Nae’Qwan Tomlin Should Be In The Cavs Rotation

Nae’Qwan Tomlin Should Be In The Cavs Rotation

Yes, I did want an excuse to hop on my brand new mic and whatnot and test out the sound quality, but I promise you there’s a real discussion to be had here. And that, my friends, is whether or not there is a real case to be made for Naquan Tomlin taking the place of Dean Wade in the rotation this year. And I know there’s a lot of people out there that are probably rolling your eyes at what I’m saying or what I’m about to say. And that’s that I think that Naquin Tomlin can add elements to this rotation that Dean Wade frankly has just shown not capable of providing. Listen, I get the allure of Dean Wade. Very, very versatile defender, positionally versatile at that. Has shown a semblance of a three-point shot. He is a career 36.8% shooter from three-point distance after all. And in terms of that versatility, yes, he did grade within the 98th percentile in defensive positional versatility over on Bball Ball Index. and he is in the 87th percentile in terms of matchup difficulty over there, too. So, he does take on a lot of tough perimeter assignments out there, some of the tougher matchups in the front court at times. And he’s versatile enough to to handle multiple positions. I’ve said that time and time again. That much you cannot take away from Dean Wade. But I think we all know what the issues are where they lie with Wade and where they have lied for a number of years now. Number one, confidence. Offensively, it’s one thing, right? Ton of players in the NBA that can defend, maybe not necessarily at a high level, but to varying degrees and can genuinely be impactful on that end of the floor. And Dean Wade is no different in that regard. But unlike a lot of these other players out there, Dean Wade has actually shown semblances of perimeter shotmaking. It’s just the lack of confidence to pull the trigger at times that really has disturbed me and others. I know I’m not alone in that thought process. And so if he’s not pulling the trigger from people in distance, if he is not a exceptional rebounder and he’s not really adding too much else offensively speaking, then yeah, you’re going to start looking elsewhere. And I think that when you look at what Naquon Tomlin can provide you, you see some of that there. Like in in summerly, this man has truly been putting on a show. He’s looked like the best player on the floor at times for this Cavaliier summer league squad. On his way to averaging 21 points per game, averaging 7.3 boards, so he’s a monster on the glass, especially on the offensive rebounds where he is pulling down 3.3 per game, generating a ton of extra possessions and making sure that he’s putting the ball back up. He’s moving the ball out there, averaging four assists per game. He’s stolen the ball a ton, leading the way with 2.3 per outing. He’s blocking shots out there. He’s doing it all defensively, contesting shots at the rim, making sure that he is staying in front of his assignments, making sure that he is active on the defensive glass, and then best of all, like on the offensive end, he has shown the confidence to pull that trigger. He has shown the confidence to put the ball on the floor. And that might be one of the biggest things that separates Naqucoin Tomlin from Dean Wade at this point in time is not only the offensive skill set that he shows, not only the confidence that he shows, but the ability to handle the rock. This man at the size that he has, he has legitimate handle. Now, am I saying that he is going to be a lock to get the ball at the NBA level? No, I’m not saying that, right? he is going to be profiling much more of an offball type of u offball type of forward at the NBA level. But it is nice to know that you can give him the ball and ask him to put it on the floor and drive inside, attack the painted area, dribble drive, you know, dribble penetration, all that good stuff, pull up. He has done all of this in threeame increment, right? In a three game sample size. And I think that you have seen this too. It’s again, it’s not the first time that you have seen Tomlin showcase a diverse offensive skill set. He did it numerous times for the Cleveland Charge. Last year in the G-League, he hadn’t gotten too many opportunities at the NBA level after being signed by Cleveland past like blowouts and whatnot and then the final games of the season. But if you give him a real role, if you give him real minutes, I’m very curious to see what he can bring to the table. And specifically as it relates to Dean Wade’s spot, which is it’s not a given in the first place, especially with the Cavaliers uh recent acquisitions, you got Lonzo Ball, he is definitely going to play, assuming healthy. You got Larry Nance Jr., he was a direct competitor for minutes for him in that front court. Assuming he is healthy, he will be a lock for the rotation. Dean Wade could be on the outside looking in. I don’t think that’s going to be the case to begin the year. I definitely think that Kenny Atinson is going if he is still on this roster, which I think you can probably pencil him in, even though he is going to be entering the 25 uh 202526 season on an expiring deal that could be attractive around the deadline for some teams. I think it’s safe to say that Dean Wade is probably going to be a part of that rotation early on. But I do definitely believe that there is a real case to be made that Naquin Tomlin could eventually usurp him and be that that replacement there. You guys know I was talking heavy on that earlier on. Uh, well, not earlier on, last year after he was signed and whatnot and watching him play with the Cleveland Charge. You guys know I’ve been real real real high on this guy and he has shown that that confidence and it appears that Kobe Alman and Kenny Atinson are big- time believers in this guy. I think you saw Kobe actually get on the broadcast during I think game two or game three of the summer league games and it just kind of echo these same sentiments like the belief in this dude is big. Donovan Mitchell even got on the broadcast in that in that last game against the Heat and you know was heaping praise on that is the type of that you love to see. But as it relates to being a member of that rotation, I don’t think it’s crazy. For anybody out there that believes that Tomlin should be in the rotation over Wade, I definitely believe that there is a case to be made there. Now, the question is, are they going to convert his deal? He’s on a two-way contract. As we know, they have 50 game limits before they have to make a decision at the G level on whether or not they’re going to convert him to a standard deal or not. he’s going to be ineligible for the playoffs is here if he remains on that two-way contract. And just purely based upon what we have seen, I’m trying not to overreact, but man, just he has looked so so good playing against uh the playing against these other summer league talents. He has frankly looked like the best player on the floor in a group that includes Tyrese Proctor, Jaylen Tyson, right? all these other big names that the Cavaliers are putting out there. There’s some other wonderful summer league talents that should be up for uh you know two-way consideration, whether that be Tristan uh Inaruna or Norad Mir. These guys are guys I would love to see on a two-way contract. But I’ll tell you this right now, Tomlin looks like he is ready for that rotation. And if I had any say, I may give him a shot ahead of Dean Way. Now, when purely when you’re talking about like point for point in the rotation, it gets difficult. It gets difficult even for Dean Wade. But let’s assume that Darius Garland misses the start of the year. That leaves a gaping hole in terms of the point guard position and that opens up a lot of minutes that is likely to be split up between Donovan Mitchell, Lonzo Ball, and Craig Porter Jr. We know Donovan is very, very capable of handling minutes at league guard. He has looked really good. He doesn’t spread the ball around the same type of way that Darius does, but he is a very capable facilitator. We saw it at points during the 2023 24 season and we saw it at points during that playoff series. But the way in which he moves the ball is completely different than what Darius Garland does than that of Darius Garland. Lonzo, assuming he is healthy, will probably get a lion share of those minutes. Craig Porter Jr. will also factor in there as well. But if you had to look at the first 10, assuming that Darius Garland does not play, I would think it would be something like Donovan Mitchell. Uh, and this is in no order, by the way, cuz who who the knows what Kenny Atinson is going to do in the starting lineup, but I would have to assume that Donovan Mitchell, Max Struce, DeAndre Hunter, Evan Mobley, Jared Allen, Sam Merrill, you have to include Larry Nes Jr. obviously, Lonzo Ball, Craig Porter Jr., And the real toss up here becomes Jaylen Tyson, Dean Wade. Past that point, it’s really, really up in the air. And then it gets even more difficult once Darius Garland returns to action cuz that could push one of these guys that I just mentioned out. And I think the odd man out in that case is likely to be Craig Porter Jr. I don’t think Jaylen Tyson is a lock to be in the rotation either past that point. I do think that DG being out does open the door and allow specific avenues for Tyson and uh CPJ and Tomlin to get minutes, but the problem here is that there are a lot of Mount Seed and not enough minutes to go around. So, there going to be some tough conversations to be had. There will be some tough decisions to be made. And for me, my money, what I have seen out of Tomlin, I’m giving them a shot. I know Kenny Atinson is probably not going to do that. I know they’re probably going to go the Craig Porter Jr. route in terms of standardizing Tomlin’s deal and just utilize that time. And I certainly understand that mindset, but I also understand the mindset of standardizing his deal right now. is just giving him that 14th roster spot if assuming they don’t go to an outside free agent and seeing what he can do and moving Dean Wade moving off of Dean Wade and allowing him to be you know transition to another another squad another team at or around the deadline and moving off the expiring deal that he has because I frankly I just don’t see Dean Wade being a Cavalier past the 2025 26 season. I don’t know. Just maybe I’m crazy. Maybe I’m maybe I’m in way too high on what I deem to be the potential of Naqucoin Tomlin. But I would love to hear what you guys have to say because this is just a very interesting uh dynamic here because what Tomlin brings to the table and what Wade brings to the table, it just feels like completely different things and there’s validity to both sides here. Dean Wade is obviously a veteran at this point in his career. He has a ton of experience. The problem with him has been confidence. It’s been health at points. It’s been offensive inconsistency. Uh and with Tomlin, he’s young. He’s inexperienced, right? So, he has not proven. And this is a championship caliber team. That’s probably the point where a lot of people are probably going to say, “Hey, Mac, this is a team competing for a championship. We can’t necessarily afford to have allow guys to learn on the fly. We have to have trusted veterans in place. So, take your time with Tom.” And I I completely understand that mindset, but sometimes you got to take some risks. And I understand. Listen, I get it. They’ve taken a huge risk with Larry Nich Jr. They’re taking a huge risk with Lonzo Ball and in assuming or hoping at the very least that these guys are going to be healthy. They take a huge leap by allowing Ty Jerome to go and not offering him the deal that he probably would have warranted. But I’m very, very interested to hear what you guys have to say in regards to this because for me, I think Tom was ready. I will standardize this deal right now. Let me know what you have to say in the comments below. As I always tell you, if you like to reach out to me, you know I can. It’s cal_od on Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, and more. If you want to be added to the Cavalier Discord chat, you know what to do. Leave a rating, leave a review, send a screenshot of YouTube to it’s [email protected], and I will send you an invite. Who cares?

One thing is for certain, Cleveland Cavaliers F Nae’Qwan Tomlin has been making the most of his opportunities at this year’s NBA Summer League. Has he done enough to warrant a spot in the Cavs rotation? Should his contract be converted?

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