Cavaliers’ Rookie Could See Playing Time in Year 1

The Cleveland Cavaliers were one of a few teams in the 2025 NBA Draft without a first round pick. Which was largely fine, due to the team’s 64 wins in the regular season last year.

Still, coming away with fresh talent is always better, and Cleveland tried to make the most of their second round picks, one of which was former Duke guard Tyrese Proctor.

Drafted at No. 49, Proctor was long on draft radars as a Blue Devils' guard, but never necessarily saw the breakout season he needed to majorly boost his stock. Still, he offered plenty of offensive skills that helped the Cavs to risk a second-round pick on him.

At 6-foot-5, Proctor offers a unique skillset in the backcourt, able to command the ball and play-make as a point guard, but with the jumpshot needed to play the two. Across his time in college, he averaged three assists to just one turnovers, and was able to shoot the ball from beyond the arc at a 41% clip on high volume as a junior. 

At Summer League in Las Vegas, Proctor was able to parlay his later college success into professional impact. Across four games he averaged 17.3 points, topping out at 35 versus the Kings. While his efficiency could’ve been better, the bones were certainly there for a potentially impactful pro guard.

Now, Proctor is tasked with breaking into the Cavaliers’ rotation, a tall one given just how talented the team is presently.

Losing guard Ty Jerome in free agency was somewhat of a hit for Cleveland. He was the team’s leading scorer of the bench, adding 12.5 points across 70 games. The team attempted to supplement it with the addition of Lonzo Ball, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to completely fill the hole with a long injury history.

If Proctor plays well enough, he could certainly nab some of those minutes left by Jerome. There’s little guarantee he’ll be able to insert himself as a rookie and thrive, but the Cavs' back-end rotation could always stand to have more shooting and play-making.

It will be easier said than done for Proctor to do so. The Cavaliers finished as the East's No. 1 team last season, and with Boston and Indiana effectively out of the picture due to various injury's, Cleveland will be looking to do so again.

Still, Proctor's years of experience with Duke — most recently leading them to the Final Four — certainly give him a leg up. He'll need to limit mistakes, hit shots and defend with grit, but could earn some real minutes for a surging Cavaliers squad this season.