Quick React/Open Thread: Cavs select Tyrese Proctor (or, #GoDuke #TheBrotherhood)
TGIF CtB!
The Cavs finally made their first move of the offseason by selecting Duke guard Tyrese Proctor with the Cavs’ 49th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft… let’s dive in for instant reaction,
#GoDuke #TheBrotherhood
Cavs’ POBO Koby Altman has hit the ground running so far since the playoffs ended. He was in hot pursuit of Kevin Durant, and should’ve won that trade war if KD wasn’t a complete coward. Without a blockbuster player on the market anymore (except maybe Giannis???), Altman turned in a quick BPA masterclass for the draft selecting Proctor. The Duke guard was projected as a consensus top 40 pick, expected to go in the 30-40 range and was clearly one of the highest ranked players on the board when the Cavs chose him. It appeared through pre-draft workouts that the Cavs were in pursuit of a big more than a guard, but Altman remained disciplined and taking what the rest of the NBA was giving.
What are the Cavs getting? They’re getting a back-end roster player who can maybe provide legitimate competition… players such as CPJ, Isaac Okoro, and Jaylon Tyson will need to stay on task. There’s hedging for the possible departures of Sam Merrill or Ty Jerome to free agency. It’s clear one of the effects of the second apron in the CBA is even teams that want to pay the tax (such as the Cavs) are still limited to doing so for about 1 or 2 seasons maximum before roster restrictions become too onerous to deal with. Drafting Proctor and hoping he pans out during the rookie contract is a necessary evil for contending teams in the second apron era to maintain roster flexibility and keep core guys together.
Draft Grade: A, if not A+
Tyrese, the Player
So what was his tenure like at Duke? To be honest, it’s one of falling short of expectations. Now to be fair to Tyrese, expectations at Duke are championships or bust. For Tyrese, what happened was a role change due to injury and recruiting. At the end of his freshman year, there was a glimpse of a star point guard. He stayed in school presumably to be the “veteran leader point guard” of the past season’s team and boost his own draft stock and potentially go in the lottery. That did not happen at all. His role was reduced to 3 and D as Cooper Flagg and Kon Kneuppel took over playmaking duties. Part of the reason Duke didn’t win the title was Proctor being miscast offensively off ball out of necessity because Duke lacked three point shooting, and him being unable to make up for it on the defensive end. The defense first guys Duke ran out (Caleb Foster and Maliq Brown, namely) couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn… but such is life in college basketball.
Tyrese is a versatile, skillful, athletic offensive player whose lack of physicality, strength, toughness, and confidence holds him back from his full potential, especially on defense. Can he find some grown man strength and confidence? Then the pick has home run potential… if he doesn’t? No harm no foul he’ll be trade fodder for a future deal.
Data Stream:
Final update: The 2025 NBA Draft Model Consensus
Built from the sharpest predictive models in the game — no vibes, just data.
See who rises when you model NBA outcomes.#NBADraft #ModelConsensus #DraftWizardry pic.twitter.com/cnMvE1VJKf
— Jesse Fischer (@jessefischer33) June 25, 2025
With the NBA Draft looming, trying to project out a rookie’s impact can be tricky to do.
To explore this idea, I calculated pre-NBA Value over Replacement Player (VORP) numbers for the 2025 NBA Draft class to help conceptualize potential value.
What stands out to you most here? pic.twitter.com/mOMDXXkmzi
— Mohamed (@mcfNBA) June 18, 2025
Here's how this year's prospects perform according to my "Statistical Indicators for VORP/YR" study.
I used career stats from BartTorvik and included all NBA Combine attendees and some under-the-radar guys who I think have a chance to make an impact in the league.
*NCAA Only* pic.twitter.com/RgztCeALJw
— Colton (@criggsNBA) May 29, 2025