Ranking the Most Surprising Players on the Cleveland Cavs This Season

Even though the Cleveland Cavaliers fell short of expectations this season, it was still a successful season that ended in a trip to the conference finals, and the potential to build on it next season.

Cleveland dealt with plenty of injuries throughout this season, forcing new players to step and contribute. There were plenty of memorable performances, and here are the top five biggest surprises this season ranked from least to most.

5. Nae’Qwan Tomlin (Least)

For someone who started playing basketball as late as Tomlin did, he’s shown a whole lot of progress this season. He appeared in 64 games this year and averaged six points and three boards.

He’s still raw, only able to really show up in limited situations during the regular season. But his defense and scoring has come a long way in the past season.

He couldn’t find a spot in the rotation during the playoffs, but if Cleveland sends off a big in the offseason, don’t be surprised to see Tomlin as a serviceable backup big next year.

4. Jarrett Allen

For a team with James Harden, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, it’s crazy that the Cavaliers playoff success often came down to Allen’s success.

Allen did a great job showing how valuable he is to the team, or at least raised his trade value this season. During the month of February Allen even rose enough to be considered the team’s best player for a brief moment, averaging over 20 and 10 with a career-high 40 bomb.

He also scored at least 20 in both playoff game sevens. Simply put, Allen proved he’s better than a lot of people think.

3. Max Strus

After missing most of the season with a serious injury, it seemed like Strus wasn’t even going to play basketball this year. When the news came that he’d return late in the year, there was skepticism on how he’d mesh with the rest of the team.

Strus quickly silenced those doubts with his stellar play in the final month of the year and the entire postseason. He appeared in 12 games averaging 11 points per game.

Then in the postseason, he took it up a notch as the first man off the bench. He was the energizer on defense, he was ankle to knock down clutch threes, and he just showed a whole lot more heart than most of the starters.

This offseason he’ll be looking to win back his starting job (though he may have some serious competition). Don’t count Strus out to come back even better next year after showing what he can when healthy this season.

2. Sam Merrill

For most of the season Merrill provided the nearly lone source of efficiency from behind the arc. He shot 42% from deep and averaged 12 points per game, making him the most valuable player off the bench this season.

Merrill had to constantly fight to keep his minutes, and he won every time. He started the year out having to beat Lonzo Ball out for minutes. He did, proving a much more reliable source of offense.

Then after the trade deadline, he fought against Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis. He also had to battle against Strus once he returned from injury. Throughout all of this Merrill proved he was still a key member of the team and never saw his minutes dip, averaging 26 per game.

While his defense still needs some work, he was able to provide intensity at times that kept him playable in most situations. He could be in line to make another leap in production this year as he’ll get the green light even more often.

1. Jaylon Tyson (Most)

After spending most of his rookie year in the G-League or bruised on the bench, Tyson found himself a role this year.

He showed he can be an elite defender, a 15-point per game caliber player when given the minutes, and a spark for the team.

He started a handful of games this year, but mainly found himself in a bench player role. He was named a rising star and even began to develop a serious voice in the locker room.

If he keeps developing like this, he’ll be competing for a starting job next year and could become an All-Star caliber player very soon.

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