He may only be a few months into his NBA journey, but there is already a feeling that Australian guard and Cleveland’s 49th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Tyrese Proctor, ‘belongs’ in the league.<\/p>\n
That was the sentiment one Cavaliers veteran revealed to coach Kenny Atkinson just days into the Ohio franchise’s 2025 training camp.<\/p>\n
“One of the vets said to me today \u2014 he said, ‘You know, Tyrese, he looks like he belongs,\u2019\u201d Atkinson said during a Cavaliers media availability.<\/p>\n
“And a lot of times with rookies, you know, you\u2019re like, ‘Do they really belong?’ Right now, it feels like he belongs.<\/p>\n
“The question with Tyrese right now is, is he gonna be able to handle the physicality? It\u2019s not his skill level \u2014 that\u2019s high enough. His compete level\u2019s high enough.<\/p>\n
“This year\u2019s probably gonna be a year where he\u2019s really gonna build his body.<\/p>\n
“He\u2019s gonna push us to make decisions.”<\/p>\n
The Sutherland Sharks product spent three seasons at Duke University, producing averages of 10.8 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, and playing alongside the likes of fellow NBA players Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach, Jared McCain, Dereck Lively II and Kyle Filipowski.<\/p>\n
After his selection in this year’s draft, alongside fellow Australians Rocco Zikarsky, Alex Toohey and Lachlan Olbrich, the 21-year-old shone for the Cavaliers at the 2025 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, including hitting 11 triples on his way to 35 points in just 28 minutes against Sacramento.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As such, Proctor, who signed a four-year deal with the Cavaliers on July 1, is full of confidence going into his rookie season.<\/p>\n
“It [the first week of NBA training camp] was positive,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Obviously stuff I can clean up on and stuff like that. But I mean, it\u2019s my first run on an NBA floor with NBA players.<\/p>\n
“And they all said, you know, I had a great Summer League, and I felt like I had a great Summer League.<\/p>\n
“And like I said, obviously, there are areas to improve on, but I think it was a good first step for me.<\/p>\n
“I think winning \u2014 that\u2019s the biggest thing. You know, obviously coming from a program like Duke, winning\u2019s relied on heavily.<\/p>\n
“And, you know, I want to be known for just being a winning player, and just, you know, whatever program, whatever organisation I\u2019m at, I want to be known for winning.”<\/p>\n
Proctor’s Cavaliers play the Chicago Bulls, headlined by fellow Australian Josh Giddey, on October 8 at Rocket Arena.<\/p>\n
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