Cleveland Cavaliers forward Jaylon Tyson Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Jaylon Tyson Has Up-and-Down Summer League Game

Originally posted on Cal Bears on SI | By Jake Curtis | Last updated Jul 12, 2025 6:27 PM ET

Former Cal star Jaylon Tyson did some good things and some not-so-good things in Saturday’s Summer League game in his bid to become part of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ rotation in 2025-26.

“He’s going to be a big part of us this year,” Cavs all-star Donovan Mitchell said of Tyson as he watched the Cavs beat the Milwaukee Bucks 93-83 in Cleveland’s second Summer League game in Las Vegas.

The 6-foot-6 Tyson, the Cavs’ first-round pick in the 2024 draft, is listed as a guard-forward, but he is being used as the team’s primary playmaker for the Cavs in the Summer League, which is the role he played in his one season at Cal. And that means he needs to rack up some assists and limit his turnovers while also being a scoring threat.

He scored 18 points, went 3-for-8 on three-point shots, collected seven rebounds and blocked two shots in 31 minutes on Saturday, demonstrating his versatility as well as his ability to penetrate and score from the perimeter. But he was just 3-for-13 from the field overall and had just three assists while committing six turnovers, not the kind of numbers needed from a player in charge of directing the offense.

Tyson with the BLOCK✋@jaylontyson | #ChargeOn #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/xZfWiYUKPb
— Cleveland Charge (@ChargeCLE) July 12, 2025

Three of his turnovers came in the first five minutes of the game, and he protected the ball better after that, but a 3-to-6 assist-to-turnover ratio is not an attractive statistic.

Tyson played little for the Cavs as a rookie, and he needs to avoid turnovers to increase his playing time in his second NBA season if he is going to operate in a point-guard role in the pros.

A Tyson assist:

JT to TRISTAN for the SLAM@TristanEnaruna | #ChargeOn #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/hFaDjtY04b
— Cleveland Charge (@ChargeCLE) July 12, 2025

“He’s slimmed down, added some strength, and is taking the Summer League very seriously,” Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman said of Tyson during Saturday’s game.

During the Cavs first Summer League game on Thursday, when Tyson had 20 points,12 assists with four turnovers, Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson spoke of Tyson’s determination.

“There are guys that want to make the league, they are trying hard and they are practicing hard,” Atkinson said. “Then, there are guys who are desperate to make it. I’ll put Jaylon Tyson in that unique group. He just lives and breathes it.”

There seems to be little doubt about Tyson’s determination to be an impact player in the NBA. Mitchell noted that Tyson has changed his mechanics on his jump shot and it seems to have helped his three-point accuracy.

Tyson three-pointer Saturday: