The Cavaliers didn’t take the floor Wednesday night, but plenty of familiar faces did. Seven former Cavs who have worn the wine and gold over the past two years opened their seasons, and the results ran the full spectrum - from quiet nights to eye-popping stat lines.
The biggest ex-Cavalier splash belonged to Ty Jerome, who looked completely unleashed in Memphis. Injuries had kept him off the floor for most of the 2025-26 season after he signed with the Grizzlies as a free agent, but there was nothing rusty about his opener.
Jerome came out firing from the start and delivered the kind of performance that turns heads fast. His defining moment came early in the fourth quarter, when he buried a logo three to push him past 40 points for the first time in his career.
He kept rolling from there, finishing with 45 points, seven rebounds, and six assists while shooting 17 of 25 from the field and posting a +22. Cleveland chose to keep Sam Merrill over Jerome in the summer of 2025, a decision that fit what the team was trying to do, but the Cavs knew exactly what Jerome could do when he got hot.
Memphis beat Utah 123-103.
Darius Garland also had a strong opening night, this time in a Clippers uniform. With Max Strus unavailable for LA’s debut, Garland was out there and running the offense, and the toe was clearly no longer bothering him.
He put up 16 points in the first quarter alone and finished with 30 points and four assists on 11-of-19 shooting in 32 minutes. He was a +15 as the Clippers, despite being down five players, handled the Lakers 127-103.
Another former Cav, De’Andre Hunter, was back in a starting role for Sacramento after a rough start to the 2025-26 season sent him out of Cleveland. Hunter’s opener for the Kings was interrupted by first-half foul trouble, and he closed with six points and three rebounds in 19 minutes.
He was a -24 as Sacramento fell 121-96 to the Clippers. Hunter had also dealt with a serious eye injury in just his second game with his new team, suffering a detached retina that required immediate surgery.
The procedure was successful, and he has since returned.
Dennis Schröder and Keon Ellis found themselves on opposite sides of the floor after being traded together at last year’s deadline, and both were in starting lineups on opening night. Schröder, now filling in as the Hornets’ temporary starting point guard because of a Coby White injury, got the better of the matchup.
He posted 19 points and six assists in 33 minutes and was especially helpful in the fourth quarter when Charlotte needed him most. Ellis started at shooting guard for Brooklyn and turned in a steadier-but-smaller line: seven points on 3-of-7 shooting, plus a block and a steal in 33 minutes.
Charlotte won 110-103.
Larry Nance Jr. had the quietest night of the bunch. In his Pacers debut, he played just five minutes, entering in the second quarter while Indiana was missing Aaron Nesmith and TJ McConnell.
Jay Huff didn’t play, which opened a little room for Nance, but he didn’t record a counting stat. He went 0-for-1 from the floor, picked up two fouls, and finished minus-11 in Indiana’s 123-120 win over New Orleans.
Georges Niang, now with the Warriors, also got his first game in a new uniform after missing the entire previous season because of a foot injury suffered after he was traded from the Hawks to the Jazz. He was healthy enough to play this time and logged 19 minutes, finishing with seven points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals on 3-of-8 shooting. Golden State was missing Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis, Moses Moody, and Brandon Podziemski, and the Lakers overwhelmed them 127-103.
Dean Wade was unavailable for Philadelphia’s opener against the Knicks because of an ankle injury, though he is listed as questionable for the matchup with his former team. That game would be his team debut.
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There was at least an encouraging response in the season opener, when the Cavs rallied past the Boston Celtics with a comeback win that hinted at real progress. Even so, the bigger picture remains complicated, with Cleveland still sorting through who it can trust and how much growth is left in the current core before the team can feel comfortable that those familiar threats are truly behind it. [Read more 🡒]
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Cavaliers Already Have A Playoff Problem Brewing In The East
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For Cleveland, the bigger concern is how quickly those shifts could affect its own path through the bracket. The Cavaliers have already been pointed toward a tougher road against the teams around them, and the early returns only sharpen that sense of urgency, especially with familiar East rivals making significant offseason moves and beginning to look like the kinds of clubs that can alter the playoff picture before the calendar has even settled in. [Read more 🡒]