The NBA introduced the Sixth Man of the Year during the 1982-1983 season, honoring the 76ers’ Bobby Jones with the inaugural award.
Jones – a 2019 Hall of Fame inductee who epitomized the selfless, team-first mentality of a sixth man – was an obvious choice. However, no player from the Cleveland Cavaliers has ever been honored. (Former Cav Kevin Love finished second in the Sixth Man voting in 2021-2022.)
If Ty Jerome keeps dazzling off the Cavs’ bench, that could very well change this year.
Jerome has been solid from the get-go this season. On opening night in Toronto, the Virginia alum had 14 points (on 6-of-7 shooting), six assists and two steals in 18 minutes of action. The following game, he scored 13 points in 15 minutes against Detroit.
Over the past few games, Jerome has found a higher gear.
In a spot start against New Orleans on Nov. 20, Jerome went off for a career-high 29 points in just 23 minutes, going 7-for-12 from 3-point range. He followed that up with a 26-point, six-assist performance off the bench against Toronto.
After the game, Jerome’s teammates couldn’t wait to talk him up.
“He does offer a calming presence,” Georges Niang said of Jerome. “When that guy comes in the game and can shoot transition threes, get to the rim, stop runs by the other team, and then his underrated ability to have timely stops … for Kenny to have another weapon off the bench that can come in and do that … it’s been huge for us throughout the year.”
If you’re a Cavs fan, there’s no shame in admitting that you didn’t know what to expect from Jerome this season. I know I didn’t.
Before coming to Cleveland, Jerome had a grand total of seven career starts under his belt in four NBA seasons, during which he had bounced around from Phoenix to Oklahoma City to Golden State. Prior to this year, his most productive season was the 2020-2021 campaign with OKC, when he averaged 10.7 points and 3.6 assists in 33 games.
The Cavaliers signed Jerome to a two-year, $4.6 million contract in July 2023, snatching the restricted free agent from Golden State. He never got a chance to prove himself last year, hurting his ankle during the Cavs’ 2023-2024 home opener. The injury eventually required surgery.
This year has been a different story.
After the Cavs’ 122-108 win over Toronto – which improved their record to 17-1 – Jarrett Allen talked about the resilience that Jerome has displayed in battling back from a season-ending injury.
“To go through a whole year and not even touch the court three times, and then to be ready when the next season comes and play at a high level like he is – that’s tough to do,” Allen told reporters. “You have to lock in when you’re hurt; you have to see everybody succeed without you. But now he’s here and he hasn’t missed a beat.”
Allen described Jerome’s play with one word: “Incredible.”
“But during the summer he showed that he could do it. And now he’s [maintaining that same level of] hooping. Basically he’s doing everything: downtown shots, passing the ball, he’s doing it all. It’s incredible.”
Allen’s favorite thing about Jerome is “him as a person.”
“Good dude. Always about the right things. Always about making sure that his teammates are in a good space mentally. Just a good dude overall.”
As of Nov. 26, Jerome is averaging 12.6 points, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game – all career highs – in 19 minutes of game action. He’s leading the NBA in 3-point percentage, shooting at a torrid 54.4% clip from beyond the arc.
Jerome also is leading the NBA in true shooting percentage, a measure of a player’s overall scoring efficiency that takes into account field goals, 3-point shots and free throws.
Jerome has been so good lately that Tristan Thompson called him “our version of Luka Dončić.”
Just bear with him, OK?
“He’s a big guard, he plays at his own pace – you cannot speed him up – and when he gets to the rim it’s either a bucket or he’s gonna find someone,” Thompson said after the Toronto game. “His offensive rating is off the charts.”
Niang added: “Ty, I love you, you’re not Luka, but you’re really freaking good.”
When Ty Jerome injured his ankle in the second game of the 2023-2024 season, most Cavs fans probably didn’t realize what they were missing. I know I didn’t.
The Cavaliers signed Jerome to a two-year, $5 million contract in July 2023, snatching him from Golden State. At the time, the Virginia alum was a restricted free agent, after playing for one season with the Warriors. Golden State made him a qualifying offer but wasn’t willing to match Cleveland’s bid.
Since his NBA debut with Phoenix in 2019, Jerome has spent most of his career coming off the bench. Prior to this year, Jerome’s most productive season was with Oklahoma City in 2020, when he averaged 10.7 points and 3.6 assists a game. That season, Jerome shot 42% from 3-point range.
The severe high-ankle sprain that Jerome sustained during the Cavaliers’ 2023 home opener sidelined him for the rest of the season, so fans never got a chance to see why the Cavs snagged him from the Warriors – until now.
Thus far, Jerome is averaging 10 points, 3.3 assists and two rebounds per game for the Cavs. According to StatDefender, Jerome leads the NBA in most points per possession (1.56) as the ball handler on the pick-and-roll.
Most Points Per Possession As The Ball Handler On Pick & Rolls (P&R) In The 2024-25 NBA Regular Season (Min. 20 Total P&R Possessions) :
And the most impressive stat: He’s doing all of that in 16 minutes of playing time per game.
Even when he’s not putting up noteworthy numbers, Jerome knows how – and when – to make an impact. A perfect example is the Cavs’ 105-100 win over Brooklyn on Saturday.
Jerome had four points and five assists in that game. They all came in the fourth quarter, when the Cavs were digging out from under a double-digit deficit.
That wasn’t lost on head coach Kenny Atkinson.
“Ty was really good at the end of the game,” Atkinson said afterward. “ … Ty’s been a playmaker. You normally don’t think of Ty in that vein. You think more of a connector, smart player. But he’s making plays, and that’s completely surprising to me. That was a hell of a finish, and we needed it.”
While he acknowledged that Jerome “doesn’t have a great reputation as a defender,” Atkinson has been pleasantly surprised by Jerome’s defense as well.
“He’s defending this year, as well as he’s ever defended,” Atkinson said, . “ … He’s been outstanding.”
Through 11 games, Jerome is averaging 1.4 steals per game – a career high. Atkinson said he marvels at Jerome’s ability to generate turnovers, even if his techniques are a bit unconventional.
“He’s got great hands. Even if he gets beat, he pokes from behind. Then he’s got that one if a guy’s coming down really fast at him, he just dives in there and goes for the steal. … He’s got this weird knack for stealing the ball in an unusual way.”
Jerome’s clutch performance down the stretch Saturday night prompted this tweet from teammate Tristan Thompson, which inspired the headline for this article:
For any NBA fan, few things in life are as soul-crushing as watching your favorite team get taken to the woodshed by a guy who used to play for said team.
It’s especially maddening when you’re rooting for a small-market team like the Cavs, who are just a puzzle piece or two away from contending for an NBA title.
After flirting with the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference for a week or so last season, the Cavaliers finished in the No. 4 spot, good enough for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They were able to grind out a first-round-series win over Orlando. But with Donovan Mitchell banged up and Jarrett Allen on the bench nursing a rib injury, the Cavs just couldn’t hang with the Celtics in the semifinals.
I don’t know about you, but in those moments when the Cavaliers seem to be outmanned by a bigger, faster, stronger or more skilled opponent, I can’t help but wonder what things would be like if [insert name of former Cavs player here] wouldn’t have slipped through our fingers.
Yep, I’m talking about the ones that got away.
As one definition from urban dictionary puts it, the one that got away is that guy “you could have had it all with.” But, alas, “something – whether it was distance or just bad timing – drove you apart and left you wondering, ‘What if?’”.
What if.
Fans, sportswriters and pundits play the what-if game all the time, and speaking from experience, it’s a rabbit hole that goes absolutely nowhere. It’s a road whose inevitable terminus is grief, longing and utter despair.
So let’s go there, shall we?
Here are five former Cleveland Cavaliers who slipped away, for whatever reason. Bad timing, perhaps. Or maybe they were ensnared in a convoluted multi-team trade. Or (in one case), the Cavs just let them walk away.
5. Carlos Boozer
I’m thinking of that scene in “Godfather II,” at the New Year’s Eve gala in Havana. “I know it was you [Carlos]. You broke my heart. You broke my heart.”
In his second season out of Duke, Boozer was starting to come into his own as a profusely sweating, hard-working power forward who made his living in the low post. During that 2003-2004 season – LeBron’s rookie season with the Cavs – Boozer averaged 15.5 points and 11.4 rebounds a game. Although that was just about the high-water mark for rebounds in his career, his scoring average went up when he bolted for Utah.
About that.
After the ’03-’04 season, Boozer was a rising star on the Cavs, and the team wanted to retain him. He was on a second-round rookie contract, which paid him significantly less than his market value. The Cavaliers had an option to keep him on that low-paying contract for another year, but the front office reportedly reached a verbal agreement with Boozer and his agent. The understanding was that the Cavs would not exercise that option, making the sweaty power forward a restricted free agent. In return, Boozer would sign a six-year deal worth around $39 million, keeping him in Cleveland.
Photo by Kevin Allison/Wikimedia Commons
Yeah, that didn’t happen.
After the Cavs declined the team option, Boozer received an offer he couldn’t refuse from the Utah Jazz: a six-year, $70 million contract. So much for all that “my word is stronger than oak” stuff.
The Cavs really never replaced Boozer after he dropped them like a bad habit. Drew Gooden was a poor-man’s Boozer, and Tristan Thompson was Carlos Boozer Lite – all of the rebounding without the high-calorie scoring. (Neither of them was as profoundly sweaty as Boozer, I’ll tell you that much.)
It’s hard not to wonder “what if” when you consider that LeBron just got bigger, stronger and more dominant in each subsequent season after Boozer left Cleveland. LeBron and Carlos had all the makings of a dynamic duo – a force to be reckoned with in the low post. But alas, we’ll never know.
If there’s a lesson to be learned by the Cavs, it’s this one: If you really like a player, and you want that player to stay in Cleveland, you gotta lock that shit down.
4. Kevin Love
Kevin Love was the closest thing the Cavs had to Carlos Boozer in either of the Lebron eras. In his prime with Minnesota, K-Love was a double-double machine, averaging 26 points a game in two of his six seasons, and 20 points/15 rebounds a game during the 2010-2011 season. But unlike Boozer, Love was a threat from beyond the arc as well, averaging nearly 42% from 3-point range twice in his career (once as a Cav).
K-Love was a fan favorite in Cleveland, playing a memorable role in sealing the win for the Cavs in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. He was a two-time All-Star with the Cavaliers, and was a bridge from LeBron’s second tour of duty to the renaissance of the franchise that we’ve enjoyed these past few seasons. However, in his first season playing alongside Donovan Mitchell, Love was in a funk. The UCLA alum missed some time due to a thumb injury, and his 3-point shot wasn’t the same when he returned. By February 2023, Love had fallen out of J.B. Bickerstaff’s rotation, and when he did see playing time, his 3-point shots just weren’t falling.
Photo by Erik Drost/Wikimedia Commons
Reportedly unhappy with his limited role, Love and the Cavaliers mutually agreed to a buyout of the remainder of his contract, which had been set to expire at the end of the season. The front office allowed him to pursue opportunities with other teams – giving him the chance to potentially play for a playoff contender. So, the Cavs got absolutely nothing in return.
After the buyout, Love quickly signed with the Miami Heat, where he played a key role in their march to the 2023 NBA Finals.
Love’s career appears to be winding down, but he still has some value as a sixth man when he’s fully healthy. Even though his 3-point shooting has been a bit shaky, he’s still good for half a dozen rebounds in 20 minutes of game action, and his outlet passes are truly elite. (That might be the aspect of his game I miss most.)
While the Heat made it to the NBA Finals in 2023, the Cavs got spanked by the Knicks in a gentlemen’s sweep. The Cavs’ ignominious exit from the playoffs was a trigger for all kinds of what-if statements (like, “What if J.B. Bickerstaff wasn’t the head coach?”).
It also made me wonder if the Cavs should’ve been more patient with Love. Let’s be clear: Having K-Love around for the rest of the ’22-’23 season wouldn’t have been enough to flip the script against the Knicks. But his veteran presence and playoff experience were sorely needed in a series where the lights were too bright for many of the young players.
3. Isaiah Hartenstein
Heading into the third year of the Donovan Mitchell Experience, Isaiah Hartenstein could very well be first on my list of the ones that got away.
Let me take you back to 2020-2021 – the post-LeBron, pre-Evan Mobley, pre-Donovan Mitchell era – when Isaiah Hartenstein had a cup of coffee with the Cavs (who were not so great that year). The Cavaliers landed the 7-foot freight train (and two second-round draft picks) in a trade with Denver for veteran JaVale McGee. According to an article on Cleveland.com, Hartenstein had been on the Cavs’ radar ever since Assistant GM Mike Gansey saw him playing internationally at Basketball Without Borders in 2016.
The 2020-2021 season was a time of transition for the Cavaliers (and a strange time for all of us). The Cavs were eyeing USC big man Evan Mobley in the upcoming draft, and in late August, they acquired 7-footer Lauri Markannen from Chicago in a three-team deal. Hartenstein saw the writing on the wall, and opted out of his contract, ultimately landing with the L.A. Clippers.
Hartenstein’s versatility as a passer, shot blocker and energy player off the bench made him a key rotational piece for the Clippers during the 2021-2022 season, and his performance helped him secure a multi-year contract with the New York Knicks after the season.
Hartenstein was a perfect fit for the scrappy Knicks and Tom Thibodeau’s hard-nosed, gritty style of basketball. He seemed to relish pushing the Cavs’ frontcourt around, especially in the 2023 playoffs. I was shocked that the Knicks let Oklahoma City snag him this summer. Tough, defensive-minded backup centers aren’t exactly a dime a dozen.
If there is one silver lining, at least Hartenstein doesn’t play in the Eastern Conference anymore.
2. LeBron James
Perhaps you’ve heard of this guy. The Cavaliers drafted LeBron with the first pick in the 2003 draft, and in short order, the Chosen One had the franchise on a path to the promised land. And then, seemingly in the blink of an eye, he took his talents to South Beach, where LeBron and his pals won two NBA titles.
If LeBron wouldn’t have led the Cavaliers to an NBA title in 2016, this is a much different conversation. LeBron earned three NBA rings with teams other than the Cavs, but the fact that he delivered Cleveland’s first major sports championship since 1964 helps salve a lot of the pain of losing LBJ not once but twice.
So where does that leave us? Well, after surviving the second post-LeBron hangover, the franchise seems like it’s in a good place. And I certainly don’t miss LeBron-style basketball: four guys standing around the perimeter watching LeBron dribble and/or post-up . Nor do I miss the nonstop LeBron drama mill (“Will he stay? Will he go? Does he like the coach? Is he happy with the roster?”). For the most part, the current crop of young talent has been a joy to watch.
Does that mean I’ve never entertained a fantasy where LeBron comes back to Cleveland to finish his career (for the veteran’s minimum) and flourishes as the ultimate sixth man, delivering a second NBA title to the franchise? And despite publicly stating his intentions to retire, comes back the next season and helps the Cavs win a third NBA championship? Well I can dream, right?
1. Lauri Markkanen
And finally, we have the curious case of Lauri Markannen. After drafting Evan Mobley with the third overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft, the Cavaliers decided to go big or go home –quite literally – acquiring Markannen from Central Division rival Chicago as part of a three-team trade in August 2021.
Photo by Erik Drost/Wikimedia Commons
One of three tall trees in the Cavs starting lineup, Markkanen had a solid but unremarkable season in Cleveland, averaging 14.8 points and 5.7 rebounds. After the Cavs narrowly missed the playoffs in 2022, Koby Altman and the Cavs’ front office decided to go all in on Donovan Mitchell, who was available – for a hefty ransom – from the rebuilding Utah Jazz. The Cavs sent Markkanen and a treasure trove of assets to Utah, where it looks like the talented 7-footer from Finland has found his forever home.
As the centerpeice of Utah’s offense, Markkanen has flourished. He averaged 25.6 points (a career high) and 8.6 rebounds in 2022-2023, earning Most Improved Player honors and his first All-Star selection. Markkanen struggled with injuries last season, but he still averaged 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds, and hit nearly 40% of his 3-point attempts.
Meanwhile, back in Cleveland, Mitchell has been phenomenal. Still, when you think about the premium price that Cleveland paid to acquire the five-time All-Star, I often wonder if there was a way to get Mitchell without relinquishing Markkanen. What if the Cavs had included Darius Garland in the trade package instead?
All of a sudden, Rudy Gobert doesn’t seem so crazy.
Gobert made headlines for pantomiming the money sign after getting whistled for his sixth foul late in the fourth quarter of a wild Cavaliers-Timberwolves game in Cleveland on March 8. By flashing the money sign, Gobert was implying that the officiating crew targeted the 7-foot-1 Frenchman because they had money riding on the game.
At first blush, Gobert’s reaction reeked of sour grapes. The Cavs went on to win the game in overtime, and Gobert – as dominant as he is – has a history of emotional outbursts. Even after watching the Netflix documentary “Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul,” it’s hard to imagine that the trio of officials in Cleveland that night would’ve been brazen enough to place bets on the game they were officiating. (Although it’s worth mentioning that Scott Foster and Tim Donaghy were fast friends back in the day.)
But sadly, Gobert’s larger point – that legalized sports betting is hurting the NBA – might have some legs.
Prior to Cleveland’s home matchup against the Miami Heat, Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters that the sports-betting craze is starting to hit way too close to home.
“I personally have had my own instances with some of the sports gamblers, where they got my telephone number and were sending me crazy messages about where I live and my kids and all that stuff,” Bickerstaff said. “So it is a dangerous game and a fine line that we’re walking for sure.”
I’ll share a personal anecdote. When I attended the Cavs-Knicks game in Cleveland on March 3, there was a guy sitting in our row who repeatedly declared that “the Cavs are gonna win by five” to anyone in earshot. Late in the fourth quarter – when it was clear that the Cavs weren’t going to win at all – he vanished like a fart in the wind. I’m guessing he had some skin in the game.
That guy popped into my mind when Bickerstaff talked about the “added pressure” that legal sports gambling has placed on the game of professional basketball.
“It brings a distraction to the game that can be difficult for players, coaches, referees – everybody that’s involved in it,” Bickerstaff said. “And I think that we really have to be careful with how close we let it get to the game and the security of the people who are involved in it, because again it does carry a weight. A lot of times people who are gambling, this money pays their light bill or pays their rent, and the emotions that come from that. So I do think we’re walking a very fine line and we have to be extremely careful in protecting everybody who’s involved.”
I certainly hope the fan in our row didn’t wager his rent money on that game.
Sports betting has been legal in the Buckeye State since Jan. 1, 2023, thanks to the passage of House Bill 29. Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law that prohibited sports gambling in 2018, some 38 states and the District of Columbia have legalized sports betting in some form.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been in a bit of a funk since the All-Star break.
After getting a win in Detroit Friday night, they’re 3-3 since play resumed, which isn’t bad. But the Cavs set the bar high after a torrid stretch in which they were 18-3 from Jan. 1 up to the All-Star break.
They’ve also set the bar high in overtime play over the past few seasons.
The Cavaliers’ Feb. 28 double-overtime loss in Chicago snapped their 11-game overtime winning streak. With that mark, Cleveland had been tied for the second-longest OT winning streak in NBA history.
New Orleans holds the NBA record with 13 straight overtime victories from 2006-2008.
The Cavs got their 11th consecutive overtime win on Dec. 18, against the Rockets. In that one, Donovan Mitchell had 37 points and Sam Merrill had 19 off the bench, including five points in OT.
The Cavs were 7-0 in overtime last season, and 2-0 during the 2021-2022 season, when the streak started. Even before that, the Cavaliers had been excelling in the extra session, posting 4-1 and 3-1 overtime records, respectively, in the previous two seasons.
Put another way: With the Feb. 28 loss in Chicago, the Cavaliers are 18-3 in overtime since the 2019-2020 season.
That’s a cool stat that overlaps with most of J.B. Bickerstaff’s tenure as head coach. The Cavs promoted Bickerstaff to the position in February 2020 after John Beilein resigned.
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