The front office had an “almost” first-round grade on Tyrese Proctor
The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Tyrese Proctor and Saliou Niang with their late second-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft. Let’s take a look at what we can take away from those selections and Cavs general manager Mike Gansey’s media availability afterward.
Tyrese Proctor’s ability to play with others set him apart
Teams can’t have enough shooting, ball handling, and playmaking. Proctor brings that as a sharpshooting combo guard. Those skills are most useful if they come with an understanding of how to play with high-usage players on the court
Proctor’s most recent season at Duke prepared him for that role.
“The thing that attracted us was that he can play on and off the ball,” Gansey said Thursday evening. “He’s got great size at 6’5”, he can play some combo [guard]. On top of that, there’s the 40% shooting (from three). He comes from a winning pedigree. And especially this year, I think he was the fifth Duke player drafted. So basically, their whole starting five was drafted. He can fill a role. We’re excited about him coming in here and showing what he can do.”
The Cavs really like Proctor
Teams always like the guys they drafted. Gansey wasn’t going to come out and say that they didn’t like Proctor. It also isn’t rare for teams to say that they had a “higher grade” on a player than where they were selected.
Gansey came out and said that the team had an “almost” first-round grade on Proctor. But what most teams don’t do is immediately give a roster spot to a late second-round pick like the Cavs did with Proctor.
Actions speak louder than words.
You can’t have enough shooting and playmaking
Gansey brought up multiple times that Proctor can do both, but the shooting is what the Cavs seem to like most.
“He can really shoot,” Gansey said.
That he can.
Proctor connected on 40.5% of his threes at Duke last season. This included connecting on 55.2% of his triples during last season’s NCAA tournament.
That, being combined with someone who also spent time as the primary and secondary ball handler throughout his three collegiate seasons, is important.
Shooting is a prerequisite in the league now. You need to have skills outside of that to thrive. Being a reliable ball handler and playmaker, on top of having a reliable outside shot, is important and something the Cavs need from more of their players.
Selecting Proctor doesn’t affect Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill’s free agency
It’s easy to look at someone with Proctor’s skill level as being drafted as a replacement for either Jerome or Merrill. According to Gansey, this pick doesn’t influence how their free agency goes.
“I don’t think it changes it much at all,” Gansey said when asked about Jerome and Merrill’s free agency. “I think with this pick, we were just going to take the best talent there and the guy we like the most. Tyrese was that guy.”
The Cavs have been keeping track of Saliou Niang for several years
Niang flew under most draft gurus’ radars. It’s difficult to find much of a scouting report on him, except for Ersin’s NBA Draft Newsletter.
He didn’t fly under the Cavs’ radar. Niang has been someone they’ve been tracking for years.
“We’ve been following him since he was like 15,” Gansey said. “He’s 21, but in basketball years, he’s probably around 18 or 19. The last two years, the strides he’s made have been pretty incredible.”
Niang’s has all the physical tools
Wings that have Niang’s height and athleticism don’t grow on trees. It’s difficult to pass up on someone who has those traits, even if he isn’t quite polished yet.
“He’s super, super athletic, 6’7”, really long, and can really guard,” Gansey said. “He was just the NBA Euro Camp Defensive MVP. So he’s really good on the defensive side of the ball. His versatility is there. He can slash, good cutter, good finisher around the rim.
“But he’s really got to improve his three-point shooting. He’s not a great shooter right now, but it’s improving.”
Niang has taken steps as a shooter. He went from taking hardly any threes before this past season to knocking down 33.3% of his 0.7 attempts per game with Trento in Italy. Whether his shooting ever really comes together could determine if he’s an NBA player.
Niang will stay overseas
Gansey mentioned that Niang will stay playing in Italy for at least a year, but they hope he can play with the Cavs in Summer League in a few weeks. Even though he won’t be with the team, they will do what they can to stay connected with him like they’ve done with other draft-and-stash players.
“I’ll go over there two, three times a year to see him,” Gansey said. “Koby, Brandon Weems, Brendon Yu, our whole scouting department will go over there and see him. Show him love. Obviously stay in touch with him and show them they’re part of our family, even though they’re playing overseas.”
The timing of when Niang will be brought over will be dependent on his development.
“We want them to succeed,” Gansey said of Niang and their other draft-and-stash players. “We don’t want them to come over and fail. When the time is right for these guys to come over, kind of like Cedi [Osman], he was ready after two years. … So I think it’s just kind of a wait-and-see approach.”
The Cavs were looking to trade into the first round
Koby Altman isn’t afraid to make a call and see what his options are. On Wednesday, that included seeing if getting a first-round pick was possible.
“We’re always active,” Gansey said when asked about the first day of the draft. “You guys know Koby very well. We’re always in the mix for everything. We’re going to make those calls, and we want to know what’s going on because if there’s an opportunity to strike, you know, we want to do it and be aggressive.”
This is something to keep in mind when rumors come up about Kevin Durant or whatever other high-profile name the Cavs could be linked to this summer. This is a front office that isn’t afraid to pick up the phone and survey the landscape of things, even if a deal is ultimately unlikely.