Tyrese Proctor Gets Second NBA Start as Meleek Thomas Returns to Bench

Wednesday night in Oklahoma City will be Tyrese Proctor's second NBA start.

Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, James Harden, and Donovan Mitchell are the other starters for the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Oklahoma City Thunder. In Monday's loss, that fifth spot belonged to Meleek Thomas, who made his first start and now returns to the bench.

All three injured Cavaliers are out again. The report lists Peyton Watson with right hamstring tightness, Jaylon Tyson with a right ankle sprain, and Nae'Qwan Tomlin with a lumbar stress reaction, and it is the third straight game Tyson has missed.

One start, 49 games off the bench, and minutes that changed from night to night made up Proctor's rookie year.

"It's been challenging, but it's been a lot of fun," Proctor said in April to Roundtable's Spencer Davies. "Not knowing when you're going to play, how many minutes you're going to play, so just being ready at all times is really important."

His only start as a rookie came against the Chicago Bulls, with Mitchell out sick. Proctor played 27 minutes in that loss and scored 16 on 6-of-15 shooting, with 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

Over 50 games that season, he averaged 5.4 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 10.9 minutes. On March 3, he scored 29 in his first G League game with the Cleveland Charge.

Cleveland drafted him 49th overall in 2025 after three seasons at Duke, where he led the ACC at 40.5% from 3-point range as a junior. He signed a four-year, $8,685,387 contract with the first two seasons guaranteed, and he is making $2,150,917 this year. The Sydney native turned 22 in April and spent part of the summer with Australia's national team, the Boomers.

Six times this season he has come off the bench. In the seventh game, a 127-125 overtime win over Minnesota on Oct. 26, he did not play. He is averaging 5.5 points and 2.2 assists in roughly 13 minutes, with 12 makes on 23 shots and 7 on 12 from 3-point range.

His rebounding has more than doubled, from 1.3 a game as a rookie to 2.8. Thomas sat out the Oct. 29 loss at Atlanta with right foot inflammation, so Proctor got 20 minutes that night and had 7 points and 6 rebounds. At Milwaukee on Oct. 31, he went 3-of-5 from 3 and had 9 points and 5 assists as Cleveland won 136-111.

On Monday, he went 3-of-4 from the field, made 2 of his 3 attempts from deep, and finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in 19 minutes.

Thomas made his first career start in that game and scored 17. Proctor was a rookie himself a year ago.

"Meleek's a really unique rookie," Proctor explained Monday. "I was a rookie last year, and I haven't seen a whole lot. His approach to the game, his mentality, his work ethic was a big thing that stood out to me early when we were in training camp and stuff like that."

Watson said during the preseason that Proctor has a knack for being in the right place.

"He takes the game super-seriously, the fine details of the game," Watson said. "He's got a real knack and a skill for being in the right place at the right time. I think he's got everything to really excel at this level. And most of all, he's got the attitude for it. I think that's what matters most."

Oklahoma City won Monday's meeting 117-112 and is 5-2. The Cavaliers are 4-3, and tip-off is 8 p.m. ET. Cleveland hosts the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday to open NBA Cup group play.