Cavs rookie Jaylon Tyson upstages Bronny James, shows off versatility in summer league loss (2024)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cavs rookie Jaylon Tyson saved his best for (almost) last. It just wasn’t enough.

In their final game of the Las Vegas Summer League tournament, the Cavs squandered a fourth-quarter lead, losing to the high-profile Los Angeles Lakers, 93-89, on Thursday night. There’s one game left in Vegas — a basically meaningless matchup in the consolation round that features all 26 teams that don’t make the four-team playoff. The Cavs went just 1-3 in tourney play.

For the first week of summer league, Cleveland was in the smaller gym, away from the Vegas spotlight. Not Thursday. It needed a bigger stage. Because Bronny James and the Lakers were on the other side.

LeBron’s oldest son has received plenty of attention since being selected No. 55 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft. On Thursday night, fans inside Thomas and Mack Center roared each time James splashed a jumper, including a clutch triple in the final minutes. They ooh’d and aah’d when he darted toward the rim and flipped in ambidextrous layups. They shouted when the final buzzer sounded on the Lakers’ come-from-behind victory.

But for most of the night, Cleveland’s first-round rookie was stealing the show.

Bronny who?

The 21-year-old Tyson, chosen 35 picks earlier than James, nearly recorded the first triple-double at Las Vegas Summer League in almost a decade. Tyson finished with a game-high 21 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in 32 head-turning minutes.

Assistant coach Jordan Ott, who recently joined Kenny Atkinson’s staff and is leading the summer Cavs, spoke last week about experimenting with Tyson at point guard — a chance to tap into his playmaking ability and versatility.

Ott did it Thursday night. Partially out of necessity.

With steady second-year point guard Craig Porter Jr. unavailable, Tyson was thrust back into a do-everything offensive role, similar to the way he was used as a junior at California. Looking more comfortable than at any other point in the first three games, Tyson sliced the Lakers’ defense in pick-and-roll, pushed the ball ahead in transition and tossed lobs to Pete Nance — the kind of shot creation general manager Mike Gansey boasted about on draft night.

“The hardest thing to do is get big wings that can kind of do a little bit of everything and play both ways,” Gansey said on June 26. “He can just do so many things. He had to do everything for Cal this year. Played one, two and three. He just kind of checks a lot of boxes. We’re excited.”

Not even Tyson’s all-around brilliance was enough to get the Cavs a second Vegas triumph, as the Lakers used a 9-0 run over the final few minutes to erase a one-time double-digit deficit and stun Cleveland, which was in front most of the night. Los Angeles’ comeback was aided by three consecutive missed 3-pointers off the fingertips of Cavs 2023 second-round pick Emoni Bates.

The 20-year-old Bates, likely to be on a two-way contract again this season, ended the game with 14 points on an inefficient 4 of 18 from the field and 3 of 12 from beyond the arc.

Nance added 16 points. Australian Luke Travers chipped in with eight points in 25 minutes.

Los Angeles was led by first-rounder Dalton Knecht, who poured in six of the Lakers’ final nine fourth-quarter points. Knecht finished with 20 points and seven rebounds.

James had his best game of summer league, tallying 13 points, five rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes. The ballyhooed Bronny sparked the Lakers’ 9-0 surge with a cold-blooded step-back triple at the three-minute mark — the shot that flipped momentum and put a slight damper on Tyson’s spectacular performance.

Up next

The Cavs will play Indiana in the consolation round on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The game will air on NBA TV.