Progress Check: Cavs disappoint in Summer League debut

Checking in with Cleveland’s prospects after an embarrassing loss.

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t give us much to see in the way of progress during their first Summer League game. Let’s check in with a few notable prospects and see if we can take something away from this no-contest game.

Jaylon Tyson

It was a quiet debut for the 20th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Jaylon Tyson had a few frantic, messy moments scattered throughout an otherwise respectable first game in Las Vegas. He finished with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists on 7-14 shooting from the floor.

The Cavs looked too disorganized from the start to give us much insight into Tyson’s skills. He flashed some impressive finishing and self-creation once settling into a groove but Tyson was ultimately hindered by this game unraveling as quickly as it did.

Craig Porter Jr.

Perhaps the most disappointing performance of this game was that of Craig Porter Jr. Last year’s Summer League darling had a rough time establishing himself in his first game back since spraining his ankle in April.

Usually a composed floor general, Porter was as discombobulated as anyone else on the floor. He shot 3-10 and dished equal assists to turnovers (two). The Cavs offense was rudderless all game and Porter takes the blame as the sophomore point guard who has proven he can be better than this.

Pete Nance

Pete Nance draws obvious intrigue as a lanky 6’11” forward with a promising jumper. He may have knocked down 2-5 three-pointers in today’s game but his inability to protect the paint left Cleveland vulnerable. The Orlando Magic repeatedly pounded the Cavs for open dunks and layups while Nance was too slow or unable to recover. Nance will have to be more assertive if the Cavaliers hope to compete in any of these games.

Emoni Bates

The accumulation of Cleveland’s struggles was shown in how Emoni Bates approached today’s game. He delivered arguably the best game of the bunch — but for those waiting to see how Bates can translate his game to the NBA — this was not the best example.

Bates was given the ultimate green light with the game quickly falling out of reach. We saw instances of his added weight allowing him to handle more contact. But the gunslinging approach to Bates’ development is something we saw at Eastern Michigan and it’s not the proper way to prepare him for a potential role with the Cavs.

He shot 7-17 for 20 points and just 1 assist. Bates can knock down difficult shots but his path to the NBA involves playing without the rock and simplifying his shot profile. We didn’t get a proper chance to see this today.