ith the 49th pick for the 2025 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select Tyrese Proctor

CLEVELAND, Ohio — After sitting out the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft, the Cavs finally got to participate in this year’s festivities.

Cleveland selected Tyrese Proctor with the No. 49 overall pick Thursday night.

A native of Australia, Proctor spent three years at Duke, helping the prestigious program advance to the Final Four alongside top-overall pick Cooper Flagg. The initial member of Cleveland’s draft class, Proctor is expected to sign a team-friendly multi-year deal, claiming one of the open full-time roster spots.

We had him almost as a first-round grade, so for him to fall to 49 was something we were very excited about,” general manager Mike Gansey said.

Even though the Cavs did not have a first-round selection because of the franchise-altering Donovan Mitchell trade with the Utah Jazz in 2022, they entered Thursday with two choices — Nos. 49 and 58.

Known for his prolific shooting stroke, the 6-foot-6 Proctor averaged 12.4 points on 45.2% from the field and 41% from 3-point range while playing both guard spots for the Blue Devils this past season.

“You can’t have enough ball handlers,” Gansey said. “Can play on and off the ball. Can run him off screens. Can play pick and roll. Can get in the paint. He makes plays for others. He came over to Duke a year earlier probably than he should have. We ended up seeing him at his pro day in California in May and I think he put on about 10, 11 pounds, so he’s definitely worked on his body. Great kid and a worker. We’re excited.”

With the selection of Proctor, the Cavs, projected as one of two second apron teams, took the first step in fortifying their roster, as they hope to make a deep postseason run in what is suddenly viewed as a wide-open Eastern Conference.

After going 64-18 in the 2024-25 regular season and earning the conference’s No. 1 seed, the Cavs were eliminated by NBA finalist Indiana in Round Two. The Pacers eventually lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Entering this offseason with critical roster-related decisions, the Cavs are hoping to re-sign unrestricted free agents Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill. But if the price tag gets a bit too high, Proctor could help, giving Cleveland a talented, exciting rookie with a unique blend of readiness and upside.

“We want to bring winners in here,” Gansey said. “Where our team is now, we’re trying to win and what he did this year, especially playing with five draft picks in the starting five, showing that he could play a role around better players, he’s not coming in necessarily saying, ‘I’m coming from a smaller school or I was the best player and I need all the shots.’ He knew how to play a role around those guys and he did that to a high level. That’s what really attracted us to him.”