CLEVELAND, Ohio — In the high-altitude gyms of Utah State, Sam Merrill carved a reputation as a player who could orchestrate an offense with precision, hit clutch shots, and make it all look effortless. A star for the Aggies, he wasn’t merely a shooter; he was the offense. But his path to the NBA wasn’t as smooth as his jumper. Undrafted in 2020, Merrill has spent his career proving he belongs — and in Cleveland, he’s doing just that.
His shooting, once his defining characteristic, remains a weapon, but it’s his growth in other areas of the game that has caught the attention of his teammates, his coaches, and the league — ensuring teams can’t take away his 3-point shot and diminish his impact for the Cavs.
“He is finally getting to the bucket, man,” Donovan Mitchell said after a December game against Washington. “When I watched him play at Utah State, that’s what he was doing. So now he’s becoming a threat, and they have to respect it. If teams are going to try to eliminate his 3-ball, he’s such a playmaker that I don’t think people really understand it.”
Small statistical improvements — like a slight uptick in average seconds per touch, dribbles per touch, drives per game, and paint touches per game — don’t fully capture the transformation. The result, however, is palpable to both teammates and the coaching staff.
“I actually think sometimes he takes some forced threes that he doesn’t need to take,” Kenny Atkinson said. “You say, well, he’s a great shooter, sure, but if they’re all over you, you’ve got to get in the paint. And that’s what I’m seeing now that I didn’t know about him.
“He can make a play off of a closeout. He can make a play in the paint. He can make a play. … I want to see more of that from him. He’s capable. He’s not just a 3-point shooter.”
Merrill’s speed, gravity, and growing playmaking ability have already shown they can shift games in Cleveland’s favor — not only as an occasional spark but as a necessary component of reaching their aspirations.
“He’s on the scouting report. He’s on their board. ‘We can’t let him get any clean looks.’ And that takes a lot of energy. It gives us space, and it’s so important,” Atkinson continued.
Merrill’s defensive tenacity has also elevated his impact.
At 6-foot-4, he often finds himself targeted by opposing offenses, viewed as a mismatch due to his size and lack of a defensive pedigree. Yet Merrill embraces the challenge, consistently flipping the script and forcing opponents to second-guess their approach. His 104.8 defensive rating trails only Donovan Mitchell (104.7) on the Cavaliers, placing him ahead of defensive anchor Evan Mobley (105). If extrapolated to the team level, Merrill’s defensive rating would rank second in the entire NBA, underscoring his contributions on that end of the floor.
This evolution hasn’t gone unnoticed by teammates.
“I think Sam’s a great overall basketball player,” Georges Niang said. “Obviously, the fact that he can really shoot the heck out of the ball is something that people notice, but he does a lot of things at a really high level. … It’s kind of like the evolution of how you grow as a player, and he’s continued to work on his game tirelessly.
“He’s doing a phenomenal job for us and not just being one-dimensional. That’s key in this league because when they take away his shooting, he’s capable of doing other things.”
In his fifth NBA season, Merrill is channeling shades of his Utah State prime, even if the playbook doesn’t always call for him to fully unleash his repertoire.
“You’d have to go watch. I had the ball in my hands basically the whole game,” Merrill said with a chuckle. “I don’t think we’re ever getting there [with the Cavs], but maybe a little step here and there.”
The 28-year-old, however, is in better shape than his college days with a body more accustomed to taking the physicality on the defensive end at the NBA level while dishing out bumps rather than just taking them on both ends of the floor.
“There have been a couple of games where I’ve been a little more involved with the ball,” Merrill told cleveland.com. “But it’s more so just the style that we’re playing. It allows me to cut a little more, drive closeouts a little more, try and make plays in the paint.
“I’m not quite shooting it how I would hope so far this year. But, even if shots aren’t going, I still feel like I’m providing some real value,” Merrill said. “Not just my gravity, which is always there, but being able to get stops defensively, make some plays occasionally for others. That’s the type of stuff that I want to do, whether shots are falling or not.”
When the Cavs are fully healthy, Merrill’s minutes might shrink, but the skills he’s honed this season will ensure he’s ready when called upon. Yet, Merrill’s growth means one less gap to fill in their rotation.
Mitchell summed up the challenge for teams game planning against Merrill: “Now it’s like, what do you do?”
For opposing defenses, that question may only get harder to answer.