Cavs' Smart Draft Pick
Cleveland Cavaliers Draft Meleek Thomas 34th, Bolstering Backcourt Depth After Strategic Trade
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Key Points
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Cavs traded No. 29 for No. 34 and a 2032 second-round pick to navigate the luxury-tax second apron, a move Altman called about getting under the tax while preserving flexibility—'Every million dollars counts.'
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Thomas posted a 15.6 PPG/3.8 RPG freshman season, shooting 43.5% from the field and 41.6% from three (on 5.3 attempts per game), underscoring his value as a high-volume, efficient perimeter scorer.
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Defensively, Thomas is described as using quick hands and active anticipation to pressure passing lanes and disrupt offenses, with potential to contribute on that end while his frame develops.
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In Cleveland, he’ll compete for bench minutes behind the established backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, with Sam Merrill serving as the first guard off the bench as the rotation settles.
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Arkansas’ draft presence continued with Thomas joining Darius Acuff Jr., who went 7th overall to the Kings, highlighting Arkansas’ ongoing pipeline into the NBA and the pre-draft workouts that helped him rise on draft boards.
The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas with the No. 34 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft on June 24, trading down five spots from No. 29 to land what cleveland.com called a "first-round talent at a second-round price." The move saved the team roughly $2.1 million in cap space and helped Cleveland stay under the NBA's punishing luxury-tax second apron threshold.
Thomas, a 19-year-old guard from Pittsburgh, averaged 15.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in his freshman year at Arkansas. He shot 41.6% from three-point range on 5.3 attempts per game. After his name was called, Thomas told ESPN, "The work is going to show for itself. In due time, everybody's going to wake up and realize."
Cavs Trade Down to Escape Luxury-Tax Trap
Cleveland entered draft night with an estimated payroll of $221 million — just shy of the NBA's second-apron line at $222 million. Crossing that line would have frozen key future assets, including the team's 2033 first-round pick, and blocked access to the Mid-Level Exception. To avoid that, the Cavs sent the No. 29 pick to the Sacramento Kings for No. 34 and a 2032 second-round selection, according to King James Gospel.
Cavaliers president Koby Altman was direct about the math after the draft. "We need to navigate this tax," Altman said. "Every million dollars counts when you are approaching the second apron. We believe we got first-round talent in Meleek while preserving the flexibility our cap sheet demands." By dropping to the second round, Cleveland converted a guaranteed rookie-scale deal into a more flexible contract, per cleveland.com.
Thomas Posted Elite Numbers as a Razorback Freshman
Thomas's stats at Arkansas made him hard to ignore. He averaged 15.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 43.5% from the field and 84.3% from the free-throw line, according to sports.yahoo.com. During SEC conference play alone, he hit 48.7% of his three-pointers — an Arkansas program record.
Sports Illustrated gave the pick an A-, comparing Thomas to Anfernee Simons for his off-ball spacing and shot-making ability. Danny Cunningham of Locked On Cavs called the selection a "strategic masterclass in asset management," noting Thomas was a consensus first-round talent on many boards who slipped only because of a deep guard class, per King James Gospel.
Thomas Joins Mitchell and Harden in a Deep Backcourt
Cleveland's backcourt is already crowded. Donovan Mitchell and James Harden are the starters. Sam Merrill is the first guard off the bench. Thomas will compete with Craig Porter Jr. for reserve minutes. Altman said the Cavaliers plan to use Thomas as a primary ball-handler in the 2026 NBA Summer League to test his upside as a future playmaker, according to news-herald.com.
Defensively, Thomas brings a 6-foot-6.75-inch wingspan and quick hands to disrupt passing lanes. The team's plan is to develop him into a "3-and-D" piece — a player who can shoot threes and guard the perimeter — to help offset defensive concerns in the Mitchell-Harden backcourt, per morningjournal.com.
Arkansas Sends Three Players to the NBA in One Night
Thomas is part of a historic draft class for Arkansas under coach John Calipari. Darius Acuff Jr. went 7th overall to the Sacramento Kings. Trevon Brazile went 35th to the Denver Nuggets. Thomas at No. 34 made three Razorbacks drafted in a single night, highlighting Arkansas's growing pipeline into the NBA, according to sports.yahoo.com.
Notably, Sacramento used the No. 29 pick Cleveland sent them — the pick that became part of the Thomas trade — to select UConn forward Alex Karaban. So the same deal that brought Thomas to Cleveland also gave the Kings a frontcourt piece to pair with Acuff Jr., per cleveland.com.
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