Ty Jerome says Cavs never gave him an option to return

Jerome implies the Cavs never made an offer.

It’s been one day of free agency... and the NBA has already reminded us that the drama never stops. Ty Jerome, who recently left the Cleveland Cavaliers and agreed to a deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, got the ball rolling with this post on Instagram.

This is a can of worms that should be carefully unpacked. Is Ty Jerome saying he was never given any sort of course for returning to Cleveland? Like, no offer whatsoever? Or did Jerome not receive an offer he deemed realistic? Did Jerome think the Cavs would push harder to retain him?

There’s no sense in speculating one way or the other. The simple fact is — Jerome is in Memphis, and the Cavaliers have moved on.

Cleveland’s trade for Lonzo Ball was an indication that this might happen. While both Ball and Jerome are different enough to fill separate roles — there’s enough positional overlap to make this an expensive redundancy. Keep in mind, Jerome’s contract would have resulted in a massive tax penalty for the Cavs.

One could assume that Cleveland chose to value defense over scoring by going with Ball instead of Jerome. In that case, I’m not sure I agree with their decision, even if I understand the vision. Ball’s availability makes him a shaky choice to hang your hat on. Jerome’s production from last season will be hard to replace.

Nonetheless, it was always understood that keeping Jerome in Cleveland was going to be a challenge. Most of us assumed it would be because Jerome took a bigger payday somewhere else. But having it implied that the Cavs never even bothered to try — while Memphis signed him at a reasonable 3-year, $28 million dollar tag — well, that’s a different story.

Again, there’s no sense in speculation. Though, that won’t stop anybody from doing it. The franchise just lost a Sixth Man of the Year finalist who is insinuating he didn’t want to leave. That’s never a fun story to cover.

Until we know more, we can assume Jerome is going to take this one personally. As if he needed any more motivation to bounce back next season.