The Cavaliers may have landed Meleek Thomas at a second-round price, but the rookie has wasted no time looking like he belongs much higher on the board.
Thomas, the 34th pick in the 2026 draft, opened his NBA career with a burst that’s hard to ignore. He scored 16 points in his debut, knocking down four 3-pointers as Cleveland erased a 20-point deficit and beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-125 in overtime. He kept rolling after that with 10 points against Washington, 13 against Milwaukee and 17 in his first career start against Oklahoma City.
That gives him four straight double-digit scoring games to begin his career.
No one is ready to stamp him as a future star after a handful of appearances, but the early returns have been exactly what Cleveland needed. The Cavaliers have been searching for another offensive spark to go with Donovan Mitchell, and Thomas has shown enough already to make that feel like more than wishful thinking.
The fit matters, too. Cleveland’s current setup asks a lot of its guards, especially with Mitchell and James Harden handling so much of the offense.
Defenses are going to load up on those two, and the Cavs need someone else who can punish that attention. Thomas has started to look like that kind of piece.
What stands out most is how he’s doing it. This isn’t just one random hot night from deep.
Thomas has shown a willingness to shoot when he’s open, attack the basket and play with the kind of confidence that can change the feel of a lineup. He’s also shown he can contribute without monopolizing the ball, which is a big deal for a rookie trying to carve out a role next to two ball-dominant guards.
That confidence has been part of his profile for a while. Arkansas coach John Calipari described Thomas and former teammate Darius Acuff Jr. as having “otherworldly confidence.”
“They could run for president and believe, ‘I could run this country,’ because that’s how they think,” Calipari said during Arkansas’ NCAA Tournament run.
That’s the sort of mindset Cleveland can use, especially from a 19-year-old who wasn’t even in the rotation for the Cavaliers’ first two games. Kenny Atkinson doesn’t need Thomas to do everything. He just needs him to defend with edge, make smart reads and take some pressure off Mitchell.
There’s still a long road ahead. Thomas is 20, and the league has a way of testing young guards quickly.
The shots won’t always fall, the defensive matchups will get tougher and the game will speed up on him at times. But the first stretch of his career has given Cleveland something it can use: a rookie who looks fearless, shoots without hesitation and competes like he’s already earned the room.
That’s enough to make him worth watching closely.
It also serves as a reminder that second-round value doesn’t always announce itself on draft night. Jalen Brunson went 33rd overall in 2018 before becoming an All-Star and one of the league’s best point guards, and Thomas is at least giving the Cavaliers a reason to dream a little bigger than the draft slot suggests.
Cleveland still knows better than to get carried away after a few games. But the early signs are encouraging, and the Cavs may have found a player who can help right now instead of someday. For now, that’s plenty.
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Mobley was a second-round selection by the Cavaliers in 2022, and his path since then has been a familiar one for players trying to carve out a longer runway in the game. Around the wider basketball world, Killian Hayes has been linked to Maccabi Tel Aviv, Josh Hart has been mentioned as a possible fit for Napoli Basket down the line, and the NBA has also been dealing with questions from U.S. senators about its partnership with Rwanda. [Read more 🡒]