Cavs Rookie Just Broke a Summer League Record That Had Lillard’s Name on It

Cleveland’s second-round pick Meleek Thomas didn’t come to Summer League to make friends. He came to make a point.

Through three games in Las Vegas, the 19-year-old Arkansas product has piled up 85 points. That’s a new rookie record for a three-game stretch in Summer League history. Two more points than Damian Lillard, Jerryd Bayless and Nickeil Alexander-Walker managed. Cam Thomas (72) and John Wall (63) are also somewhere behind him on that list, per draft analyst Jonathan Wasserman.

Thomas dropped to 34th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. His college coach John Calipari had something to say about that, and Thomas heard it.

“Coach Cal’s very direct,” Thomas told reporters after Cleveland’s first summer win against Miami. “Whatever Coach Cal says, he means it a thousand times more. I respect every opinion Coach Cal has. Hearing Coach Cal say it, it’s just like the cherry on top.”

He’s averaging 28.3 points, 4.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds in 30.1 minutes per game. He’s taken 62 field-goal attempts and hit exactly half of them. From deep he’s 11-of-19. He’s getting downhill, pulling up from the nail, putting pressure on the rim from every angle.

“He can score at all levels,” said Cavs assistant and summer coach Andrew Olson. “He can get downhill, get all the way to the rim. He has a floater, jumper. You shoot the three the way he does, your point total’s gonna go up quite a bit.”

Defense is the real story here

Scoring was never the question. Thomas knows that. What’s caught people’s attention is the other end.

Twice in the second half of Cleveland’s latest game he made momentum-shifting stops. One was a block underneath the basket in a zone set. The other was a clean strip that turned into an easy lay-in on the other end.

“He enjoys defense,” Olson said. “On-ball defense, he’s ahead of maybe some of his off-ball stuff, but you saw it there with that. We talked with the team, having our low man there early, and he happened to be the low man there, and he’s there making plays.”

Thomas sees defense as his ticket to sticking around.

“That’s the main way I’m going to get on the floor and stay on the floor,” he said. “If you can’t guard, if you can’t play defense, you really can’t do what you want to on offense. If you play defense and you guard, then you get some freedom on offense. So you’ve got to be able to guard, you’ve got to be able to be there for your teammates. Be as present as you are on offense. I love when other players don’t get to be who they want to be on offense, and it’s because of you.”

Jaxson Robinson, Cleveland’s second-year swingman, is watching it all unfold.

“It’s crazy,” Robinson said. “He’s unbelievably talented. I mean, it’s crazy to see somebody that young come in here so poised and figure the game out so quickly. Obviously he’s just been getting better and better each game, so I’m excited to see what his future holds.”

Olson is struck by something else. Not just the talent but the approach.

“I’ve been impressed watching film with him with the reads, but the willingness to be coached,” Olson said. “He wants to be coached. We show him something, he says, ‘Show me more.’ There’s just that desire. You don’t meet many 19-year-olds like that, let alone 20, 21-year-olds. He seems like a pro already. Wherever that came from, we’re happy it’s in Cleveland.”

Thomas himself is still processing the whole experience.

“It’s surreal before you get here, and when you get here, it’s like, I’m really here. I just want to do my best,” he said. “I wanted to win games, but I knew my individual performance was gonna be how it is. Aside from playing games and performing well, just a blessing to be here. I always thought of being here, and now I’m here.”