UVA Basketball alum Ty Jerome started and scored 15 points with eight assists in 23 minutes for the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 129-117 preseason loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday.
Jerome only saw action in two regular-season games in 2023-2024, not playing after Oct. 27 due to a right ankle injury that led to surgery in January.
Jerome was brought in ahead of the 2023-2024 season to back up five-year veteran Darius Garland at the point, but even in the two games in which he was available, he only logged six minutes (in Cleveland’s 114-113 season-opening win over Brooklyn on Oct. 25) and nine minutes (in a 108-105 loss to Oklahoma City two nights later).
With Jerome out, rookie Craig Porter Jr. emerged as the backup at the one spot, and seemed to grow into the role as the season went on, averaging 5.6 points and 2.3 assists in 12.7 minutes per game, which translates to 15.8 points and 6.5 assists per 36 minutes, and he shot 50.9 percent from the floor and 35.3 percent from three, both good numbers.
Jerome’s per-36 minutes numbers are close – 14.5 points and 5.4 assists – but his shooting, 42.1 percent from the floor, 35.2 percent from three, isn’t.
The minutes for Jerome in Thursday’s preseason game are a good sign. I was worried this summer that the Cavs might be considering cutting bait with Jerome, considering his substantial injury history – he missed time with a right ankle injury as a rookie, had his second NBA season cut short with time missed to a left ankle injury, then his third ended with a groin injury that needed surgery, ahead of missing the final 80 games plus the playoffs last year with the latest ankle issue.
All told, Jerome has only been on the floor for 159 games across five NBA seasons.
Jerome is set to make $2.56 million this season in the second year of a two-year deal signed in the summer of 2023.
Quick hits
Where was this Ryan Dunn last year? Dunn, a first-round pick of the Phoenix Suns, had 10 points in 17 minutes off the bench in a 105-97 preseason win over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.
Dunn was 3-of-5 from three in the win, after putting up nine points and shooting 2-of-6 from three in a 118-114 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
So, 5-of-11 from three in two preseason games.
Dunn, as a sophomore with UVA Basketball in 2023-2024, was 7-of-35 from three.
Jay Huff trying to secure a job in Memphis. Huff, a reserve on the 2019 national title team who was a key contributor on the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 teams, is in Memphis this preseason, and he put up big numbers in a 119-94 loss to Charlotte on Thursday, with 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks in 23 minutes off the bench.
Huff was 5-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three in the game.
Huff is a classic tweener – really good in the G League, averaging 16.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.8 blocks and shooting 62.2 percent from the floor and 34.8 percent from three in three G League seasons, just not good enough to get a full-time NBA gig.
Huff was with Denver for 20 games in the 2023-2024 season, getting 2.5 minutes per game in very limited action.
Limited minutes for Reece Beekman. Beekman, an undrafted free-agent pick-up by Golden State in the summer, got 14 minutes off the bench in the Warriors’ 91-90 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, going scoreless on 0-of-2 shooting with two assists.
On Thursday, Beekman got four minutes of garbage time in a 122-112 win over Sacramento, scoring two points on 1-of-2 shooting.
Beekman appears headed to the G League to start the 2024-2025 season.
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Chris Graham
