Meleek Thomas gave the Cavaliers one last strong look in Summer League, scoring 24 points in Cleveland’s 100-91 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday.
Thomas’ night didn’t start cleanly. He opened by missing his first four shots, but once he settled in, the scoring came fast. He hit 10 of his final 16 attempts and finished with the kind of shot-making that has stood out throughout his four games in Las Vegas.
That’s the part of Thomas’ game that keeps jumping off the page: the ability to create separation off the dribble and get to his spots. He’s been finishing at the rim more efficiently than he did in college, and on Friday he went 5-for-5 in the restricted area. Add in the outside shooting, and the scoring package has been hard to miss.
There’s a natural rhythm to the way Thomas plays. He doesn’t look like he’s forcing the issue.
He reads what the defense gives him, then goes and gets the shot he wants. That showed up again in his 24-point outing.
At the same time, there are still real questions about how his game translates when he’s not the one controlling everything. He’ll start his NBA career in more of an off-ball role, and it remains to be seen exactly how that will look. The ball-handling scoring skills should still play, but the details of that adjustment are still an open question.
Thomas also isn’t a finished offensive player. Running an offense as a point guard and actively creating for teammates doesn’t appear to come naturally to him yet, and that’s something the Cavaliers want him to keep developing. Koby Altman made that clear right after the draft.
Even with those questions, Thomas has shown the kind of compete level teams want. He plays hard, stays intense, and still keeps a sense of purpose to what he’s doing. That’s not something you can teach.
Cleveland got other useful performances, too. Riley Minix bounced back after a rough first four games in Las Vegas and scored 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting. Malaki Branham closed his Summer League run with 13 points and five assists, while Tre’Von Spillers added 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Chicago rested the fourth overall pick, Caleb Wilson, and got 22 points from Donovan Atwell.
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