Tyrese Proctor showed up to Cavs media day looking like a different player, and Kenny Atkinson made sure everybody noticed. The head coach said the guard was more than fifteen pounds heavier, a meaningful change for someone whose NBA future has been tied so closely to his frame.
That added strength matters because, as cleveland.com beat reporter Chris Fedor put it on the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, the issue with Proctor has never been his talent or his maturity. It’s been whether his body was ready for the grind.
“When it comes to Tyrese, it’s not a skill that is holding him back. It’s not a maturity that’s holding him back.
It’s a physical readiness,” Fedor said. “And he was too slender to get consistent minutes in the NBA last year.”
Since the Cavaliers drafted Proctor No. 49 overall in 2025, the message from the coaching staff has stayed the same: add strength or risk disappearing into the background.
Fedor said the team wanted to see Proctor deal with full-court pressure, get through screens defensively and survive the contact that comes with guarding the point of attack. None of that was about shot-making or decision-making. It was about whether he could physically stand up to NBA possessions.
“This is what the Cavs have asked of Tyrese Proctor,” Fedor said. “So seeing him be able to do that and seeing him look a different kind of way, that will be a big, big component of how much does Kenny go to him, how much can Kenny rely on him.”
Proctor also got valuable work this summer with the Australian national team, and that kind of live competition gave him something a normal workout never could. Ethan Sands pointed out that the mix of added muscle and international reps has Proctor entering training camp in Spain in better shape than he’s been at any point in his young career.
Atkinson backed that up on Sept. 25 during his preseason press conference.
“Tyrese has made huge gains, physical gains, first of all,” Atkinson said. “He put on 15, 20 pounds.
Had a great window with the Australian National Team. I talked to the head coach there, and he said, ‘Man, really surprised at his impact.’
Then in the gym so far, he’s been great.”
But Proctor’s progress is only part of the story. The battle for backup guard minutes is crowded, and nobody is walking into camp with a clean lane.
Craig Porter Jr. and rookie Meleek Thomas are right there, chasing the same rotation spots. Fedor said there are only seven definite players on the roster, which leaves the rest of the depth chart wide open.
“There are seven definites on this roster. Seven.
That’s it. So what do you do?
Eight, nine and ten? Well, yeah, it could be Craig Porter Jr.
Sure. It could be Tyrese Proctor.
Sure. You can make an argument for all of them, but I don’t think there is a separation or a significant separation between Craig Porter Jr.
Tyrese Proctor and Meleek Thomas.”
Porter has the résumé edge. He has NBA minutes, playoff experience and the kind of true point guard background coaches usually trust when things tighten up. Still, Fedor stressed that the gap between Porter and the other contenders is not the kind that would have existed on some past Cavaliers teams.
Two years ago, a roster this deep would have left a player like Proctor with very little room to fight his way into the picture. Jaylon Tyson’s rookie season is the example Fedor pointed to, with roughly 450 minutes and G League time just to stay sharp.
Now the fight heads to Spain, where camp will begin to separate the guards from one another. For Proctor, the added bulk wasn’t the finish line. It was the entry fee just to stay in the conversation.
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