Jaylon Tyson Could Unlock Cleveland’s Second Unit in a Big Way This Season

The Cavaliers have reshaped their roster this offseason in hopes of competing for a title in 2026-27. They’ve added athleticism, size, and even more youth to a few positions groups.

That said, they were forced to move off of two of their better playmakers in that of Dennis Schröder and Max Strus in order to create the flexibility needed to reshape said roster. That has left a glaring hole at backup point guard and probably more importantly, a need for reliable playmaking off the bench.

There are a few ways they can address this. James Harden and Donovan Mitchell can be staggered in ways that mask it, they could lean into Evan Mobley as more of an offensive hub in 2nd unit lineups, or they can hope that one of Craig Porter, Tyrese Proctor, or Meleek Thomas can help fill the void.

These are all viable solutions, each containing potential positives and drawbacks. And to be honest, we will likely see some form of each this upcoming season. But there is one more possibility in play here. Put the ball in Jaylon Tyson’s hands more and ask him to create.

Tyson spent a great deal of his time manning an off-ball role in 2025-26. That said, he does have experience conducting an offense and has shown enough patience and creativity at the NBA-level to warrant the belief that he could be counted on as a primary or secondary playmaker soon enough.

He sported a massive usage rate of 30.1% in his final collegiate season and finished 2023-24 with the 6th best assist percentage in the PAC-12 at 23.6.

During a breakout 2025-26, the Cal product ended the season with a usage rate of 17.6%, placing within the 64th percentile among wings. His assist percentage (11.7%) wasn’t exactly anything to write home about but it was a modest increase from his rookie year (10.5%).

I’ll be honest. The advanced metrics do not paint the portrait of a viable playmaker. But the film tends to illustrate something else entirely. That being a player becoming comfortable creating for others and in multiple ways. Yes, he can bring the ball up the floor and yes, he can reliably put the ball on the court but there are two things that stand out in particular in regard to his ability to create.

Pick-And-Roll ballhandling

Tyson has a feel for creating for others out of the Pick-And-Roll. He partnered with Cleveland’s bigs on a number of possessions that led to points throughout last season. He established a lot of chemistry with Jarrett Allen in particular as the two connected on multiple highlight-reel worthy finishes in the two-man game. In fact, Tyson was responsible for 16 total assist to the big man during the regular season, many of which came while operating out of screen-and-roll actions.

He has good touch on pocket passes, is a capable thrower of the lob pass, and shows enough patience to wait for openings to develop when driving towards the rim, whether that be on a dump off or a drive and kick. Now I wouldn’t go as far as to say that they should start spamming it relentlessly, but it’s certainly a part of his game that Cleveland should nurture.

The Cavs will indeed hope for the trio of CPJ/Proctor/Thomas to ascend but they should definitely lean into Jaylon Tyson's playmaking a bit more in 2026-27.

He did not grade well in this category but the film shows me a young wing with latent PnR ballhandler skills. pic.twitter.com/C7o1jYyOju
— Its Cavalier (@ItsCavalier_Pod) September 10, 2026

Short-Roll Decision Making

While Tyson’s PnR ball-handling is impressive, so too is his ability to process while functioning as the roll man himself. It is not uncommon to see him set a timely screen, roll, and immediately redistribute the rock to an open teammate along the perimeter or out of the dunker’s spot. He actually placed within the 77th percentile in quick decision making pass percentage as well as the 72nd percentile in quick decision making assist percentage. A large portion of that is based on his short-roll passing.

If Tyson continues to develop as a short-roll passer, the Cavs could reliably use him in small-ball lineups as a 4, in the guard-to-guard screen game, or perhaps even inverted Pick-And-Rolls with Mobley or Watson. There are more than a few ways to make use of that particular skillset and would make his off-ball viability even better by tapping into his playmaking, without having to place the ball in his hands.

Add us as a preferred source on Google