,022).
Sometimes, sports pontificators speak of a “Hall of Very Good.” It’s a designation given to players who, while not necessarily Hall of Fame caliber, were quite good and deserve a little extra love. Price is such a player. He is perhaps best known for his elite free-throw shooting.
Price finished top three in free-throw percentage in NBA history, but the four-time All-Star was also a strong passer. During his time with the Cavs, he averaged 7.2 assists per game.
James is clearly the top assist guy for the Cavs, and Price is comfortably second. That seems fair, given that those two are probably the best players in Cavaliers history (solely based on what they did for the franchise). Bagley was one of those pass-first forwards you saw in the 1980s, but are less common now. In his career, he only averaged 8.7 points per game, but that’s paired with an average of 6.0 assists per game. Bagley’s best campaign was 1985-86 when he put up 11.7 points and 9.4 assists per contest.
Brandon played in the NBA for a little over a decade and made two All-Star games. Both of those appearances came with the Cavaliers. It surely helped that he averaged over 19 points per game in those years, but he also dished out over six dimes per contest in those years as well. He actually became a better and more prolific passer after leaving Cleveland, first with Milwaukee (7.6 assists per game) and then with Minnesota (8.3 assists per game).
This was a worthwhile endeavor solely to reference a player with a name as great as Foots Walker. Born Clarence Walker, he went by Foots and was with the Cavaliers in the early days of the franchise. A third-round pick in 1974, Walker spent six seasons with Cleveland. In his last season with the Cavaliers he averaged eight assists per game, which gave him enough assists to still be fifth on the franchise’s leaderboard…for now.
