{"id":869928,"date":"2026-10-28T11:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T11:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/869928\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T11:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T11:39:17","slug":"meleek-thomas-isnt-afraid-of-the-moment-i-got-everything-that-i-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/869928\/","title":{"rendered":"Meleek Thomas isn\u2019t afraid of the moment: \u2018I got everything that I need\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND \u2014 It takes a certain level of confidence to proudly proclaim to a room full of Cleveland media members that you\u2019ll unashamedly be rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> this weekend. Then again, nothing about what Meleek Thomas does on and off the court lacks confidence.<\/p>\n

The Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> have had a frustrating start to their season. They\u2019ve simultaneously shown how dangerous they can be by building large leads against the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> and Brooklyn Nets<\/a>, but have also demonstrated they\u2019re far from a finished product by losing one of those games and nearly blowing the other.<\/p>\n

The Cavs found themselves on the back foot on Monday night<\/a> against the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> \u2014 arguably the hottest team in basketball. The Timberwolves were the aggressors in the first few minutes, and the Cavs couldn\u2019t make enough shots to stem the tide.<\/p>\n

Instead of turning to a more veteran presence in Craig Porter Jr., head coach Kenny Atkinson went with Thomas midway through the opening frame for his first NBA minutes. The Pittsburgh native didn\u2019t know that he was getting into the rotation beforehand, but he was prepared for the moment. And it was exactly what the Cavs needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have energy, we\u2019re flat, we\u2019re playing the wrong way, we weren\u2019t doing the right things. For him to be the spark in his first game of the year is not normal,\u201d Donovan Mitchell said. \u201cThat speaks to his confidence, his concentration, attention to detail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas looked like an established veteran in his career debut. He didn\u2019t hesitate when the ball swung to him on the perimeter. If there was an opening, he was going to take it without hesitation. He was decisive in his cuts to the basket both on and off the ball. This allowed him to put up 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, which included knocking down two big threes in the third quarter to help the Cavs retake the lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a big part of why we ended up getting this win,\u201d Mitchell said.<\/p>\n

Both Thomas and Atkinson have talked about him needing to focus on the defensive end in the lead-up to the season. Whether or not he would get rotation minutes relied on that.<\/p>\n

This has caused Thomas to focus his energy on and off the court on getting better defensively any way that he can \u2014 even if that means reaching out to an established veteran like Mitchell.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe texts me all the time saying, \u2018All right, what about this clip?\u2019\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cHe says, \u2018Why\u2019d you rotate here? Why did I do this? Should I do this?\u2019 This morning, he was working on shows<\/a>. Like, what rookies are working on shows?\u201d<\/p>\n

This desire to improve has led to Mitchell taking Thomas under his wing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Donovan has taken a special liking to Meleek,\u201d Atkinson said before the season. \u201cHe almost feels like, \u2018I have to build that relationship, build that trust,\u2019 and then coach them up.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayer development coaches get way too much credit. It\u2019s having really good, smart vets that elevate guys. We do our little part, and I think we try to put them in the right places. It\u2019s really the coaching from your best players that elevates younger players.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are some parallels between Mitchell and Thomas\u2019s games \u2014 particularly early in Mitchell\u2019s career. Both are score-first two guards, who weren\u2019t expected to make a huge impact on their teams as rookies. Mitchell wasn\u2019t a fixture in the starting lineup at the start of his career with the Utah Jazz<\/a>, but proved early on that he was destined to be a star.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know what the future holds for Thomas. What we can say now is that Mitchell seems invested in Thomas\u2019s growth. And that means something to the rookie.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor them to take me under their wing and give me all of the game and just constantly help me, constantly stay in my ear, it just goes to show that they see the potential that I see in myself,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cIt means the world to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the outside, a rookie second-round pick coming in and making an immediate impact in their career debut would\u2019ve been surprising. Yet, no one on the Cavs was, especially not Thomas. He carries himself like someone who\u2019s been there before and expects to be a mainstay on this stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cConfidence really don\u2019t come from nobody else,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cIt\u2019s either you got it, or you don\u2019t. You got heart, you got dog in you, or you don\u2019t. And I got everything that I need. It\u2019s just a matter of time before it\u2019s shown.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND \u2014 It takes a certain level of confidence to proudly proclaim to a room full of Cleveland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3772],"tags":[7,306,1236,305,193,3846,6],"class_list":["post-869928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-basketball","tag-cavaliers","tag-cavs-analysis","tag-cleveland","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-clevelandcavaliers","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117518346706966923","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}