The Cleveland Cavaliers said goodbye to Ty Jerome this summer, losing a key player from last year's team. Thankfully, his replacement is waiting on the roster - and it's not who most fans would expect. Second year forward Jaylon Tyson could be the answer the Cavaliers are looking for.
In the modern NBA, being a team above the second luxury tax apron is akin to a death sentence. Perhaps not immediately, but the restrictions and penalties on such teams are severe. Multiple other teams made painful amputations this summer to ensure they could get below that second apron line.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were above that line heading into the summer thanks to big raises for Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. They also had a team ready to contend for a championship and multiple free agents in Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill. Many teams would have waived goodbye and found a way to get under that second apron.
Not so the Cavaliers, who to their credit locked into competing for a championship over the next two seasons and brought back Merrill on a solid long-term deal. Something had to give, however, and they let Jerome walk. The Sixth Man of the Year candidate signed a new contract with the Memphis Grizzlies to back up Ja Morant.
His were surprisingly large shoes to fill. Jerome went from minimum signing coming off of an injury to offensive maestro, having by far the best season of his career as a hyper-efficient playmaker and scorer. He was the ideal of the guard who is too slight to start for a great team but comes in off the bench and makes the offense significantly better.
With Jerome gone, the Cavaliers need to find a way to replace that bench scoring and playmaking role. Their other prime candidate to fill that role -- in fact, he did for multiple seasons before Jerome broke onto the scene -- would have been Caris LeVert, but he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks at February's Trade Deadline as a part of the De'Andre Hunter trade.
The Cavaliers drafted Duke guard Tyrese Proctor in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft, but a contending team expecting a rookie to step in and make an immediate impact -- especially a second rounder like Proctor -- is unrealistic. They also traded Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball, a move with tons of potential, but Ball is not an on-ball scoring and passing savant. He is more of the connecting piece playing off of such a player.
With limited resources, how would the Cavaliers find the right player to fill that role? Perhaps the answer is not off of the roster, but in second-year forward Jaylon Tyson.
Jaylon Tyson is ready for a larger role
The Cavaliers went into the 2024 NBA Draft with the 20th pick and selected Jaylon Tyson, a versatile point forward in college who many questioned whether he had that one "elite skill" to make it in the NBA.
That was proven wrong in Tyson's first real NBA minutes, as he stepped in for a short-handed Cavaliers team against the New Orleans Pelicans and erupted, nearly securing a triple double. While his role as a rookie for a deep contending team fluctuated during the year, he showed real flashes of scoring and playmaking when he did come into a game.
Summer League was the ideal place to see if Tyson was ready for more, and he answered the call with a resounding "yes" with a dominant performance. He averaged 19.7 points per game to go along with six rebounds and a truly impressive 6.7 assists per game. Only five players averaged more assists in all of Las Vegas, and none of them contributed anything close to his six rebounds or 2.6 combined steals and blocks.
While shooting percentages don't tend to be much of a summer signal, assists are often very telling. That Tyson was capable of bursting through as a passer in a low-assist environment is extremely impressive, and extremely telling. Tyson is a legitimately gifted passer ready for a larger role.
Pairing Tyson with one of the team's star guards and Lonzo Ball would give the Cavaliers three strong passers on the court, with Tyson running point and shooters and secondary playmakers playing off of him. His 3-point shot needs to become consistent to expand his role, but he looks ready to at least be in the rotation this season. Add in his size and defensive chops and he looks like someone who can really help Cleveland this season.
Ty Jerome had a special season. No one is replicating it exactly. If anyone can fill a lot of the same role, however, it may just be Jaylon Tyson, ready to shine in his sophomore season. And if the Cavaliers can keep leveling up rotation players, they may just be in line for that championship run they are aiming for.