Ty Jerome was one of the feel-good stories of last season. He was instrumental in the Cleveland Cavaliers' breakout campaign. If it wasn't for his timely contributions off the bench -- and even as a fill-in starter -- the Cavs would've never secured that top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Unfortunately, greatness comes with a price. Jerome had a career year in Cleveland, and he played his way out of their price range. As a result, he wound up signing a three-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Still, it always felt like the Cavs could've probably worked something out to keep him around for the long run. After watching him make his season debut and comparing him with his successor, Cavs fans must be sick to their stomach.
Ty Jerome scored nearly as many in a game as Lonzo Ball did in a month
Jerome, who suffered an injury in the preseason that kept him on the shelf for the first half of the campaign, was on the floor for 19 minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He scored 20 points on 50 percent from the floor for his new team.
Conversely, Lonzo Ball scored a grand total of 27 points in 130 minutes played in January. It doesn't get any worse than that.
On paper, Ball was expected to bring even more to the table than Jerome. He's a big-bodied guard who can guard multiple spots, knock down shots from deep, and has an elite basketball IQ, court vision, and passing skills. In reality, none of that has happened.
Ball is the league's worst 3-point shooter this season, knocking down just over 27 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. He's looked disinterested and careless on the defensive end of the floor, and he hasn't been the type of veteran mentor or leader this team would've wanted him to be.
He's been so bad that it forced the team's hand to make a run at Dennis Schroder, who should take the reins of the second unit. Jerome, on the other hand, will probably also embrace a big role for the playoff-hopeful Grizzlies, especially if they end up trading Ja Morant.
It's always easy to judge in hindsight when things have already happened. That said, letting Jerome go looked like a bad move at the time, and it has only gotten much more evident with just how much his replacement has struggled.