The Cavs’ depth chart has been a worry spot all season, but Monday’s loss to Oklahoma City also brought a different kind of conversation: the kind that points to real answers.
What stood out most wasn’t the headline names. It was the cheap help.
On the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, Cavs beat reporter Chris Fedor laid out why that matters so much for a team operating under the current collective bargaining agreement. Cleveland is hard-capped at the first apron, which leaves the front office with very little room to maneuver as the season goes on. That makes useful production from minimum contracts and second-round deals more than a pleasant surprise.
“This is a significant thing for the Cavs. For a team that is hard capped at the first apron, that has very limited flexibility in terms of how they can improve the roster as this season continues to progress. The fact that they have found playable, cheap help, that’s not nothing,” Fedor said.
The names drawing that attention are Meleek Thomas, Mario Hezonja, and Tyrese Proctor. Thomas is a second-round rookie, Hezonja is on a modest deal, and Proctor is still working his way into a bigger role in his second season. None of them came into the year locked into the rotation, but all three have started to make themselves part of the picture.
Thomas got his first NBA start Monday and didn’t look overwhelmed by the moment. Wine and Gold Talk host Ethan Sands pointed to the rookie’s aggressiveness right away.
“The rookie got his first start in the NBA,” Sands said. “Meleek Thomas, he played well.
He scored the same amount of points as Donovan Mitchell. He took 16 shots in his first NBA start.
He is not shy. He is not scared of the moment.”
Hezonja has also earned more and more trust from Kenny Atkinson. He finished with a team-high eight rebounds Monday, and Fedor said Atkinson was weighing whether to close with Hezonja instead of other options. That kind of late-game consideration says plenty about where a player stands with a coach.
Proctor hasn’t been as visible, but his minutes have been steady enough to keep him in the conversation as part of the rotation group.
And there’s still another piece waiting in the wings. Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who was expected to be in the rotation, has yet to get that chance because of a back issue that landed him on the injury list.
For a team with major money tied up in Mitchell, James Harden, and soon Mobley, finding usable production on the cheap changes the equation over the course of an 82-game season.
“We came into this year saying, one through seven, the Cavs are as good as anybody in the NBA can compete with anybody in the NBA,” Fedor said. “But what about eight through 10?
Well, those maybes eight through 10 have turned toward the yes category. And that is a huge thing for this front.
That’s a big win for this front office based on what they accomplished throughout the course of. Of this past off season.”
Even after a loss, that’s the kind of development that matters.
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