The Cavs are unleashing their SECRET WEAPON...

Which Cavs player will take the biggest leap forward next season? It might not be who you think. The Cavs have some hidden talent on their bench, but it needs to be unlocked. Maybe this is the year for some of the Cavs' young talent to take a step up, specifically one player in particular. But before I get into all the details, this video is sponsored by Cal Sheet. On Cal Sheet, you're trading directly against other users, not the house like traditional sportsbooks. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of events across sports, politics, or even the weather. If you're interested in trying out Cal Sheet, use the link in the description, trade $25 with code DigestNFL or DigestNBA, and get $25 added to your account instantly. So recently, an article came out on SportsIllustrated.com that said the Cavs player who might take the biggest leap forward next year isn't a starter like Harden, Mitchell, Evan Mobley, or even the newcomer Peyton Watson. They mentioned Tyrese Proctor as being the player who's going to make the biggest impact from this past season coming into next season. So first, a little bit about Tyrese Proctor. He was the 49th overall pick in last year's draft. He just completed his rookie season in the NBA. He's Australian. He played on the youth national team for Australia when he was younger. And unlike most Duke products, he obviously went to Duke. But most Duke players are one and done, right? They're so talented. They only spend a year in college and then go right to the NBA. You can name so many past Duke players as examples. Zion Williamson, Cooper Flagg, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, just to name a few. But Proctor, he actually spent three seasons in college at Duke. And that really helped him because he didn't have, he wasn't as talented, as naturally talented, I should say, as those other players that I just mentioned. He was able to develop his game and kind of just grow into his own skin while he was at Duke. And he had a great career. Now, the numbers aren't going to blow you out of the water like, wow, this guy was a stud. But at a college like Duke, where it's really kind of evenly spread, most of the college game is you don't really have one player dominating on a team. You normally have a couple of players. And Proctor was one of those players for Duke. So a little bit about Proctor, he's 6'5 with a 6'7 wingspan. So he's got a lot of length, especially for a point guard or an off ball to guard. He's got a lot of talent there. And at Duke, he was a thousand point score. So in three seasons, scored a thousand points. He played 106 games. In those 106 games, he averaged 10.8 points per game, three rebounds per game and three assists per game. So a really well balanced stat line. But the biggest stat that stands out to me and what NBA scouts really liked about Proctor was his senior year, he shot 41% from the three-pointer. That is dead-eye in college basketball. He was a terrific three-point shooter. He won two ACC tournament championships while he was at Duke. And he's fourth in Duke history in assist to turnover ratio. So Duke has had so many great point guards like Bobby Hurley. You have the Jones brothers, Tyus and Trey Jones who were great at Duke. And Proctor, out of all those Duke guards who are hall of famers and legends in blue devil basketball history, Proctor's fourth in Duke history in assist to turnover ratio. So he can shoot, he can take care of the ball. He's a lengthy and he has a really balanced stat line averaging 11 points per game, three rebounds and three assists during his 106 games at Duke. So Proctor was a really talented player at Duke. Now he spent his first season in the NBA. He didn't get a ton of playing time with the Cavs, but he got enough to register a stat line, obviously. So let's take a look next at those stats that Proctor had during his rookie NBA season. So Proctor, these numbers, like I said, rode the bench for the Cavs most of the time. He played in 50 games this past season. So he made impact, right? Because the Cavs had a lot of injuries this past season, so he had to step up early on in his career. But here are some of those numbers. Five points per game, not jumping off the page. A rebound, an assist and a half. The field goal percentage isn't great looking at 41% from the field. Three point, not as great either. 35 free throw numbers, very good. And then not registering many defensive numbers. So like I said, these stats aren't great. You're like, who the heck is this guy, right? But he showed a lot of potential. So one thing that really jumped out to me when I was reading this article and digging into the stats was last season, Proctor shot 50% on his mid-range shot. So he made half of the mid-range shots that he attempted last season. That's pretty good, especially for a guard who's not really known as a player who's going to go off the dribble and get into the mid-range or get to the rim. Proctor is more known as a spot-up shooter. Now to that point, he came into the league as a guy who is going to space the floor and knock down corner threes. That's kind of his role. To that point this past NBA season, he shot 34% on all of his catch and shoot opportunities, most of those coming from beyond the three-point arc. So that's not a great number. Catch and shoot shots, you're normally going to be open or you've got some space on a defender who's closing out when you're catching and just shooting the ball. So 34% on somewhat open looks, those catch and shoot are some of the most guaranteed looks that you get in the NBA. That's not great, right? But that's what Proctor is known for. That's what he did a really great job of at Duke was knocking down catch and shoot three-point shots. So I think a lot of that, the 34% on catch and shoots, you can attribute to him just not getting enough playing time. You look at the stats, they're not great stats. He's not getting a lot of minutes. So he showed up in 50 games, played in 50 games this past season, but the minutes, right? Like he's not getting a lot of minutes in those games. So one thing about when you're in the NBA and you're knocking down a lot of shots and you have to get in a rhythm, right? You have to get in a rhythm and just get playing experience and grow confidence. And Proctor, when you get 10 minutes a game or so, you're not able to establish a rhythm. You're not going to get a lot of consistent looks night in and night out to grow your confidence. So I think that's part of the reason that Proctor didn't have great shooting splits, as you can see by the stats right here. Now I expect Proctor's minutes to grow. I expect him to his numbers are going to be put up closer to what he had in college at Duke. That's what I'm expecting from him this upcoming season. And that's going to be huge for the Cavs. And if Proctor is able to have that kind of production for us, that's a critical, crucial piece coming off the bench for us, especially at the guard position where we don't have a lot of depth outside of Mitchell and Harden. So if Proctor's able to take that step up, he's got great length and that's kind of all you need on the defensive side of the floor too. He can lock down smaller guards who aren't as tall and lengthy as Proctor. He can use his length to guard them. And then on the other side of the floor, he has the shooting ability that he showed when he was at Duke. And a lot of the time at Duke, Proctor was the point guard. He was running the offense. Last season, he was getting Cooper Flagg the ball in the situation that they wanted him to get it. And they gave it to him on the elbow in isos. And Proctor knew how to get the ball to the right guys at the right time in order for them to score. So Proctor has a great understanding of the game. He's an excellent shooter, although he hasn't shown that in the NBA yet. I think he will this season with more minutes. He just needs that confidence. He needs to grow into his own and he'll establish himself with the Cavs. So I'm expecting Proctor to take a huge step up this upcoming season. Now, we talked about Proctor. What about the rest of the Cavs bench? What is this rotation going to be looking like next season? Let's run through it real quick. So right now, your Cavs bench and the possible rotation would include some combination, if not all, of these players. Sam Money Merrill, Craig Porter Jr., Tyrese Proctor, Jalen Tyson, Mario Hezonia, Naquan Tomlin, Thomas Bryant, and Malik Thomas, who is our rookie that we just drafted. And I think Malik Thomas has a lot of potential to be like Tyrese Proctor. Although, unlike Proctor, Malik Thomas only spent one season at Arkansas in college. Unlike Proctor, Malik Thomas only spent one season in college at Arkansas. So he's more raw. He's not going to be Proctor was. And also, Malik Thomas is more of a score. He's not as well-rounded of a player as Proctor is. So they're very similar players, in my opinion. But I think Malik Thomas is going to need a little bit more help, a little bit more coaching to come along until he is NBA ready. But Malik Thomas is a score, first and foremost. Proctor is a shooter, first and foremost. And then he brings other things to his game, like being a guard in the pick and roll, getting downhill, the mid-range shot that I talked about that he did really well on last season. So that's kind of your depth at the point guard position. You also have Craig Porter Jr. thrown in there, who's shown flashes. Just the weakness about Porter is size. He's a little undersized at the point guard position. And he's not a great shooter from the outside. But we know Porter is a great passer. We know he has quick hands on defense. He has great potential as well to be a true point guard. But if you want more of a scoring point guard, more of a lengthy guy who can knock down three pointers, Malik Thomas and Proctor are going to be your best bet moving forward. Now we look at the off-ball two guard. Sam Merrill, obviously. Merrill is going to be the sixth man coming off the bench for us this season. And then other than Merrill, you really could have maybe Hazonia could be an off-ball guard, but he's more of a forward. So we're really kind of stretched thin on this bench. We don't have a lot of experience. We've got a lot of young guys. Jalen Tyson, we need him to step up and play a much bigger role. He had spot starts last season with some injuries and we saw some flashes. His 40-point game against the 76ers last season was huge and really awesome to see. And I'm expecting more big things from Jalen Tyson as well as Proctor. I think those two players are going to be ones to watch and really step up this upcoming season, especially off the bench. And then you have Mario Hazonia. He's such a big question mark. We know how he performed in Europe. We know how great he was, but the NBA is a different animal. The NBA is the NBA, right? So we're going to see how his game translates to the NBA for the second time. But I don't see Hazonia having as big an impact as all of those other guys that I've already mentioned. Naquan Tomlin, super raw, super athletic. We know what Tomlin brings to the table. Hustles so hard, plays hard, and he's a great defender too. But offensively, there's a lot he's lacking to his game. And then there's Thomas Bryant at the forward center position. I'm not a Thomas Bryant fan. In my opinion, all he does is chuck threes and he doesn't play like an actual big. I'd rather go with Allen and Mobley there. But all those names I mentioned, we don't have the best bench in the league. We're probably in the bottom half, if not lower. In bench strength, we just need these young players to step up. And if they can, they have the potential to do that. This team will be a lot better going into next season with those guys playing more important, critical minutes. And I think Tyrese Proctor, Jalen Tyson, and Malik Thomas are all players to watch to take a big step up next year, especially Proctor. I think what he showed at Duke is NBA ready, and he can translate after getting one season under his belt in that backup point guard, two guard position. But let me know your thoughts in the comments. Who do you think will step up on this Cavs bench? Because we need somebody to step up big time. But before I end the video, another quick word from the sponsor of the video, Kalshi. If you're interested in trying out Kalshi, use the link in the description for $25 with code DigestNBA or DigestNFL. NFL season less than a week away. I'm pumped. And get $25 added to your account instantly. If you're not already, please subscribe to the channel to stay updated with all Cavs news heading into the season and getting game recaps and updates about the Cavs during the regular season. Thanks for watching. And as always, go Cavs.