Cavs receive B-minus grade for selection of ‘gunner’ Meleek Thomas

So, the Cavaliers traded down, picked former Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas at No. 34, and then sang his praises afterward.

All of it earned them a draft grade of B-minus from ESPN’s Ben Golliver.

“Thomas is a gunner who spent most of his time at Arkansas preparing to take his next shot rather than worrying about his defensive assignments,” Gollver wrote.

But that’s not necessarily a terrible thing.

“Cleveland is a decent place to land for a player with that profile given its staunch backline defense, and his knockdown three-point shooting could help reinvigorate the Cavaliers’ perimeter attack,” Golliver wrote. “Cleveland ranked second in three-point percentage during the 2024-25 campaign before dropping to 13th last season.”

Either way, Thomas will have his work cut out for him in a backcourt rotation that currently consists of Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Craig Porter Jr., Dennis Schroder and Tyrese Proctor. Sam Merrill, Max Strus and Jaylon Tyson all man the guard spots at times, too.

Granted, there’s still plenty of time for trades, free-agent moves, and so on and so on. The offseason has just begun.

But if I had to guess, Thomas will be headed straight for the G League. Nothing wrong with that. Plenty of good ones have started there.

Before that, of course, will be NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in a couple weeks.

That is where Cavs fans will get to see him live. And see if he shoots as much as ESPN insists.