The Unexpected Brilliance of Ty Jerome
What a difference a year makes; with the start of a season that has been so improbable for the Cavaliers, Ty Jerome's ascension is by far the most remarkable. The man that Koby Altman dubbed "the MVP of September" when the Cavs hosted training camp at IMG Academy in Florida might have caused some snickers amongst the local media, and fans alike aren't laughing now as Jerome has become a lethal member of the bench mob. From being a figure of our imaginations that many wondered truly existed after only playing 15 total minutes the year before, he is now scoring 11.8 points on 59/55/86 splits in just 18 minutes a night. He is not only one of the faces of the 7th-best scoring bench unit in the NBA but one of the best bench scorers in the league period. If you thought this was an unexpected development, Kenny Atkinson was right there with you. "It's been better than I thought it'd be,” he said, "Ty is playing at an elite level right now."
The numbers don't lie either once you look under the hood; he is converting 55% on catch-and-shoot threes, a ridiculous 59% in the paint, and 52% on pull-up jumpers; you name the scoring metric Ty Jerome is lighting the opposition up. His 29-point outburst (a career-high) against the New Orleans Pelicans, encapsulated it on a night when the short-handed Cavs needed the boost on a second night of a back-to-back against an even more short-handed Pelicans team. It felt like an exclamation point for his season, which is a daily game of setting career highs for the 27-year-old journeyman. His aggressiveness and timely buckets have been such a welcome addition from an unexpected place. Finally, the last example of Jerome’s incredible start to the season: he joins Josh Hart as the only two guards in the top 20 in field goal percentage, a place usually reserved for the big men and high-efficiency shots near the basket. [Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley are also in the top 20, as a highlight to how good the Cavs been as a whole.]
In a season where one of the mottos of Kenny Atkinson this season was "celebrating the depth," Ty Jerome deserves his flowers in the first 17 games of the season. A player who was commonly the 11th or 12th man on the roster at his other stops, he came to Cleveland with the opportunity to make an impact as the backup point guard and prove he was a legitimate NBA player, even after a lost season due to ankle surgery where many wondered if they should find another backup PG in free agency the resilience and hard work is paying off and It's better late than never.