The buzz surrounding rookie Tyrese Proctor reached a fever point during the preseason, and it was expected that he would burst onto the scene and play a real rotation role for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Three games in and reality has come crashing down on Proctor and the Cavaliers.
The season opener began how most expected it to in Cleveland. With Darius Garland sidelined recovering from offseason surgery, the Cavaliers shifted Donovan Mitchell to the starting point guard slot and elevated Sam Merrill beside him. That left a hole at backup point guard to be filled.
During the preseason, it appeared that rookie second-round pick Tyrese Proctor had overtaken the incumbent Craig Porter Jr. for the role. Indeed, on opening night against the New York Knicks, Proctor played 16 minutes to Porter's seven, taking more than twice as many shots and clearly playing a larger role in the offense. Proctor had five points and two assists in those minutes and was a reasonable -1 for the game. Porter was -9 in his sparse minutes.
At that point, all of the momentum was on Proctor's side. He was on track to beat the odds and be the rare second-round draft pick to contribute immediately to a winning team. His head coach raved about his performance in the close loss to the Knicks. And yet...things fell apart from there.
Riding the wave of praise and performance, Proctor came out on Friday night and laid a dud. He played 12 minutes to Porter's 14 and went 0-for-4 from the field with zero assists and two turnovers. He was -11 in his minutes, while Porter Jr. dropped 14 points on 6-for-6 shooting, zero turnovers and a solid +8 for the night. In a closer-than-expected seven-point win over the Brooklyn Nets, Proctor surprisingly struggled in a mighty way.
Sunday brought Game 3 against the Milwaukee Bucks. Donovan Mitchell started once again at point guard, matched up against Ryan Rollins on the Bucks. Lonzo Ball, operating as the team's backup shooting guard right now, entered the game midway through the first quarter for Mitchell, allowing Evan Mobley to run the offense. Craig Porter Jr. came in late in the first to run the point alongside Mitchell.
Proctor? He was nowhere to be found.
Tyrese Proctor fell out of the rotation
In a tough back-and-forth with a 2-0 Bucks team, head coach Kenny Atkinson didn't turn to Proctor at any point in the game. The rookie was completely out of the rotation, watching Porter log 16 minutes and players like Ball and Jaylon Tyson take some reps on-ball as playmakers. It's hard to argue with the results, either, as the Cavaliers held down a live Milwaukee squad to move to 2-1 on the season.
This is how it goes with rookie second-rounders. Yes, Darius Garland is injured, but that doesn't mean Proctor is guaranteed minutes every night. Against the Bucks, the Cavaliers spread around playmaking responsibilities and didn't think Proctor was needed. He may have thought after the first game that his place in the rotation was etched in stone, but that's not how things go for most rookies, and certainly not for the 49th pick.
There will be other opportunities for Proctor, perhaps even in the team's next game. On the other hand, Garland will be back soon and Mobley is growing into a player who will handle the ball more and more. The need for Proctor is decreasing as well, and that means his playing time will be all the more limited moving forward.
Proctor has shown real flashes as a confident shooter and capable playmaker, and he will have a long career. Things might start more slowly than he thought, however. That's how it goes playing on a team expected to win the Eastern Conference.