Cleveland Cavaliers two-way forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin has made the most of his opportunity for playing time with the team’s recent injuries. He’s provided a much-needed boost for a group that has been in a funk to start the season.
“There’s two games in a row where he’s really helped our energy,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said about Tomlin after Saturday’s victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. “He’s not stuck in the mud. He’s like a racehorse out there. He’s flying. He’s getting deflections. He’s all over the place. … You know, he looks like he’s playing an open gym in September.”
Tomlin scored 18 points on 8-10 shooting in Cleveland’s loss to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday. His stat line of just two points and four rebounds on Saturday wasn’t nearly as impressive, but that doesn’t minimize the impact he had. The Cavaliers couldn’t muster any sustained momentum through the first three quarters. Tomlin’s energy helped them stay within arm’s reach of Memphis early on and then overtake them down the stretch.
The Cavs might not have been able to pull off the fourth-quarter comeback without his determination and the force he played with.
“You need to see that,” Donovan Mitchell said about Tomlin. “Sometimes, as a group, you don’t have it on the night, and you have a guy like that who just changes the whole dynamic. You got guys standing up, cheering on the bench. … On top of that, you see the work. You see him in the facility, you see him put in the work. And it’s always great as teammates to see a guy who puts the work in every day, comes in early, does his stuff, to be able to be rewarded with his hard work. That uplifts everybody because you’re seeing it all come to fruition.”
“I think it’s just something I gained over time,” Tomlin said after Thursday’s game. “Throughout college or my last year in the G [League] I’ve been that guy.”
As good as Tomlin has been, there are still things he needs to prove to show that he can be a regular rotation player. He’s struggled with fouling on the defensive end as he’s registered three and five fouls in his last two outings.
Additionally, his three-point shot is still a work in progress. He connected on 33% of his 4.8 threes per game last season with the Cleveland Charge. Tomlin is yet to hit a triple with the Cavs this season as he’s missed his first seven attempts.
That said, Tomlin’s ability to put the ball on the ground, finish at the basket, and instincts as an off-ball cutter have been much needed on top of just the energy he plays with. He’ll continue to get opportunities if he keeps doing these things well.
Tomlin is providing exactly what the Cavs need.
“He just doesn’t stop,” Mitchell said. “It’s unbelievable. His motor, his energy. And every time I try to put a limit on him…I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s going to be tired,’ he’s there again and there again and he’s there again. I think we all feed off of that. And he doesn’t understand how big that is for our group. And it’s just great to see him continuing to elevate his play as a whole.”