CLEVELAND, Ohio – The NBA Summer League often serves as a stage for first-round picks to showcase their talents, but sometimes the most compelling stories come from unexpected sources.
In the
latest episode of the Terry’s Talkin’ podcast
, host David Campbell and columnist Terry Pluto discussed Nae’Qwan Tomlin, an undrafted forward whose unusual basketball journey and impressive Summer League performance might be earning him a spot in the Cavs’ regular-season rotation.
“I think he could play meaningful minutes,” Pluto said during the podcast. “I’m not saying he’d be a star or anything, but there have been guys over the years that have come through that and earn more time.”
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What makes Tomlin’s potential breakthrough particularly fascinating is his unconventional path to professional basketball.
“He never played high school basketball. How about that? He grew up in Harlem, played on the Rucker Playground,” Pluto said.
After developing his skills on the legendary courts of Rucker Park, Tomlin attended two different junior colleges, Pluto said, before landing at Kansas State, where he became a key contributor on a team that reached the Elite Eight. Following an off-court incident that led to his dismissal from Kansas State, Tomlin transferred to Memphis State under coach Penny Hardaway, where he averaged 14 points per game.
Tomlin went undrafted before finding his way to the Cavs organization as a G League player with the Cleveland Charge, where he quickly made an impression.
“He played so well. He averaged 20 points for the Charge, so they put him on a two-way contract,” Pluto said.
Tomlin’s development culminated in an opportunity with the NBA roster, where played in five games last season, averaging 7.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in about 12 1/2 minutes per game.
Now, his Summer League performance is gaining some notice. He averaged 20.3 points and 8.5 rebounds in Vegas, including 5.0 offensive rebounds.
“This guy’s playing with poise,” Pluto said. “He’s 6-10. He’s athletic. You just notice him out there. His hands are on the ball. He gets rebounds. Pretty good shooter. Just really knows how to play.”
Perhaps most telling is the reaction from the Cavs coaching staff.
“When they had Kenny Atkinson on the (summer league game) broadcast, Kenny’s talking about making him a rotation player,” Pluto said.
Pluto attributed his confidence in Tomlin’s potential to his experience evaluating basketball talent, citing mentorship from respected NBA minds like Wayne Embry and Lenny Wilkins. “Tomlin has got the physical attributes that could be a rotation player for the Cavs,” Pluto said.
To hear the complete discussion about Nae’Qwan Tomlin and other Cavaliers Summer League standouts, including more detailed analysis of what makes his game translate to the NBA level, be sure to listen to the full episode of Terry’s Talkin’.
Here’s the podcast for this week:
If you have a question or a topic you’d like to see included on the podcast, email it to
, and put “Terry’s Talkin’” in the subject line.
You can find previous podcasts below.
Stories by
Terry Pluto
-
Browns fans are feeling worn down after Quinshon Judkins’ legal problems – Terry Pluto
-
Should the Guardians trade Emmanuel Clase? Let’s look deeper — Terry Pluto
-
Ready for some Cavs Summer League notes? Here they are — Terry Pluto
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Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from Terry’s Talkin’, a weekly cleveland.com sports podcast. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.
