After Cleveland Cavaliers big man Nae’Qwan Tomlin didn’t see a single minute of playing time for the team in the opening month of the season, he’s been a consistent member of its rotation over the last fortnight.
The undrafted 24-year-old has logged double digits in minutes in every one of the Cavaliers’ last eight games, and he’s made the most of those minutes with his knack for playing stingy defense and scoring the ball.
Tomlin is also on the heels of one of his top performances of the campaign. In Cleveland’s loss to the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 24, Tomlin contributed 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field to go along with four rebounds, and Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson commended him after the game.
Kenny Atkinson Postgame After Loss vs Raptors:
“[1:37, Nae’Qwan Tomlin] I can’t take him off the floor. You want him on the floor because he can defend his position, got great energy, he can get back in transition and do damage in offensive transition. I’m just pinching myself… pic.twitter.com/53ntTRX9dm
— Dylan🔮🦃 (@dillybar2145__) November 25, 2025
“I can’t take him off the floor,” Atkinson said. “You want him on the floor because he can defend his position, got great energy. He can get back in transition and do damage in offensive transition. I’m just pinching myself because that guy is gonna help us in big games. I feel like he belongs even with the starters out there.”
The Cavaliers’ big man depth was suspect heading into the season, but they seemingly have found someone who can monopolize the available backup minutes at the position in Tomlin.
Tomlin’s breakout sophomore season wasn’t exactly foreseen by a whole lot of people, as he was limited to just five games played as a rookie in the 2024-25 campaign.
But with Cleveland more than a month into its 2025-26 regular season, Tomlin has been the team’s third-best big behind Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Across 10 appearances so far, he’s averaging 7.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game. He’s shot the ball incredibly efficiently from inside the 3-point line as well, considering 73.5 percent of his two-point attempts have found the bottom of the net.
With how great of a job Tomlin has done filling out the Cavaliers’ big man depth chart in recent weeks, perhaps they should seriously consider upgrading his contract to a standard NBA deal. Tomlin is currently inked to a two-way contract with Cleveland, and as a result, he isn’t eligible to suit up in the playoffs at the moment.
Tomlin’s standout sophomore season has been a positive early storyline for the Cavaliers this season, and with any luck, he will sustain this level of play for the remainder of the 82-game campaign. If he keeps this up, Cleveland might have no choice but to ink him to a standard contract soon.