Former Billiken star Larry Hughes has finally found a place to call home. After seven years in the National Basketball Association and three different teams, Hughes signed a contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer that will pay him about $60 million over five years. With his contract expiring at the end of the 2004-2005 season, Hughes picked a great time to have the best season of his career. He averaged 22 points per game, just over six rebounds a game, almost five assists per game, and led the Association in steals, with 2.89 per contest. Those numbers earned Hughes a spot on the All-Defensive Team and enabled him to cash in when the free agent signing period began.
Born and raised in St. Louis, Larry attended Christian Brothers Academy for high school. While in prep school, Hughes gained national attention for his basketball skills and was the prized recruit of then SLU coach Charlie Spoonhour. Hughes spurned offers from better-known programs such as Syracuse, Kansas and Illinois to attend SLU and remain close to his family. “Smooth,” as he is often called, was the national Freshman of the Year in 1997-1998, when he led Conference USA in scoring and guided the Bills to an NCAA tournament birth. After one year at SLU, Hughes left college for the NBA, where he was drafted number eight overall by the Philadelphia 76ers.
Early in his professional career, Hughes struggled to find his niche. In Philadelphia, he was branded with the dreaded “tweener” tag. Not a good enough ball handler to start at point guard, and not a good enough outside shooter to play shooting guard, Hughes was shuffled between both positions, and rarely found the starting lineup because he was stuck behind superstar Allen Iverson. Hughes played only one-and-a-half seasons for Philadelphia, before he was shipped off to the Golden State Warriors in a three-team trade. After two-and-a-half seasons with the Warriors, during which he had only moderate success, Hughes signed with the Washington Wizards in 2002.
Hughes was able to reach his potential once he was in Washington. Along with Gilbert Arenas, Hughes made up one-half of one of the NBA’s premier backcourts. Arenas, Hughes and Antwan Jamison formed Washington’s “big three.” Finally a consistent starter, Larry was named captain of the Wizards in 2004 and responded to the honor by leading the Wizards to the second round of the NBA playoffs.
With all intentions of staying in Washington for the rest of his career, Hughes looked forward to the free agent period in the summer of 2005. This was his chance to finally get fair-market value for his production. However, the Wizards’ offer to Hughes was less than what they paid Jamison and Arenas. Add to that the fact that other members of the 2005 free-agent class (most notably, shooting guards Michael Redd and Ray Allen) were greatly overpaid by their teams, who wanted to prevent them from going elsewhere, Hughes’ value was driven up. Because Washington tried to offer Hughes a lower value than he was worth, he sought offers from other teams.
Enter the Cleveland Cavaliers. After the first two seasons of the Lebron James era ended with Cleveland missing the playoffs by one game in each season, the Cavaliers were eager to appease James’ desire to reach the playoffs before he is eligible for free agency in two years. The Cavs boasted the most salary cap room in the NBA and put it to use to mend a weakness in the off-guard position. James himself made it no secret that he wanted Hughes on his team, stating in interviews that he had actively recruited Hughes when the two squared off in regular season action while Hughes was still with the Wizards. Coach Mike Brown also recruited Hughes this summer by flying to St. Louis and visiting him at his home in an effort to convince the former Billiken to sign with the Cavs. The recruitment paid off, and Hughes accepted the Cavs’ offer of approximately $12 million per year over five years.
Hughes is an important piece of a revamped Cleveland lineup. His versatility is evident: He can play point guard, shooting guard and small forward, giving the Cavs many offensive options and fast break possibilities. Along with James and center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Hughes gives the Cavs three All Star-caliber players in its starting lineup. That fact, coupled with a deeper bench, should help the Cavaliers make it over the hump in year three of the Lebron James era and make the playoffs.
