The Cleveland Cavaliers’ newest big man is former second-round pick Thomas Bryant. According to multiple reports, Bryant will join the Cavaliers on a one-year deal after he backed up center Myles Turner on the Indiana Pacers last season. He brings eight years of NBA experience to the table.

Bryant may not be a sexy signing since he’s not a household name or someone who massively raises Cleveland’s ceiling, but there are still plenty of reasons to be excited about the move from the Cavaliers’ side of the coin. Let’s break down five reasons in particular as to why people should be thrilled about the addition of Bryant.

1. Bryant has familiarity with the landscape of the title race

Bryant spent the early part of his NBA tenure playing for some bad teams and actually didn’t play in his first playoff contest until 2023, but few players have been more fortunate to be a part of some successful teams over the last few seasons than him.

First, the 28-year-old won his very first title as an NBA player while playing for the Denver Nuggets in the 2022-23 season. While Bryant suited up in just one contest during the team’s title run in 2023, his ring counts the same as anyone else’s.

More recently, Bryant played for a Pacers team that made a surprise run to the 2025 NBA Finals, and he actually tallied some important minutes at times. He played in 20 of the Pacers’ 23 postseason games (even though some of his performances featured limited minutes) and shot an impressive 50.0 percent from 3-point range in the playoffs on low volume.

Last season alone, he got an up-close look at the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder (not to mention the Cavs) when his Pacers played those teams in the playoffs, so he has a sense of familiarity with some top contenders, which is undeniably a plus.

2. It’s an unexpected impact addition for Cavs fans

Not many people were expecting Cleveland to bring in a proven and productive player of Bryant’s caliber so late in the offseason, but the team managed to do just that.

Bryant holds career averages of 8.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game across 333 total regular-season games in the NBA, and he’s already been a productive backup big man for multiple teams. He could legitimately contribute to winning for the Cavs at times.

A deal for a player like that is far different from a deal for someone who just warms the bench all season and perhaps only sees action in blowouts.

3. The Cavs are getting someone who left an impression on them

Bryant scored just 18 points in the entirety of Indiana’s second-round series against the Cavs in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, but he scored half of those points in the Pacers’ closeout Game 5 victory alone. He dropped more points than any other bench player for Indiana in that game with nine on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and 1-of-1 shooting from deep in a nine-point win for the Pacers.

Reportedly, his performance in that game left an impression on Cavaliers executives. Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor reported as much following the news of Bryant’s deal with Cavaliers. According to Fedor, that performance “stuck with Cavaliers decision-makers throughout the summer.”

Cavaliers fans are hoping Cleveland will soon be on the right side of some signature playoff performances from Bryant after he helped end its pursuit of the 2025 NBA title.

4. Bryant provides an immediate depth boost behind Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley

The Cavs have often lacked true bigs behind Allen and Mobley during their time as a duo.

Some people might think they addressed that hole by signing veteran Larry Nance Jr. Nance is a solid frontcourt addition, though he’s also probably a little undersized to be the man in the middle for long stretches because he’s just 6-foot-8. But Bryant, who has two inches on Nance as well as a few pounds, stands out as someone who adds the depth Cleveland has been in need of for some time now.

The Cavs can now enter the new season with a frontcourt rotation that includes Mobley, Allen, Nance, Bryant and Dean Wade, with some mixing and matching certain to be available to head coach Kenny Atkinson.

5. What’s better than free?

The cherry on top of the Bryant addition for the Cavaliers is that they didn’t so much as relinquish a single player or draft pick in order to bring him in. Any scenario that would’ve forced the Cavaliers to part ways with any of their rotation players to add Bryant would have run the risk of hurting the team’s title chances.

It probably wouldn’t have been wise for Cleveland to say goodbye to another member of last season’s 64-win team after rotation pieces Ty Jerome and Isaac Okoro already departed this offseason. The Bryant move does likely mark the end of the Tristan Thompson era, but his role was small and inconsistent with the team last season.