Tomlin is showing why he belongs with the Cavaliers beyond his current 10-day contract.
Nae’Qwan Tomlin’s path to a 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers hasn’t been straightforward. He didn’t grow up on the AAU circuit like most pros but instead learned to play on the streets of New York City. Tomlin started playing organized basketball after high school, began his collegiate career at Monroe Community College, and played for four colleges in five years.
It was an unconventional journey, to say the least, but one that Tomlin is glad he took.
“Most definitely,” said Tomlin to Fear the Sword when asked whether that road has been beneficial for him.
“Just from a maturity level. I was very immature early on. It just helped build character. Even when I was at Kansas State transitioning to Memphis, everything was just life lessons. It’s made me who I am today.”
This has all led to him being an NBA player. That’s something no one can take away from him.
“I imagined playing, but that feeling when I get out there is surreal,” Tomlin said. “All that hard work that I put in and now I get to really step onto an NBA court. It’s amazing.”
That hard work has been seen during his time with the Cleveland Charge, the G League affiliate of the Cavs. He’s averaged 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game on .548/.361/.619 shooting splits. This has added up to an impressive 61.5 effective field goal percentage.
Tomlin’s game is unorthodox for a 24-year-old 6’10” forward. His skills as an off-the-dribble scorer are impressive and not something you often see in a player of his size. How that translates to the professional game was unknown coming into this season.
As a result, Tomlin began the year in a limited role. He played just spot minutes at the start but began to take on more responsibility once injuries forced him into the lineup a month in. His playing time doubled from November to December, as did his production.
The efficiency from beyond the arc wasn’t quite there until after the Tip-Off Tournament concluded in mid-December. He went from shooting 30.2% on 2.9 threes per game in his first 15 games to connecting on 38.4% of them on 5.1 per outing in the 22 games since.
Tomlin credits that progression to the work that he’s put in throughout the season.
“Just being in the gym,” Tomlin said. “The first season that we had before the Showcase (his first 15 games), I wasn’t shooting it well. And I came back, and I’ve been shooting it pretty good, rebounding pretty good, just playing hard. So I feel like just me being in the gym and trusting my work.”
Tomlin hasn’t had much of an opportunity to show what he can do in the NBA. The Cavs aren’t in a position to add people to their regular rotation considering how deep they already are. But Tomlin has performed well in the limited minutes he’s received since signing his 10-day contract last Thursday.
“I’m just going out there and just playing hard,” Tomlin said. “I feel like my motor and my energy is what gets me going and just going out there, even if it’s two minutes, a minute, just trying to go out there and play as hard as I can. Show them that they made a good choice by giving me that 10-day.”
That energy and willingness to play hard has shown up on the stat sheet. Tomlin has scored or grabbed a rebound in all three games he’s appeared in with the Cavs. He’s totaled 10 points and six rebounds in 14 minutes of NBA action.
It’s unclear what the Cavs’ plans are for Tomlin beyond his first 10-day contract which expires at the end of this week. There’s certainly a strong argument for keeping him around on the regular roster or a two-way deal for the remainder of this season and beyond.
The Cavaliers need homegrown talent to fill out the roster in the coming years. They likely won’t be able to keep all of their role players once their current deals are up considering where they will be from a cap standpoint next season and beyond. They will need to continue to find good rotation players on cheap deals like they’ve done with Dean Wade and Sam Merrill. Discovering and developing G League prospects is a good way of doing that.
Whether or not Tomlin can follow that blueprint is yet to be seen. What we do know is that he has the potential to fill a position of need. The Cavs could use additional people who can shift playing between power forward and center to fill out the rotation.
Even at 24, Tomlin has considerable upside given the lack of formal basketball training compared with his peers. That, combined with his tantalizing skill set, could be enough to give him a standard or two-way deal.
What we do know is that Tomlin believes that he has what it takes to be in the NBA beyond his 10-day assignment. He’s trying to do all he can to show that he belongs.
“I have something to prove,” Tomlin said. “I’m the right guy that can just go in and play hard and just leave it all out there. Obviously I have goals. Like, you know, I want to be an All-Star, you know what I’m saying? And that might happen, that might not happen.
“But just keep working and improving and learning, then let’s just see. I mean, what’s the saying that they say? The sky’s the limit.”