Jaylon Tyson has enjoyed as good of a second-year campaign as anyone with rooting interests in the Cleveland Cavaliers could have hoped for. Friday night sets the stage for the rest of the NBA to catch up to what Clevelanders already know about their young wing — this is a star in the making.
Tonight marks the beginning of NBA All-Star Weekend. While the Cavaliers will only be represented by Donovan Mitchell in the big game, that is not where the showcase of their players will end. Tyson will be a part of the 2026 Castrol Rising Stars event.
The Cavaliers wing was selected to Team T-Mac for the event. Tyson will join Kon Knueppel, Kel'el Ware, Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington (replacing Alexandre Sarr), Ajay Mitchell, and Cam Spencer as a part of the team led by NBA legend Tracy McGrady.
Team T-Mac's first game is scheduled for tipoff at 9:55 p.m. ET. Mark that down as when the rest of the league gets put on notice about just how good Tyson really is.
NBA All-Star Weekend will properly introduce the rest of the league to Jaylon Tyson
The Cavaliers coaches spent the offseason raving about just how much they believed in Tyson and the steps he had taken after a quiet rookie campaign in Cleveland. 50 games in, it's safe to say each of those members from the Cavs staff have been completely justified in doing so.
Tyson has averaged 13.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 0.9 steals in 27.8 minutes per game for the Cavaliers heading into the All-Star break. That comes with him shooting 51.4 percent from the field and a blistering-hot 47.5 percent from beyond the arc.
More than just the impressive scoring leap, Tyson has also brought consistent effort to a Cavaliers team that wavered in that department throughout early parts of the 2025-26 season. Despite only being in his second year, the former first-round pick has already proven more reliable than most.
Tyson was so reliable, in fact, that Cleveland took a well-deserved leap of faith with him. They traded away De'Andre Hunter to permanently remold the wing rotation and ensure their rising star was never going to be short of minutes or opportunity.
Cavaliers fans would love for nothing more than a stellar performance from Tyson in the Rising Star competition. That way, they can sit pointing at their screen like that one scene from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with Leonardo DiCaprio's character.