The Cleveland Cavaliers lost in their first game of the preseason against the Chicago Bulls, 118-117, with Thomas Bryant having an embarrassing sequence in the final few seconds of the game that led to him slapping the broadcast camera. While grabbing the win would have been good for morale, losing in preseason is not the end of the world whatsoever — especially when the Cavs’ 2025 second-round pick, Tyrese Proctor, showed signs of being a future rotation player in his first exhibition game.
Proctor, in just 12 minutes of play off the bench, managed to put up 14 points on an incredible 5-6 shooting from the field and 3-4 from beyond the arc. The Cavs rookie, who was picked 49th overall in last year’s draft, showed so much promise as a scoring spark plug, and with Darius Garland on the mend, perhaps he could end up playing a role for the team in the near future. He also added two assists for good measure.
The Duke product shot 40.5 percent from deep in his final collegiate season, so it’s his ability to score from the perimeter that drew the Cavs’ attention to him in the first place. Combined with his ballhandling ability that allows him to gain separation from his defenders, Proctor has all the makings of someone who’ll have a long NBA career.
At 6’5″, he could very well have some defensive utility as well. With the Cavs having lost Ty Jerome in free agency, Proctor could end up being a like-for-like replacement in the end all while saving Cleveland tons of dollars in tax payments.
The Cavs’ second preseason game will be on Thursday night — a rematch against the Bulls at 8:00 PM E.T.
Cavs look to reclaim place at the top of the Eastern Conference
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The Cavs ended the 2024-25 season on quite an embarrassing manner, as they were sent packing by the Indiana Pacers in five games in the second round of the playoffs.
Nonetheless, for this upcoming season, everything is lining up for the Cavs to once again reign the East, at least in the regular season. The Boston Celtics and Pacers are going through a gap year with their best players navigating Achilles tear recovery. Their biggest competition for the one-seed in the East will be the New York Knicks, a team that brought back its core last year but with upgraded depth.
Cleveland has to be hardened by their playoff heartbreak last year, however, and should come back with an even bigger chip on their shoulder.
