After leaving the Golden State Warriors in 2023 and playing just two games in his first year with the Cleveland Cavaliers due to injury, Ty Jerome emerged as one of the best bench players in the NBA this regular season.
Jerome averaged 12.5 points and 3.4 assists on insane efficiency during the regular season, finishing third in Sixth Man of the Year voting behind Payton Pritchard and Malik Beasley. Yet just as the Warriors did two years, the Cavaliers have realized his impact in the playoffs is far more underwhelming.
Ty Jerome was benched in the first-half of Game 5 against the Pacers
Jerome was excellent in the first-round series against the Miami Heat, but perhaps that wasn't a true indication given the lopsided nature of that contest. The second-round series against the Indiana Pacers was a far bigger struggle, with the 27-year-old shooting a woeful 26.7% from the floor and 15.4% from 3-point range while averaging 2.3 turnovers through the first four games.
Clearly head coach Kenny Atkinson -- who was an assistant with Golden State over the previous three seasons -- had seen enough, benching Jerome for the first 2.5 quarters of Tuesday's Game 5 at Rocket Arena.
In fairness, Jerome did provide a spark when he got his opportunity, one that may have only stemmed from Donovan Mitchell briefly heading back to the locker room in the second-half as he dealt with an ankle issue.
Jerome hit his first three shots to help Cleveland back into the game, but his fourth was blocked by Tyrese Haliburton in a major sequence where he then committed a and-1 foul on the Pacers' star guard.
Jerome missed a 3-point attempt shortly after and finished the game on the bench, playing just 11 minutes as Indiana secured a 114-105 victory that sees them advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for a second-straight year.
Despite playing 45 games and being a helpful piece for the Warriors in 2022-23, the franchise didn't see Jerome as holding the potential of having playoff impact. When it came to choosing between he and Anthony Lamb to have their two-way contracts converted to be playoff-eligible, Golden State went with the latter who has found himself out of the league ever since.
It will now be interesting to see how Jerome's disappointing form in this series impacts his value in the offseason, with the former 24th overall pick looking to earn his first really big contract as an unrestricted free agent.