Cavs Make Some Deals And Get More Size

The Cleveland Cavaliers made a move last week, trading veteran guard Dennis Schroder to Charlotte for another guard, Tre Mann. We will spare you our usual comment when looking at a deal made by president of basketball operations Koby Altman, but Mann is 6’4″, which is Altman’s type.

While on merit, dealing a 6’1″ guard in Schroder for a 6’4″ point guard in Mann is a good thing, we are all about the Cavs getting bigger, particularly in the backcourt, but the move seemed likely a precursor to another move, probably for a bigger wing the wine and gold desperately need.

And it was. Last night, the Cavs sent Max Strus and Mann along with a 2031 first round pick away in a five-team deal in which the primary return for Cleveland was soon to be 24-year-old 6’8″ wing Peyton Watson. Watson had his best year with Denver last season, playing in 54 games, 40 of them starts, and averaged 14.6 points and 4.9 rebounds.

He shot 48% from the floor and 36% from beyond the arc and is regarded as a good defender. He was a restricted free agent and as part of the deal, he is signing a four-year deal with the wine and gold.

We hate to see Strus go, as in our opinion he added toughness to the Cavs as well as a decent shooter from outside. But at 6’5″, he was small to play the #3 and is really more like an off guard.

Mann was also part of the transaction and goes to Washington and Cleveland also gets 6’6″ Cam Whitmore in the deal, and he makes less than Mann, giving the Cavaliers’ additional salary relief. Whitmore was considered a sleeper when he was taken with the 20th pick in the ’23 Draft, and averaged 12.3 points in 47 games with the Rockets.

Last year, he played in just 21 games for the Wizards missing most of the season with a venous condition in his shoulder.

Obviously, the key is Watson. Cleveland needed more size on the wing, which they lost when Dean Wade signed with Philadelphia, and the newcomer is a much better offensive player than the departed Wade. And with 6’8″ Mario Hezonja and holdover Nae’Qwan Tomlin, it gives Kenny Atkinson three bigger options on the wing.

The coach could still use more depth at the big man spots, because if Evan Mobley and/or Jarrett Allen can’t play for whatever reason, they really only have Thomas Bryant, and that’s not good enough for a team trying to get to the Finals.

And they could also use another ball handler, although that may not be a huge need with Donovan Mitchell and James Harden probably being on the floor much of the time.

We have seen Craig Porter Jr. mentioned, but although he’s an energy guy and a terrific rebounder for his size, 6’1″, his handle needs work. A better option might be last year’s second round pick, Tyrese Proctor, who played point at Duke in college.

Proctor has a good outside shot and should be improved in his second NBA season.

We have wanted the Cavs to get longer for a few years and by getting Watson and Hezonja, they have accomplished that. The question is how they will fit in with the ball dominant backcourt of Mitchell and Harden.

Remember, in basketball, it’s not just accumulating talent, it’s how do the pieces fit together.

The Clock Is Ticking For The Cavaliers

LeBron James made his decision where to play in 2026-27 and it wasn’t Cleveland. We aren’t one of those Cavaliers’ fans who are upset with James, who is still a good NBA player at 41, turning 42 in late December.

He averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and six rebounds per game last year, and would have been an improvement over analytics darling Dean Wade in the Cleveland starting lineup. But that’s here, nor there.

Our problem is with the Cavs’ front office, notably president of basketball operations Koby Altman, who hasn’t done anything to improve the team that did go to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

That’s not entirely fair, he did resign journeyman big man Thomas Bryant, who couldn’t get on the floor in the playoffs, and let guard Keon Ellis and Wade depart via free agency. So, as it has most times since Altman has been in charge, the Cleveland bench has a collection of 6’3″ to 6’6″ players, making it impossible for coach Kenny Atkinson to get them all enough minutes.

There’s Max Strus, Sam Merrill, Dennis Schroder (who everyone believes will be dealt soon), Jaylon Tyson (who should be the starter at small forward in our opinion), Craig Porter Jr., Tyrese Proctor, and he drafted another one in Meleek Thomas.

There are still no bigger wings, although Atkinson has alluded that last year’s second round pick, Saliou Niang, who is 6’8″ will likely be on the team and of course, Nae’Qwan Tomlin also 6’8″ returns and hopefully will have a more meaningful role, as he was largely ignored after the moves around the trade deadline.

There are rumors about the Cavs being very interested in 6’7″ forward Jonathan Kuminga, the 7th overall pick in 2021 and a player in this third year averaged 16 points a game for Golden State. However, he was in Steve Kerr’s doghouse for the past two seasons, was traded to Atlanta, and the Hawks declined to bring him back.

He played in 36 games last season and averaged 12.2 points per game. We’ve liked him, and just because Kerr didn’t play him isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Coaches may not like something about a player’s game, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play.

There are also rumors Cleveland is interested in Mario Hezonja, a former first round pick of Orlando, who has played overseas the last six seasons. Now 31, he averaged 7 points per game in five NBA seasons with the Magic, Knicks, and Trailblazers. He’s 6’8″.

We will keep harping on this, but as currently constituted, the Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have enough size. They need bigger, athletic wings, the “3 and D” guys talked about frequently. They need more big men than just having Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.

And preferably, they need someone inside who has some girth. Allen and Mobley are tall, but in NBA standards, slender. A “bruiser” would be very welcome in Cleveland.

So, Altman is on the clock. Several teams in the East look to have passed the Cavaliers. Certainly, James’ new team, the 76ers, but also the Raptors if they work out the Kawhi Leonard trade. Also, the Pacers get Tyrese Halliburton back, the Pistons had a better regular season record, and Atlanta keeps getting more experience.

From where we are sitting, maybe the Cavs should have promoted Mike Gansey. There is still time to improve the team, but we are worried the wine and gold are now in the rut where a chance for a title might be out of reach.

What Is The Cavs’ Plan For ’26-’27?

While we all wait for where LeBron James will play next season, as of right now, the Cleveland Cavaliers have spent the first week of the NBA off-season watching other teams in the Eastern Conference get better.

Right now, you have to put the NBA Champion Knicks ahead of the wine and gold, and you can make a solid case that Philadelphia (with Jaylen Brown deal), Indiana (getting Tyrese Halliburton back and trading for Ivica Zubac), and Toronto (getting Kawhi Leonard) are all better than the Cavs.

As for Cleveland, thus far Koby Altman has let Keon Ellis leave as a free agent to Brooklyn, Dean Wade go to the 76ers in the same manner, and quickly (for some reason) resigned Thomas Bryant.

Ellis didn’t play much in the playoffs but would seem to be more of an all-around player than Sam Merrill, who is a favorite of the organization. Ellis shot 36% from three last year and in his career knocks them down at a 40% clip. Still, it’s not a huge loss, but we would rather the Cavs embrace players who do more than one thing.

Wade is the darling of many, but not here. He was the team’s best perimeter defender over 6’6″, but as we have noted many time, seemed to refuse to participate on the offensive end of the floor, meaning smart teams didn’t need to guard him. He shoots. 36.7% for his career from the three-point line, but is inconsistent with the shot.

Bryant didn’t contribute much during the playoffs although Kenny Atkinson needed another reliable big man, so we are mystified as to why Altman brought him back. We would have looked around to see what else was out there.

The question is what Altman’s plan for is 2026-27? Does he believe if James returns to the organization, that’s all that is needed to win a title? If so, we do not agree.

Having James back would be great. He’s still a productive player, averaging 20.9 points, dishing out 7.2 assists and getting 6.1 rebounds a night, but remember, he will be 42 years old in December. He would give the Cavs some size on the wing and can be a legitimate “4” as well, but we still believe this roster needs more size, particularly on the wing and more players who are not “one dimensional”.

We also believe that James would change the attitude of this roster, which has been criticized for a lack of toughness.

And what exactly is the plan if James signs elsewhere?

We believe that after acquiring James Harden, who will likely be back, Atkinson and the organization went away from Jaylon Tyson and Nae’Qwan Tomlin, instead of getting them ready for a playoff run. Tyson has the size and toughness, and Tomlin is another wing defender with size.

And both players should be very much in the plans for the upcoming season. But, if the Cavs want to win the East and return to the Finals, Altman have to upgrade this roster. First, Ellis and Wade need to be replaced, and he still needs to address the starters, which are a weird fit right now.

As of right now, all the Cavaliers are doing is watching other teams in the East pass them by.

Should Cavs Look At A Major Move?

If the Cleveland Cavaliers’ front office believes all of the analytics that Kenny Atkinson spoke about following Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals (we still can’t believe he said that out loud), then it is probably true the wine and gold won’t do more than a tweak to the roster going into next season.

And as we have addressed before, that’s a big mistake.

We are sure the front office believes it is making progress because they went a step further in the playoffs, going from a first round loss to a pair of second round defeats, and finally getting to the conference finals.

That’s one way to look at it.

The other is to recognize none of the series in which the Cavs lost over the last four seasons have been particularly close. The first three went five games before the sweep at the hands of the Knicks this year.

By the way, the last four seasons are the Donovan Mitchell era, which brings us to our point.

First, Mitchell is a phenomenal player. Since he has been a Cavalier, he’s made first team all-NBA (only the third Cleveland player in history to do so–Mark Price and LeBron James) and was second team once. He’s averaged at least 24 points per game every season in Cleveland.

And by all accounts has been a great spokesman for both the Cavaliers and the northeast Ohio area, going to high school games around town.

He’s also going to be 30 years old, 6’2″, and his contract runs out in two more years. The Cavs are expected to offer him a four-year deal worth $272 million this summer. That’s an average of $68 million per year, and they would be paying him that amount at 34 years old.

We would think very seriously about doing that. Not because Mitchell doesn’t deserve it, he’s arguably the second-best player ever to wear a Cleveland uniform. However, you have to wonder what kind of player he’s going to be in the last two seasons of that deal.

In our opinion, bigger players age better than smaller ones. Yes, we know about Stephen Curry and James Harden is still put up a bunch of points. Should the Cavs explore trades for Mitchell this off-season?

We know where the Cavs are in the NBA hierarchy, they were one of the last four teams standing this year, so moving on from Mitchell would be a step back in all likelihood. But it just might be the right way to go. Take a step back and not bottom out for another run at a title in a couple of years.

Another direction is what many talk about, going all in by dealing for someone like Giannis Antetokounmpo, dealing say Evan Mobley (as people have discussed), thus making Mitchell the second-best player on the team. That probably gives you a two-year window for a championship, and after you get it, you likely would have to rebuild.

Even doing that, the front office has other work to do. They need more versatile, longer players. They also need more depth at power forward and center.

Jaylon Tyson needs a bigger role. He seemed to get lost after the trade that brought James Harden to Cleveland. We also believe another young player who got lost in the last two months, Nae’Qwan Tomlin can be a contributor next season.

He’s 6’8″ and should fit in as a wing, especially if he can improve his shooting. And it doesn’t have to be three-point shooting, which frankly, we’d be fine if he never took another one of those. He’ll be 26 next season, and we believe he can be a wild card for Kenny Atkinson.

But the big decision is Mitchell. Most people believe it’s a no brainer. We think the front office should take a good long look.

Skeptical On Cavs’ Deal, Unless There’s Another Move Coming

The Cleveland Cavaliers made a deal Saturday night, sending De’Andre Hunter, who was acquired last season at the deadline to the Sacramento Kings in a three-team deal. The Cavs received Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroder in the trade.

One first thought is that this move has to be followed up by yet another transaction prior to Thursday’s deadline because otherwise it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

As we have been saying for at least three seasons, the Cavaliers need to get bigger, and this trade does the opposite. Hunter was the one wing Cleveland had that had some size at 6’7″, and the two players who come back to the wine and gold are 6’4″ (Ellis) and 6’1″ (Schroder).

If there is another move coming, then this deal may make some sense, but as it stands right now, it looks like this was a move to reduce the luxury tax bill the Cavs have to pay.

We aren’t capologists, but the reports are this trims Cleveland’s bill by $40 million, but we also don’t think Dan Gilbert worries about that if the team is a title contender.

Hunter was a disappointment this season, without a doubt. His scoring was about the same as it was after coming over from Atlanta last season, but his shooting dropped from 48.5% to 42.3% overall and from 42.6% to 30.8% from three-point range.

We believe part of this is because Kenny Atkinson was using him more than anyone would like at the “4”, when it is pretty clear to us he’s a “3”. Hunter was one of the Cavs’ bigger wings, so if either Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley were out, he was the logical player to shift to the power forward spot.

But that’s because of the team’s chronic lack of size up front.

Ellis was the darling of this trade deadline, but frankly we don’t see it. He can shoot, a 41.6% career mark from three and he is a solid defender, but he profiles as another bench piece, and really at his size, he plays the same spot as Jaylon Tyson, the Cavs’ breakout player in 2025-26, and their first round pick last season.

It seems now like the Cavaliers have a logjam at guard when Darius Garland comes back. Along with the starting backcourt of Garland and Donovan Mitchell, Atkinson have to find time for Schroder and Craig Porter Jr. None of those players are bigger than 6’3″.

At the small forward spot, you have Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill, Ellis, and when he is ready to play again, Max Strus. Tyson is the biggest at 6’6″.

Dean Wade is 6’9″, but more of a perimeter defender, and at this point of his career, so is pleasant surprise Nae’Qwan Tomlin at 6’8″.

That’s a lot of small lineups, which might work in the regular season, but in the playoffs, more often than not, teams need length.

It has been reported that if the Cavs can move Ball and perhaps Thomas Bryant by the trade deadline on Thursday, they would be out of the second apron and have more flexibility in making trades. If this deal is the prelude to that, and perhaps taking a bigger swing at some size, then perhaps it will make sense to us then.

But on its own merit, we don’t like this move. Size matters in basketball. And the Cavaliers seems to keep getting smaller.

Cavs Need To Start Playing Better…Now!

One can make a very good argument that the Cleveland Cavaliers are the most disappointing team in the NBA this season. As the season is closing in on the halfway point, Kenny Atkinson’s squad is around .500 at 22-18, currently the #6 seed in the East, but just a game and a half out of the 4th spot.

While no one was expecting the type of season the wine and gold had last year, starting off the campaign with 15 straight wins, and finishing at 64-18, we don’t think many had them being around the breakeven mark at this point in the year.

Yes, injuries have been a factor. Donovan Mitchell leads the Cavs in games played with 35, so every other player on the team has missed at least five contests. And it is difficult for a team to find a rhythm when there are different players on the court every night.

Still, in watching the 2025-26 Cavaliers, it is clear something is off. Can it turn around before the playoffs start? Of course, but again, the second half of the schedule is on the horizon.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said the other day that Atkinson sees a lack of intensity with his team. Against Minnesota on Thursday, he started Craig Porter Jr., a player who plays hard on a nightly basis, to have some intensity.

Minnesota took a 17-5 lead in the first quarter, and while Cleveland recovered and led at the half, they were obliterated in the third quarter.

Team president Koby Altman put together a roster of players with high character, stuck with them through three straight playoff disappointments, but no they don’t seem to be playing with intensity?

We aren’t putting the blame on all of them. Mitchell plays tough, second year player Jaylon Tyson plays hard, and we mentioned Porter does as well. Nae’Qwan Tomlin plays with his hair on fire. But the body language on most of the roster seems off.

And part of being playing with intensity is having a good basketball IQ, and recently we question the shot selection by the team. If the last two losses, to Detroit and Minnesota, late in the game, the Cavs took questionable three-point shots with the game in the balance.

Against Detroit, Lonzo Ball, shooting 26% from three was faced with a wide open 3 with the Cavs trying to comeback in the 4th quarter. He even hesitated before shooting. He knew it wasn’t a good shot. He took it anyway. He missed.

In the Minnesota game, with Cleveland down six with :35 seconds remaining, Evan Mobley got the ball beyond the arc. The big man has improved his three-point shooting, but he’s still at 34%. We are sure that’s not what the coach wanted at that juncture.

Anyway, Mobley shot and missed, and the Cavs couldn’t recover.

Yes, yes, we know, people will say they like the confidence there, but that’s where having a good hoops IQ comes into play. Mobley has to know either take the ball to the rim or find a better shooter.

And that’s part of intensity. Knowing when the team needs a basket or a stop to slow the opponent’s momentum.

The bigger problem is, because of the salary cap situation, there isn’t much Altman can do about it. The Cavs have hamstrung themselves, so either the players come together and play with more mental toughness and intensity, or it will be another disappointing post-season for the so-called “Core 4”.

Loss To Knicks Leaves Us With Questions.

The book on the Cleveland Cavaliers is they lack size and toughness and that was on full display on Christmas against the New York Knicks.

The Cavs had a 17-point lead in the 4th quarter and watched one of their playoff nemeses from a few years ago, Mitchell Robinson dominate on the offensive glass, which allowed the Knicks to get back in the game and ultimately win it.

The good news for Cleveland is they played well after winning the two games prior at home against Charlotte and New Orleans, two also-rans, so maybe the malaise which was surrounding the team has passed.

Also, Evan Mobley returned to the lineup after a two-week absence due to a calf injury and earlier in the week, Sam Merrill came back, and his long-range marksmanship (shooting 43% from three) helps with floor spacing.

On Friday, long time NBA player and coach Sam MItchell, now an analyst on NBA Radio, said the Cavs are still a contender, but they lack size in the backcourt, and while they have height up front in Jarrett Allen and Mobley, they lack bulk.

Thank you Sam!

We have said this is has been a problem for four years now, and the front office hasn’t really done anything to address the situation. Sure, this year they signed Thomas Bryant, but when or if Allen and/or Mobley is out of the lineup, he’s the only big man they have.

Nae’Qwan Tomlin has been a find, but he’s not an interior player. He’s more of a perimeter defender and also has a slight build.

We like Kenny Atkinson, but felt he should have went back to Jaylon Tyson, who had a marvelous third quarter, 11 points when the Cavs outscored New York 38-24. Tyson started the fourth but left after four minutes and didn’t return.

In the fourth, the offense turned into the Donovan Mitchell show, as he took 11 of the Cavs’ 26 shots. The only other Cleveland player who took more than two shots in the quarter was Darius Garland, who hit one of his five attempts.

His main lineup down the stretch included those two with Mobley, Merrill, and Dean Wade. Merrill took just one shot in the fourth, the same as Wade, who to us is notorious for being afraid of missing shots, so he passes them up.

By default, it puts the offensive burden on the two guards.

Sam Mitchell also wondered about the idea of having Mobley shoots threes, feeling the best place for him to operate offensively would be at the elbow where he can be a “triple threat” guys. Mobley has improved from beyond the arc, but defenses aren’t going to chase him out there.

And that five who received the bulk of the minutes is basically a three-guard set, with a defensive minded wing defender in Wade, and Mobley, who isn’t a bulky presence near the basket.

It was just a curious coaching decision, and that doesn’t mean we want Atkinson replaced, we will see if he goes to the same group in a similar situation going forward. Tyson provides toughness and aggressiveness to the Cavs, something they need.

It was also a little curious that Lonzo Ball got just 13 minutes for the game. Ball is a good defender, but guilty of some questionable shot selection.

We are now past Christmas and isn’t that when the pundits say the season really begins. If so, the Cavaliers need to ramp it up, and worry less about being entertaining, and a little more about winning.

It’s Early, But We Have Some Fears Regarding The Cavs

We believe the Cleveland Cavaliers are experimenting for sure. They’ve had all kinds of key players missing to start the season, with the only real constants being Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and De’Andre Hunter.

They have provided several young players like Nae’Qwan Tomlin, Jaylon Tyson, Craig Porter Jr., and rookie Tyrese Proctor good opportunities to show they can contribute as the season moves forward.

And with all of this happening, they are still 13-10 and at least in terms of the ratings, a top ten offensive and defensive team.

But we do have a nagging lingering fear for this group. Perhaps the window to win a title was open widest the past two seasons.

The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder are sitting at 21-1. Two young, long teams in the East are off to great starts. The Pistons are 17-5 and the Raptors are 15-7. And long teams seem to bother the Cavs.

We have written about the lack of size on the Cavaliers’ roster over the past few seasons, and the move toward more size was never more evident than it this past NBA Draft.

Of the top ten picks in the draft, six of them were guards who were over 6’5″. This means the current duo of Mitchell and Darius Garland ranks even lower in terms of size among NBA backcourts.

We understand Garland is coming back from off-season surgery and he has missed time since re-aggravating the injury. He helps the offense greatly with his skill to penetrate and also shoot from distance.

On the other hand, one problem we have seen is his ability to take care of the basketball. It was an issue in his first playoff series against the Knicks, and it really hasn’t changed. He had two big turnovers down the stretch against Atlanta last week that cost the team a chance at a win.

Then we have the Mobley issue. The thought was always that the Cavs would be title contenders when he was the best player on the team. Can that happen? He’s a very good player, the Defensive Player of the Year last season. But does he have the temperament of an alpha?

We do think Kenny Atkinson is putting him in different situation to see where he fits best offensively. He’s bringing the ball up trying to initiate the offense, but his ball handling doesn’t seem to be strong enough.

Last year, he seemed to thrive with the ball at the foul line extended and set up his teammates from that spot on the floor or be able to take the ball to the basket. Again, our guess is Atkinson is trying some things out and may settle on what worked last season.

We know the Celtics won a title just a couple of years ago with heavy reliance on the three-point shot. However, they fell short a couple of years ago when they lost in the conference finals to Miami because of their shot selection.

Last year, 45.7% of Cleveland’s shots were from beyond the arc and they converted on 38% of them. This season, the number of long-range shots has increased to 48.8%, and even worse, they are making less at 34.8%. That 3% difference is huge.

Football people talk about “complimentary football”, but it can be used in basketball as well. The Cavs have two solid defenders inside in Mobley and Jarrett Allen, but when you miss threes, it generally results in a long rebound and a fast break by your opponent.

Fast breaks tend to make having interior defenders moot.

We know everyone loves to play with pace, but maybe it would be better to play a little slower, take better shots, and make better use of the two bigs you do have.

It is better to be playing their best basketball in March, April, and May (and hopefully June) than now. When the New Year hits, the Cavs need to tighten some things up.

Looking At Cavs, Looking For Toughness

Tomorrow night, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have hit the 20 game mark of the NBA schedule, about a quarter of the way through. Hard to believe right?

The team has had to deal with a lot of injuries. No Cavalier player has appeared in all 19 games to date. Evan Mobley has played in 18, Donovan Mitchell in 17, and next up is De’Andre Hunter with 15.

Max Strus has been out all season, while Darius Garland has seen action five times.

Pretty amazing considering they’ve only played 19 contests.

This has led to a lot of experimenting from Kenny Atkinson, so we really don’t have a true reading on what this team can be in 2025-26.

On the plus side, some players who probably wouldn’t have seen the court this season have emerged as possible rotation players for this team as the season progresses.

Most notably, we are talking about Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who Atkinson said the other night is a guy he has a hard time taking him off the floor. The 25-year-old is averaging 7.1 points and 2.8 rebounds, 1.5 on the offensive end and at 6’8″, has played at guard and both forward spots.

When everyone gets healthy, we would like to see Tomlin replace Dean Wade in the rotation to see if the rookie can continue to produce like this once word gets around the league. If he doesn’t, we think you can always go back to Wade and he will be, well Dean Wade.

Craig Porter Jr. has done well too, and although we would like to see a better handle from Porter, the one thing he can do is create his own short, which is in short supply with the Cavs.

Porter is scoring at 5.8 per game, getting 2.9 boards and 2.5 assists per contest with 44.8% shooting from the three-point line. He should also keep getting time when the roster is whole.

And second year player Jaylon Tyson has earned his spot, mostly by being a defensive force, and unlike Isaac Okoro, has to be respected by the opposition when it comes to his shot. He’s scoring 11.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and is in the top ten in the league in shooting from three.

Conversely, Atkinson and the staff have to figure out why Mobley seems to be in a funk. Right now, he seems very passive when on the court. It could be because of using him differently offensively. He seems to be on the perimeter more often this year, rather than be at the elbow where he can attack the basket easier and also be a distributor.

However, we have concerns about Mobley’s aggressive nature. One comparison for him when he came into the league was Kevin Garnett, but their personalities seem so different, and frankly the Cavs could use Mobley to have more of Garnett’s mindset.

But can someone develop having that? Mobley looks to be a pretty quiet guy, can he adopt an alpha mindset? It’s one thing to have size, something we have advocated for, and certainly the team is bigger.

It still seems to lack toughness, particularly from the bigger players. We have no qualms about Mitchell’s will to win, but it would be great if one of the bigs adopted a “take no crap” philosophy.

That’s a real concern, particularly as the playoffs get nearer. That’s still the biggest question from our perspective.

Tomlin And Tyson Are Summer Leaguers Who Might Help

The NBA Summer League is fun. You get to see the draftees from the most recent NBA Draft and many of the second-year players from the selections made in the prior year, most because those guys got most of their action in the G League during the 2024-25 season.

And it’s also good because unless your favorite team played in the NBA Finals, it has been a while since anyone wearing the uniform has seen time. For example, it was great to see players wearing the Cavaliers’ colors out there playing.

However, the brand of basketball being played more closely resembles a playground game than an NBA regular season contest, let alone a playoff game. The defensive intensity isn’t there and let’s face it, these players are looking to make a name for themselves, as most of them aren’t under contract.

On the other hand, we don’t get too excited about the players on floor during the Summer League because let’s face it, the Cavaliers are a real good team, we are sure no one has forgotten they did win 64 games this past year.

So, if came out of watching these games in Las Vegas thinking second round pick Tyrese Proctor is going to be an important piece for the 2025-26 edition of the Cavaliers, you are either extremely optimistic or a Cavs’ influencer.

Players taken 45th overall are probably not helping a team whose goal should be to win the NBA title.

We will say the performance of Nae’Qwan Tomlin was very promising and he should be given the opportunity to play early next season. Why? First, because he’s 6’10” and if you read this site regularly, you know we believe the wine and gold need to add players with some length.

Tomlin averaged 19.6 points and 8.2 rebounds in Las Vegas, and better yet, shot 33.3% from three. Kenny Atkinson can use a big man with some range from the perimeter, and at his height, the only players on the roster taller than him are Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.

The Cavs have had better first halves the past three seasons than they’ve performed down the stretch, and we believe one reason is that other teams are looking at guys like Tomlin early in the year. Why not see in October and November if the big man can be a rotational player, rather than trying to see in March and April.

The other player in Vegas who could make an impact this season is second year wing Jaylon Tyson. He impressed us last year as an all-around talent, and in three games out west, he averaged 19.7 points, 6 rebounds and 6.7 assists. Again, does a bit of everything which we like.

With Ty Jerome and Isaac Okoro no longer on the roster and Lonzo Ball’s injury history, Tyson could be in Atkinson’s rotation at the beginning of the season. And if he can play some in the backcourt, that would be a plus because he’s 6’6″.

For a team in the Cavaliers’ position, players like Proctor and Cleveland State product Tristan Enaruma are right now organizational depth, and most of their playing time will come with the G League Cleveland Charge.

And that’s okay. Just don’t get crazy with expectations for them in ’25-’26.