Why Ty Jerome Could Thrive With Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers have a number of great scorers such as Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Max Strus, and even Evan Mobley. Having this many players who can get the ball in the basket is great but a team also needs someone to manage the game and distribute the ball to them too.
That's where the newest Cavs guard Ty Jerome comes into play.
Cleveland signed Jerome to a two-year deal over the summer with the intention of him being one of the team's backup point guards. This signing turned out to be even more crucial with Ricky Rubio's uncertainty heading into the season.
This means that Jerome is in line to be the team's primary backup ball-handler behind Garland and could see upwards of 20 minutes a night.
Jerome appeared in 45 games for the Golden State Warriors last season. He averaged 6.9 points a game, shot 48 percent from the field, and grabbed a couple of rebounds a night too.
The area that the 26-year-old point guard could really excel at in his role with the Cavaliers is distributing the ball and seeing his assists number go up. Jerome averaged 3.0 assists a night last season while turning the ball over less than once per game.
That's a pretty good ratio for an NBA point guard.
Jan 20, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Ty Jerome (10) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) during the first half at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
© Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
It would not be surprising to see this stat significantly go up with Jerome having the ability to pass to efficient catch-and-shoot players such as Mitchell (48.4 percent) and Strus (41 percent). Garland is another player who plays well off-ball too.
Jerome could also benefit by playing with bigs such as Jarrett Allen, Mobley, and Tristan Thompson who catch a ton of alley-oops.
One of Cleveland's weaknesses last season was not having an effective backup guard off the bench. The Jerome signing has the possibility to fix that and help the Cavs reach their highest potential.
