Jaylon Tyson NBA Draft reactions: How winning at Cal made him a fit in Cleveland
The new Cleveland Cavaliers guard can attribute his time with the Bears to making him a first round pick.
“(His) dynamic workout really left an impression with us, both character-wise, how he performed on the court, and then (he) just gave us a vision on how we can use him in terms of he's going to elevate people around him,” said Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman. “That's the mark of a really good player. He's going to help his teammates.
“It wasn't just scoring. It was offensive rebounding. It was drive-and-kicks, it was getting guys open shots and it was just a three-on-three workout. But it left us with such a tremendous impression, and then (he’s) such a high character individual. So, it became pretty obvious that when he got to 20, that we were going to take him, and we were very excited for him to be here.”
Mark Madsen posted his reaction.
Tonight the @cavs drafted a true winner & outstanding young man @jaylontyson with 20th pick. JT will win over the @nba & Cleveland fans with his hard work + talent. Will be a pillar in the community. A true honor to coach him at @CalMBBall.
Tyson had his opening press conference with the Cavaliers this weekend.
Tyson mentioned how his time at Cal paid a crucial part in his development.
In terms of his versatility, Tyson said he can confidently play 1-through-3 – especially after being asked to take some lead guard duties at Cal.
“A lot of a learning curve that I had this year was learning to play point guard – I had to learn different spots,” Tyson said. “So, I kind of know how to play almost every spot on the court.”
Cavs management noticed this too.
Cavs GM Mike Gansey on Jaylon Tyson: "He had to do everything for Cal this year. He's tough, competitive ... had a great workout for us. He just fills so many gaps."
Danny Chau of the Ringer gave Cleveland’s pick of Tyson an A-.
After taking a swing on the hype machine’s prodigal son, Emoni Bates, last year, the Cavs got themselves another hooper. As a high-usage playmaking power wing who was the alpha and omega on offense for a Bay Area school, Tyson has risen on draft boards in a manner not unlike Jalen Williams two years ago. Tyson doesn’t have nearly the same athletic gifts as J-Dub, but the sell is similar: Every team could use a confident self-creator on the wings who can do a little bit of everything. What Cleveland needs to see is whether he’ll be able to rein in his game (and maybe be a little less audacious with his pass attempts) now that he’ll be a lower-usage complementary piece.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN had this to say about Tyson:
Tyson's skill set projects well to a 3-and-D role in the NBA, particularly if he shoots more like 2022-23 (40%) than last season (36%), when he spent more time on the ball at Cal.
With everything going on with the Lakers I'm finding it very easy to become a Cavs fan. .
Hey Kelvin Pelton. Watch more tape. 3-and-D would be a tremendous waste of his talents. Dude can shoot from anywhere and finish from any angle. Keeping him deep would be a huge mistake.