Ty Jerome is your favorite Cavaliers writer's favorite Cavalier. He might be yours as well.
The journeyman point guard has found new life in Cleveland this season, coming off the bench and confidently torching opposing defenses. Whether he is bombing 3-pointers -- Jerome is shooting 44 percent from deep this season -- or dropping in his trademark floater, Jerome has been an offensive revelation this year.
For all that Jerome has been a difference-maker off the bench for the Cavs' offense, however, he has a secret weapon that many Cavaliers fans likely don't know about. While Jerome is not the level of on-ball defender that Isaac Okoro is, or the rim protector that Jarrett Allen is, or the amazing-at-everything defender that Evan Mobley is -- he still makes a lethal impact on that end.
His secret weapon? Ty Jerome's hands are magnets for stealing the ball.
Ty Jerome is a master of the steal
Coming off the bench behind two All-Star guards, Ty Jerome is not playing a large minutes load. He is averaging 19.7 minutes per game, a steady spot in the rotation but hardly starter minutes.
With that being the case, however, Jerome is averaging 1.2 steals per game -- good for 33rd in the entire NBA. 30 teams, five starters, and yet only 32 of them rank above Jerome. Only three of those 32 players, Kris Dunn, Keon Ellis and Cason Wallace, are anything but full-time starters. Jerome is the only full-time bench player.
Jerome's 19.7 minutes per game are by far the lowest of any player above him, and you have to get to T.J. McConnell at 49th to find a player averaging few minutes per game.
Steal percentage tracks the percentage of opponent possessions that end in a steal for a specific player, looking at rate of steals instead of sheer volume. Jerome ranks a whopping fourth in that statistic, behind the Great Barrier Thief himself, Dyson Daniels, as well as Dunn and Wallace mentioned above, both defensive specialists.
Jerome is anything but a defensive specialist; his talents lean toward the offensive side. He true-shooting percentage is light years above Daniels, Dunn and Wallace. His usage rate dwarfs theirs. He comes onto the court because of his shot-making, but he brings with him a defensive superpower.
What is scary for opponents is that Jerome is only finding his groove, on both ends of the court. In his last 15 games Jerome has increased his scoring average up to 15.3 points per game, and along with that his steals have gone up as well to 1.5 per game. He is catching his stride in the absence of Caris LeVert, filling a larger role on both ends of the court.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are, statistically speaking, one of the two or three best shooting teams of all time when you combine accuracy and volume compared to the rest of the league. Stopping that level of firepower in the halfcourt is difficult enough; stopping it on the fastbreak when Ty Jerome slips his hand in and swipes a pass is another thing altogether.
The Cavaliers have found a weapon off the bench with a deadly superpower, and add enough powers together and you get a version of the Avengers that cannot be stopped.