Cleveland isn’t a better team with Ty Jerome playing in Memphis.
Ty Jerome has reportedly agreed to a three-year, $28 million dollar contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. This is the most lucrative deal of Jerome’s NBA career thus far.
Jerome averaged a career-high 12.5 points on 51.9% shooting last season. He was an integral piece to a Cleveland Cavaliers squad that won 64 games in the regular season. His scoring off the bench contributed to countless wins.
The Cavs were in between a rock and a hard place when it came to re-signing Jerome. Retaining their Sixth Man of the Year candidate wasn’t as simple as matching the offer he accepted with Memphis, which they could’ve. Tacking on Jerome’s salary would have resulted in an over $80 million tax penalty. That’s a tall price to pay for a backup point guard.
Obviously, Jerome wouldn’t have been solely responsible for the Cavs being in the tax. He’d be just one part of an expensive roster, that’s expensive for a reason. Being a title contender comes with a price. The Cavs ultimately chose to save money at the cost of being a worse team.
Listen, we liked the Lonzo Ball trade. Swapping Isaac Okoro for a multifaceted playmaker and defender — even with the injuries — was worth the risk. But let’s not be mistaken. Ball isn’t replacing Jerome’s scoring. Neither is Craig Porter, Jaylon Tyson or the 49th pick in this year’s draft.
Losing Jerome will not go unnoticed on the court. The Cavs had a 10-3 record when Jerome scored 20+ points. His ability to torch opposing benches and elevate the Cavs whenever Donovan Mitchell or Darius Garland didn’t have it going was invaluable.
There’s no doubt the Cavs’ bench will have less firepower than last year. Even with Jerome’s shaky performance in the playoffs — you’d feel more comfortable with him being the lead scorer off the bench than… Dean Wade? Sam Merrill? Who is supposed to score with this second unit?
Jerome was Cleveland’s saving grace throughout the regular season. His on-ball creation made sure that the Cavs never had a lineup that couldn’t generate buckets. Of course, that began to diminish once injuries piled up and Jerome went cold at the wrong time against Indiana. But it’s nonsensical to think that anyone else on this bench has shown us they can replicate the microwave scoring Jerome was providing. If you think Craig Porter Jr. was going to save the offense — then I have a harsh reality check for you (as one of CPJ’s biggest fans).
Nothing from the 2025 NBA Playoffs would lead you to believe that having fewer ball-handlers and shot creators is a good thing. This isn’t like the Cavs traded Jerome to try someone new. They lost him for a price they could have matched or beaten. The Cavaliers are now down a hyper-efficient one-on-one creator who played with an intensity that few players on the roster have ever shown. That makes them objectively worse than they were a month ago.
Perhaps De’Andre Hunter can plug up the gaps. Though, most of us hope to see Hunter in the starting lineup next season. That would result in some redundancy with Max Strus and Sam Merrill. There’s now a conundrum on this bench that wouldn’t exist if Jerome were still in Cleveland.
All this said — Jerome is headed to a Grizzlies team that has a void in the backcourt now that Desmond Bane is in Orlando and Ja Morant’s availability remains perpetually in question. Jerome will be set up to continue balling out. We wish him the best of luck.