The Cleveland Cavaliers just took a swing at finding their own version of Mikal Bridges by taking Meleek Thomas in the 2026 NBA Draft.
If you were to look too quickly at the New York Knicks' championship team, you might think they were built similarly to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both are led by a high-scoring guard who can absolutely kill opponents with big-time shots, have an All-NBA big man, and are led by head coaches who passed through Steve Kerr's coaching staff in Golden State.
The Knicks and Cavaliers are very different
Look a little closer, however, and you will see that their team identities are fundamentally different. The Knicks looked at Jalen Brunson and chose to surround him with versatile two-way wings who can score, shoot and defend; Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby can all play multiple positions and defend at a high level.
The Cavaliers are built very differently. They pair Donovan Mitchell with another guard (Darius Garland and then James Harden) and two bigs in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Their wings that they rotate through can either defend or shoot, but rarely both. Where the Knicks have an abundance, the Cavaliers have a lack.
If Cleveland is going to learn something from the Knicks team that dispatched them from the playoffs in four games, they will need to find a way to add two-way talent on the wing. They need players who can defend multiple positions, shoot the basketball and attack the glass.
In short, they need MIkal Bridges. And perhaps they just found him.
Meleek Thomas can be Cleveland's version of Mikal Bridges
Meleek Thomas fell out of the first round for some inexplicable reason, but he is exactly the sort of player teams should be looking for. The Cavaliers scooped him up with the 34th pick and likely ran to the phone to call it in.
Thomas was one of the best shooters in the draft, comfortable taking 3-pointers from any distance or angle. Head coach Kenny Atkinson's system can set him up to truly weaponize that shooting, and his coaching can help to moderate his shot selection to the best 75 percent.
Defensively, Thomas was inconsistent off the ball, often watching the ball and losing his man. That is not the first time a John Calipari guard has not been properly coached up in team defense, and with the right coaching, Thomas can clean up that part of his game. On the ball, Thomas is a ballhawk at the shooting guard position who can lock onto opposing guards and let Mitchell slide to the easier assignment.
In short, Thomas is a better shooter than Strus and could grow into a similar level of defender. He may not have the wingspan of Bridges, a legitimate drawback, but he is also not yet 20 years old and has plenty of room to grow into the best version of himself.
That's a great player to take a bet on in the second round, and the Cavaliers may have just hit a home run with the 34th pick. Meleek Thomas has a real shot to earn a spot in the Cleveland rotation sooner rather than later.
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