Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell campaigned on social media for teammate Ty Jerome to win the NBA’s Most Improved Player award and Sixth Man of the Year.
And 6th man‼️‼️ https://t.co/znx4uD23B2
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) November 25, 2024
Mitchell and Jerome have a close relationship, as they played AAU together in their younger days, and Jerome’s dad was even their coach.
A first-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Jerome bounced around in his first few seasons in the NBA, playing with the Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors.
He joined the Cavs prior to the 2023-24 season, but he didn’t get to showcase much of his game, as he was limited to just two regular-season contests due to injury.
However, this season, Jerome has taken off under new Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson.
The 27-year-old has appeared in 18 games, making two starts, and is averaging 12.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists in just 19.0 minutes per game. He’s shooting the lights out from both the field (59.7 percent) and beyond the arc (54.4 percent).
It’s not surprising that Jerome has Mitchell’s early endorsement for two major awards, as his play has helped take some pressure off of both Mitchell and Darius Garland on a nightly basis. The Cavs have been able to turn to Jerome off the bench to provide elite guard play when one of the stars takes a rest.
Mitchell is also having a strong start to the season for the Cavs, as he’s averaging 24.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 47.0 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from beyond the arc.
Cleveland has gotten off to an insane start, winning 17 of its first 18 games. It started the season 15-0 before losing to the Boston Celtics back on Nov. 19. Right now, the Cavs hold the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and are 2.5 games ahead of Boston (the No. 2 seed) and six games ahead of the Orlando Magic (the No. 3 seed).
While Jerome may eventually cool off from his hot start, he’s already proven that he can be a valuable piece in the Cavs’ rotation.
Hopefully, he will continue to prove Mitchell right and remain in the mix for some major accolades at the end of the 2024-25 season.
