The Cleveland Cavaliers landed a special young player last season.
They took Jaylon Tyson in the first round of the NBA Draft, and he looked solid in limited minutes as a rookie.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough for Kenny Atkinson and his coaching staff to trust him to play heavy minutes.
Even so, he’s expected to embrace a bigger role next season.
When asked about that, he talked about all the hard work he’s been putting in:
“You’ve got to stay confident because when I get in a game with some of our vets, I’ve got to shoot the ball, got to be able to play defense, and I’ve got to ultimately just play hard and play my game. [Donovan Mitchell’s] seen me work. He’s seen it all year. I’m ready whenever my opportunity’s going to come,” Tyson said.
JT's got that "next man up" mentality. @jaylontyson | #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/dCu3KGjfS2
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) July 14, 2025
Tyson knows that he needs to stay ready so he doesn’t have to get ready.
He averaged 3.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game as a rookie, but he had some strong performances, even almost logging a triple-double in his first game as a starter.
His numbers per 36 minutes were encouraging, posting averages of 13.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.6 three-pointers per game.
He held his ground against veteran wings pretty nicely when he was asked to take the floor, and he has the potential to become a solid defender at the next level.
The Cavs didn’t have a lot of money to spend in free agency, and barring a shocking turn of events, chances are that they won’t make many more moves in the offseason.
As such, they will need to find their reinforcements from within.
Tyson will have to put in the work to show that he can contribute on a nightly basis, and if what he did as a rookie was an indicator, he should be in line for an extended workload in his second year in the league.
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