1996–97 Cleveland Cavaliers season

The 1996–97 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 27th season for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association. The city of Cleveland, Ohio hosted the NBA All-Star weekend at the Gund Arena this season. In the 1996 NBA draft, the Cavaliers selected Ukrainian center Vitaly Potapenko out of Wright State University with the twelfth overall pick, and also selected Lithuanian center Zydrunas Ilgauskas with the 20th overall pick; however, Ilgauskas would miss the entire regular season due to a broken bone in his right foot. During the off-season, the team signed free agent and former Cavaliers center Mark West.

With the addition of Potapenko, the Cavaliers won nine of their first twelve games of the regular season, and got off to a 21–10 start to the season. However, the team lost 11 of their next 14 games, which included a six-game losing streak in January, and later on held a 25–22 record at the All-Star break. The Cavaliers played above .500 in winning percentage for the entire season, but struggled as the season progressed, losing 10 of their 16 games in March. On the final day of the regular season on April 20, 1997, the Cavaliers faced off against the Washington Bullets at the Gund Arena, as both teams were fighting for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference; the Bullets won the game by a score of 85–81, as the Cavaliers missed the NBA playoffs for the first time since the 1990–91 season, finishing in fifth place in the Central Division with a 42–40 record.

Terrell Brandon averaged 19.5 points, 6.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game, and also contributed 101 three-point field goals, while Chris Mills averaged 13.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, and Tyrone Hill provided the team with 12.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, and shot .600 in field-goal percentage. In addition, Bobby Phills contributed 12.6 points and 1.6 steals per game, while Danny Ferry provided with 10.6 points per game, and led the Cavaliers with 114 three-point field goals. Off the bench, second-year guard Bob Sura contributed 9.2 points and 4.8 assists per game, while Potapenko averaged 5.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, and West provided with 3.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, starting at center for half of the regular season.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Brandon was selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; it was his second and final All-Star appearance. Meanwhile, Sura participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and Potapenko was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference Rookie team.

For the third straight season, the Cavaliers were known as a low-scoring, defensive team led by head coach Mike Fratello's slow-paced, defensive coaching style; the team finished last in the NBA in scoring averaging 87.5 points per game, while allowing 85.6 points per game from their opponents, which was the best in the league, and also had the fifth best team defensive rating. On February 27, 1997, the Cavaliers defeated the defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls at the Gund Arena, by a low score of 73–70, in which All-Star guard Michael Jordan missed a three-pointer at the buzzer; the Bulls, along with the Utah Jazz, led the NBA in scoring averaging 103.1 points per game, and also had the third best team defensive rating. One month later on March 25, the Cavaliers lost to the San Antonio Spurs at the Alamodome, 64–59, in which both teams combined for a total of 123 points, and combined for 21 points alone in the fourth quarter; it was the second lowest-scoring game in NBA history at the time, and since the shot clock was introduced in the 1954–55 season.

The Cavaliers finished 16th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 692,684 at the Gund Arena during the regular season. Following the season, Brandon and Hill were both traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in an off-season three-team trade, while Mills signed as a free agent with the Boston Celtics, who then traded him to the New York Knicks two months later, Phills signed with the Charlotte Hornets, and West signed with the Indiana Pacers.