Meleek Thomas Has Bold Explanation For Memorable Cavs Debut

Donovan Mitchell said it best, following the Cleveland Cavaliers' thrilling 127-125 overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves: it's rare for a rookie in the NBA to be the catalyst for a win. 

Evidently, Meleek Thomas isn't any ordinary rookie.

After turning heads at summer league back in July, there was plenty of speculation over whether or not he could actually carve out a role in a crowded Cavs rotation. Through the first two games, well, he hadn't, but needing a spark in the first half on Monday night, head coach Kenny Atkinson gave him a shot and Thomas made the most of it, and then some. 

As Cleveland's offense struggled through much of the first half and seemed to lack energy, it was Thomas who picked things up, knocking down six of his 10 shot attempts, including two of his three three-pointers.

His 10 points led the team in scoring at the half and helped keep the Wolves in striking distance for a second-half surge where Thomas added two more three pointers for a 16-point night overall. 

His contributions were critical. In many respects, they were also unexpected for maybe everybody except Thomas himself. 

His explanation for what got into him postgame was simple. 

"[My] moment would come, cause you can't really keep a star in the closet for too long," he said.

He may just be right. Thomas showed plenty of star potential in Monday's win, so much so that despite not having a role in the team's two games of this new season, he's likely forced Atkinson's hand to play him more. 

Asked why Thomas wasn't part of the rotation the first two games, Atkinson even questioned his decision. 

"I've been thinking about it since Summer League," he said. "That's a good question, why didn't you play him game one? That's very fair, you can say that, you can write that ... after watching the Brooklyn game, it was just kind of a gut feel. I just felt like we need this guy in the lineup. 

In fairness, the Cavaliers are a team with championship aspirations and so Atkinson has a lot of mouths to feed. It was always going to be hard for any rookie to receive meaningful minutes with this team. His stellar performance has seemingly opened Atkinson's eyes to the possibilities of an increased role for Thomas, though. 

"We need that third ball-handler to support Mitchell and James [Harden]," Atkinson said. "So can we have another guy out there that can do it. That was part of it too. Heck of a performance for a rookie." 

It's all about trust, and Thomas earned plenty of that from Atkinson in his debut performance. If it's any indication of what's to come for the 20-year-old, he may be right: the Cavs may have themselves another star.