The Cleveland Cavaliers made their share of transactions over the past week-plus, with NBA Free Agency beginning last Friday evening.
The Cavaliers re-signed Caris LeVert to a two-year, $32 million deal, they signed Georges Niang to a three-year, $26 million contract and then swung a deal to acquire Max Strus via sign-and-trade from the Miami Heat. The San Antonio Spurs were in the Strus trade as well; Strus’ contract was for four years and $63 million.
From there, Cleveland would trade for Damian Jones of the Utah Jazz, and then shortly thereafter, the Cavs would sign Ty Jerome to a two-year deal. The move for Jerome was for a team-friendly compensation level of $5 million over the next two seasons.
These moves have since been made official, and the same goes for Cleveland’s two-way signings of Isaiah Mobley, Emoni Bates and Craig Porter Jr.
As for the aforementioned Jerome signing, that was not going to generate nearly the same buzz as say, the Strus or Niang moves, but it could end up being an under the radar addition.
Jerome should provide Cleveland with more competent depth for some playmaking, viable shooting and quality defensive play for stretches. He’s seemingly a sensible backup plan for if Ricky Rubio still is struggling, based on his past season in coming off his ACL injury, or Jerome could fill in for spurts playing more off-ball.
So, what should fans generally expect to see from this Cavaliers’ Jerome signing in years ahead?
Let’s begin with the first of two realistic expectations for Jerome, then, the first pertaining to he projects as an upgrade, to some extent, as rotational depth.
No. 1: An offensive upgrade over Raul Neto from last season
It seems a bit unrealistic for Jerome to be heading into next season as Cleveland’s primary backup lead guard option over Rubio.
Now, Rubio did not perform well last season, as he was taking time to get re-acclimated coming off his ACL injury, and wasn’t able to get comfortable as he would’ve liked. That played into Rubio’s struggles offensively, as a scorer, especially.
That said, Rubio’s veteran play and his playmaking vision and creativity could still lead to him being a valuable bench piece for stretches when Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell are being staggered. So, at least going into next season, with more time to get his rhythm and conditioning on-point with several more months removed from the ACL injury, it’d seem feasible to think Rubio can bounce back.
Whether or not that plays out, though, the signing of Jerome was logical because he provides a different skill set than Rubio, and with him being more viable offensively, he should be an upgrade as a depth lead guard option over Neto.
This isn’t to say Neto is not a player who can value for a team’s rotation. In instances prior to Rubio’s return last season, Neto’s point-of-attack defense, energy play and occasional slashing all led to him giving Cleveland some productive minutes.
Jerome simply projects to be a better offensive option than Neto, particularly as a shooter, and he’s a viable combo guard who can still initiate some offense. He was on a two-way contract last season, but Jerome did give the Golden State some solid minutes, leading to him having 6.9 points and 3.0 assists in 18.1 minutes per game, in 45 appearances.
When Jerome has had opportunities in meaningful time, last season with Golden State, and in the two seasons prior with the Oklahoma City Thunder, then on his rookie deal, he’s been a capable catch-and-shoot guy that has shown some on-ball shot creation abilities. Last season, he converted on 38.9 percent of his three-point attempts, and despite him hitting 29.0 percent from three in 2021-22, he did hit 42.3 percent from three in 2020-21.
Jerome’s chances have been fairly limited thus far at the NBA level, but with his shooting abilities, and being a capable ball-mover, also with 6-foot-5 size and decent vision, he should provide a more multifaceted skill set than Neto had this last season for Cleveland.
No. 2: Jerome consistently makes the right plays
It’s tough to project Jerome’s potential statline with conviction. As we’ve laid out here, there’s going to be plenty of others involved, and he might not end up being a rotational regular, depending on Rubio’s situation.
What is reasonable to forecast as it pertains to Jerome’s outlook, conversely, is how, by and large, he’s a player that should typically make the right plays in his minutes.
He has bounced around in the Association, to reiterate, but when he has had more chances to help his teams for stretches of games, he has done a pretty solid job. He should help other guys around him, and can potentially play in multiple lineups.
Now, Jerome is not a guy who is going to be a high-usage player, and one would imagine he could be more of a table-setter in his minutes. Still, he’s a sensible decision-maker, the ball doesn’t stick in his hands, and when shots come to him, he can knock those down, either off the catch or at times making plays in pick-and-roll.
Point being, while there’s inherently going to be minutes variance for a player of Jerome’s ilk in this situation, he’s an intelligent player, he plays with urgency and defensively, he is usually in the right spots. So generally, he should be a rotational contributor that makes the right plays.
Jerome is not going to wow people with his play, but given the nature of his signing, he could prove to be a more meaningful pickup than one might be anticipating.