Ty Jerome signs with Memphis

    The die was cast last weekend, but on the first day of free agency, the Cleveland Cavaliers officially lost Ty Jerome as Jerome signed with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Jerome agreed to a three-year contract worth twenty-eight million dollars with Memphis, and the door was opened after the Cavaliers acquired Lonzo Ball and re-signed Sam Merrill.

Jerome had his best season in 2024-25 with Cleveland, posting career-highs in games played and almost every offensive category.

Jerome played twenty minutes a game, averaging twelve points, three assists, and shot fifty-one percent from the floor, forty-three percent from three-point distance.

However, Jerome's defensive weaknesses were targeted in the Cavaliers' playoff defeat to the Indiana Pacers as Tyrese Halliburton torched him consistently. Cleveland realized that Jerome's limitations weren't going to improve.

I understand with the Cavaliers' cap situation, Jerome wasn't likely to return after his postseason play, so the trade for Lonzo Ball made sense to me.

I wasn't surprised that the Cavaliers re-signed Sam Merrill at the time, but I am mildly puzzled that Merrill (four years, thirty-eight million) was valued higher than Jerome, receiving an extra year (four to three) and almost the same compensation per year.

I like Merrill, and he has value as a shooter off the bench, but Jerome is a bit more versatile.

I wouldn't have had an issue keeping either player over the other, but it does feel as if Cleveland overpaid a bit for Merrill while Memphis may have bought a mild bargain in Jerome's contract.

Cavaliers nipped by Grizzlies 110-106

    The two surprising teams in the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference with each team with one of the best young guards in the game hooked up in Cleveland and the game came down to the final seconds before the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-106 in Cleveland.

Darius Garland led Cleveland in his return to the lineup with 27 points and ten assists with Jarrett Allen (22 and 12) and Kevin Love (18 and 10) each adding double-doubles to the stat sheet in defeat.

Cleveland drops to 21-17 and starts a six-game road trip Friday in Portland and against the Trail Blazers.

Swashbucklings

1) Both Darius Garland and Memphis guard Ja Morant played excellent basketball in their head-to-head battle but in the end, it was Morant and the Grizzlies that came up biggest at the end of the game.

Morant hit a bank shot with under a minute to give Memphis a two-point lead and seconds later after Cleveland tied the game on an Evan Mobley hook and after Memphis scored to take the lead, Morant made a steal off a pass intended to get the ball into Darius Garland's hands and broke into the open court for a layup.

Cleveland would cut the lead back to two before Morant iced the game with two free throws to put the game away,

2) However, those free throws should not have been attempted as when Memphis inbounded the ball to Ja Morant, Morant's sneaker clearly slips and should have been called for traveling.

However, with an official standing literally in front of Morant, watching the entire play there wasn't a call made and Cleveland was forced to foul Morant.

Inexcusable.

3) I'm a huge fan of Ja Morant and I was on record before the  2019 draft that I would have taken Morant if I was picking first and with the hype over Zion Williamson, there weren't many people that agreed with me.

New Orleans tabbed Williamson first overall with Memphis scooping Morant with the second pick.

Williamson has been an impact player when he plays but has struggled with injuries.

4) Darius Garland was a player that I wasn't thrilled with after his rookie season but improved with each game.

Garland stood toe to toe with Morant and gave as good as he got.

5) Garland's passing helped Jarrett Allen hit eleven of fourteen shots on the evening with several alley-oops or passes that led to slams.

6) The loss was Cleveland's fourth in five games and with a six-game road trip coming up, the Cavaliers are staring at what may be the pivotal stage of the season.

If the Cavaliers could get a split of the six games (Portland, Golden State, Sacramento, Utah, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City) the schedule begins to get easier for the final months of the season but should the Cavaliers struggle on the road (anything 2-4 or worse) the surprising season could be headed for choppy waters.

Cavaliers drop opener to Memphis

   The Cleveland Cavaliers rallied in the fourth quarter to draw as close as one point in the final minutes of their opener against the Memphis Grizzlies but were unable to get past the home team and lost 132-121 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

Jarrett Allen led Cleveland with 25 points with Collin Sexton and Evan Mobley in his pro debut each finished with 17 points.

Cleveland will return home for games on Friday and Saturday against Charlotte and Atlanta before starting a five-game road swing that will see games against Denver, both Los Angeles teams, and Phoenix before an odd end to the road trip in Charlotte.

Swashbucklings

1) I was very impressed by the pro debut of Evan Mobley and it does appear that he has the abilities that he was advertised to possess.

Mobley started at power forward but did roam around the frontcourt as a five and three on occasion, and it was the rookie that played the most minutes for the Cavaliers in the game with thirty-eight.

2) More Evan Mobley.

Mobley's 17 points, nine rebounds, six assists with a steal, and a block was accomplished for only the second time for a player in their NBA debut according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Phoenix center DeAndre Ayton accomplished the feat first in 2018.

3) Jarrett Allen is trying to prove his off-season contract was a bargain with his twenty-five points.

Allen grabbed only four rebounds and I expect more than that on a normal night but Allen was perfect from the floor hitting all eleven of his attempts.

Now that I will take every night!

4) Darius Garland finished with thirteen points on five for fifteen shooting but he did finish with twelve assists and it was Garland that was the largest factor in Cleveland's late-game run.

I will admit that I wasn't the biggest fan of Garland entering last season but his play won me over

Garland will need to improve his shooting a bit if Cleveland has any type of shot at making the play-in series and if you wanted me to name the player that may have the most to do with a Cavalier postseason trip, I would select Darius Garland.

5) Lauri Markkanen's Cavalier debut didn't go nearly as well as Evan Mobley's as Markkanen scored ten points on four for fourteen shooting (two of seven from three-point range).

Markkanen did finish with nine rebounds so it wasn't all a lost evening but I really wonder if the Cavaliers may not have overpaid a bit by bidding against themselves for Markkanen's services.

6) Before the start of the season, the Cavaliers and Collin Sexton were unable to agree on a contract extension.

That means that Sexton will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

My take on Sexton's extension is that the Cavaliers made the right call.

Sexton has rolled up good scoring numbers on a bad team and plays hard every night but is a defensive liability, doesn't always have the best shot selection, and most people (including me) still wonder if a Sexton-Darius Garland backcourt is viable.

Garland's extension is available before next season and if I have to pick one or the other, it's Garland.

7) Memphis wore their powder blue uniforms which I like much better than their usual navy blue.

8) Since I didn't do a Cavaliers preview, here's my guess at their record 32-50 and miss the playoffs.

There will be progress but perhaps not enough to save JB Bickerstaff and Koby Altman's jobs.

Cavaliers trap Grizzlies 94-90

   An undermanned Cleveland Cavaliers squad came rollin' into Mempho'-TWA and the news got worse as Cleveland's leading scorer in Collin Sexton tried to play on an injured ankle, but Sexton couldn't make it through warmups to leave the Cavaliers even lighter on the available roster.

Considering the Cavaliers had lost three of four on their current road swing and hadn't looked great in either of their losses in Orlando, one would figure that the Memphis Grizzlies would have a sizable advantage even missing their young star in Ja Morant.

One would figure wrong as the Cavaliers hung in the game all evening long, made the plays when they needed to, and squeaked out a 94-90 win over the Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum.

Andre Drummond led Cleveland with 22 points and 15 rebounds with Larry Nance Jr. dropping in 18 more points in a night that saw Jr hit all seven shots that he took from the floor.

The Cavaliers travel to Milwaukee on Saturday night for a meeting against Bango the Buck before a rematch with these Memphis Grizzlies on Monday at Rocket Mortgage Field House.

Swashbucklings

1) This game wasn't the greatest piece of art in a basketball game ever, but the game was closely contested and hard-fought with the biggest lead being seven points held by Memphis for a few minutes in the third quarter. 

2) Some of that may be that with both teams playing at far less than full strength, players that are receiving more minutes than usual are hustling around to impress coaches to grab more minutes.

It's easy to forget that every player is a competitor and in situations that Cleveland and Memphis are currently in, players like Lamar Stevens and Dean Wade are getting chances to impress that they normally would not have and trying to take advantage of that time.

3) He didn't lead on the scoring sheet, but Isaac Okoro made the two pivotal plays of the game with under a minute to play.

The first came as Memphis rolled down the floor for what would have been a layup to change the lead from Cleveland's by one to Memphis by one.

As the ball was laid up, a racing Okoro caught the play and blocked the layup.

Okoro was called for a foul, but replays showed no contact and after J.B. Bickerstaff used his coach's challenge, the play was overturned.

4) After a jump ball was won by Andre Drummond, the Cavaliers saw the clock winding down with Drummond fifteen feet from the basket.

Drummond saw Okoro cutting to the hoop and hit him with a pass for a layup that gave Cleveland a three-point lead.

Plays like these two are made hustle in the case of the former and innate basketball sense in the latter.

The Cavaliers have found themselves the type of player that may not develop into a superstar, but one that all championship teams need to have.

5) Larry Nance Jr. stepped up with his perfect shooting night at just the real-time with the Cavaliers playing with only nine players.

Nance may not be this type of offensive talent every night, but the effort that Nance gives every night is again the type of players that winning teams always seem to find.

6) I really like the colors and logo for the Grizzlies, but their jersey backs had the player name below the numbers and I don't remember that style being used other than by the Knicks in the early 80s, and for some reason, I seem to remember the Kings using it in Kansas City for a year or two.

I'm not really a fan.