Film Session: How Tyrese Proctor proved he is NBA ready

• Complete list of every Australian in the NBA
• Tyrese Proctor to sign four-year, (AUD) $13.2M deal
• 2025 Summer League Recap — how every Australian performed

The Summer League has always been fertile ground for breakout performances from the largely unknown or newcomers to the NBA.

Long time 76er Furkan Korkmaz was a flame thrower in his 40-point showing, with lottery picks Keegan Murray and Jabari Smith stuffing the stat sheet in similarly dominant performances. Not to mention the gold standard — Anthony Morrow’s 47-piece in 2009.

Last week, a new name added himself to that lineage: Australian Tyrese Proctor. The 49th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft made waves with a memorable 35-point explosion to close out his first Summer League campaign.

Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers, the franchise bought into the Proctor hype, signing him to a 4-year contract — the only Australian to get a long-term deal from the team that drafted them.

His summer league finale will give the Cavaliers front office belief they made the right call in locking Proctor in long-term — as such upside could point towards a second round steal.

After streaky shooting marred his tournament, Proctor erased any traces of struggle against the Kings, showcasing the well-rounded offensive game and defensive potential he exhibited at Duke.

The Performance vs Sacramento Kings

• ‍Stat line: 35 points, 11-24 FG, 4-14 3PT, 9-9 FT, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 28 minutes.

Proctor (#24) displayed maturity on the offensive end, seeming assured and controlled despite the heavy responsibility on his shoulders and a tenacious Kings defense making their presence known.

Proctor showed an ability to score the ball at all three levels craftily, with much of Cleveland’s three-point and free-throw success stemming from his usage. His defensive upside was also evident, as he brought physicality and showed strong instincts.

He stood up well against mature-age recruit Nique Clifford, a "seasoned and polished" ready-made prospect according to NBADraft.net –a strong shooter, defender, and reader of the game.

Amid the brilliance, some of Proctor’s rawness shows he will be a work in progress. But for a player at this stage of his development, it was a statement Summer League performance — arguably the best by an Australian prospect on record.

So how did he do it? Let’s break it down — moment by moment.

How He Did It

Offense

On paper, Proctor’s box score reading was reflective of variety in his offensive game. Proctor was punishing when the Kings overcommitted trying to collect a steal, allowed perhaps too much room due to screen navigation help defending and he did well to find himself in mismatches.

Proctor’s improvement may surface in the way he exploits these mismatches, as on numerous occasions Proctor would opt for a three-point attempt over the outstretched arms of his opponent, as opposed to taking it to the rack.

However, the most eye-catching element of his display was through his handle as he tended to manage the Kings’ on-ball pressure with maturity, lending a new lease on life for multiple Cavalier possessions. This occurred alongside his ability to navigate traffic and make a team play when this attention was drawn.

Q1 7.36 Take this example where after getting a switch, Proctor gets the opponent on the left side with a strong handle, and despite the help defense collapsing, he does brilliantly with body control to make the most of this opening the roll-over has provided, which Proctor exploits to thread a pass for a clean lay-in.

Q1 1.25 Proctor liked to work into the middle of the floor from the right side on multiple occasions, and on this example he utilises the high pick, has the defense on his back shoulder, and maintains that advantage as the big plays drop coverage.

This opens up the opportunity for Proctor to score with the left-handed push shot.

Q2 10.00 On this example, Proctor is held out on the perimeter, and his teammate’s handle is loose.

Q2 0.43 Here, Proctor commences at the top of the key, experiencing some ball pressure high up.

His crossover succeeds in overcoming the steal attempt and then is able to drag it back to separate from the big.

With this separation created, he uses this as leverage to attack the basket and beat the defender to the spot – which he does successfully as the help defender overcompensates. Proctor’s handle was massive in allowing this to occur.

Q4 7.05 As is the case here, where the Cavaliers look for Proctor up top, and Carter nearly snatches it away.

However, Proctor is strong with his collection of the basketball, which creates an open look.

While it doesn’t go down, it displaces Devin Carter defensively when the offensive rebound is pursued by the Cavaliers, and has a ripple effect on the Kings.

This leaves Raynaud, the big, in a mismatch with Proctor, but he’s under the illusion he needs to rotate to the corner.

For Proctor, this is a dream-like scenario, as his handle leaves Raynaud hypnotised and reaching – which is where Proctor skillfully converts in the mid-range and draws the foul. Proctor’s impressive ball security boded well in this situation.

Q4 6.34 Proctor’s composure in his facilitation showed here on the break, where he catches the long rebound. He pulls up prior to the three-point line with knowledge of an unset Kings defense, given the shooter Devin Carter hasn’t gotten back.

He also understood this came with open shooters for the Cavaliers to his right, given Carter’s man has pushed ahead and forced this rotation over to the strong side.

Proctor’s smart read deserved an assist, but the Cavaliers come up empty on this possession.

Honing into areas of improvement for Proctor can be made easier when looking at the final four minutes of the contest, where after a 15-point burst in the first six minutes of the final period, he went scoreless.

Devin Carter’s defense was stifling due to full-court pressure, denying Proctor opportunities to take touches, or get opportunities to capitalise further on his hot shooting streak — and Proctor was a bit submissive in this time. Given Proctor’s involvement on every made Cavalier point until the 3.46 mark where the pressure lifted, his lack of presence hindered the Cavaliers offense greatly.

On one hand, this could be seen as a point of weakness for Proctor. However, the gravity he drew based off his offensive talent introduced a great learning curve for Proctor this early in his career. His way of managing such adversity will be telling for where his career could lead.

Defense

Defensively, Proctor showed some flashes. Proctor spent a fair portion of his time in the corners or as a help defender. Generally, Proctor’s defense held up, and while it may not be his specialty, his performance especially on-ball, didn’t indicate defense to be a liability of his.

Q1 6.36, the Kings set up an isolation for Nique Clifford on the left wing.

Proctor does well to make himself large and distribute his weight to keep Clifford outside of the paint where Clifford found success — reflective of the Kings’ first half offense.

Proctor disrupts his dribble and forces him to the baseline, where he’s forced into a pass. While Proctor ultimately bails out the opposition, this displays Proctor’s ability to cope given his size and stature — an improvement on his behalf.

Proctor shows similar resistance on this example Q3 5.35 where Proctor starts as a help defender on the weak side, and as the ball is flung to his matchup in Devin Carter, he does well to remain physical and take advantage of the traffic that comes with the help defender as Carter opts to drive.

When Carter attacks to his left and draws in multiple Cavalier defenders, Proctor does well again to hold position as Carter attacks the body and forces a mad scramble.

This is another example that the coaching staff would be proud of, when reviewing game film.

On this example, Q2 9.00 following an offensive rebound, Proctor capitalises on the hesitation from the outside.

He does well to set himself up to avoid a baseline drive and keeps the defense in front of him as he plays into the help coverage in the lane.

This forces a pass out and pressures the Kings, and places the onus on them to make something happen late in the clock.

On this example, Q2 7.38 Proctor shows his worth against the 24th pick Clifford again, this time on a high screen. The off-ball screen being used as a decoy opens up the paint and the weak side of the floor.

A high screen by Raynaud would allow Clifford to attack a mismatch which he did well at stages, but Proctor’s disruption ensures this doesn’t occur.

It resets the Cavaliers defense to be more strongly positioned to rotate and block off the primary ball-handler and the interior to play into the Kings’ perimeter shooting.

Whilst Sacramento had generally been shooting the ball well in Summer League, the first half of this game saw them go 1-12, and Proctor ensured they strayed away from their strengths on the interior through this play.

Q2 10.00 Proctor’s strongest defensive stand came at the start of the fourth which arguably prompted his shooting tear that lit up the Thomas & Mack Center – where two steals led to a basket and a foul-line trip. On the first possession of the fourth, Proctor is matched up on Clifford again. He’ll receive the pass at the top of the key, but makes Clifford work for it.

Proctor’s teammate is instrumental in blocking the drive and forcing Clifford to pass to the roller. Equally the help defender slows Raynaud down, and helps Proctor close the gap on his new assignment.

Clifford tries the flashy no-look pass but Proctor does well to anticipate and snatches it out of Sacramento’s grasp. Proctor ultimately heads to the other end where he attacks a defender and draws a foul.

Q2 9.29 The next possession, Proctor finds success again as an off-ball defender. The Kings play through the big, as Raynaud fakes the hand-off.

However, Raynaud isn’t good enough to recognise that the man who he rejected the pass to, is now open, given it’s out of his vision and multiple Cavaliers are trapping him into a tight space which he’s about to adopt. While Raynaud is a fluid moving centre, Proctor is smart knowing this new disadvantage that’s arisen.

With Clifford rolling out to the perimeter, Proctor pounces, stripping the big clean of the ball, and he takes it at Clifford’s body, scoring with the left hand as he shields the ball. Two great exhibits of how Proctor showed his defensive instincts productively.

There were instances where Proctor showed his defensive shortcomings, whether that be a blow-by on a drive attempt, or a late rotational closeout.

But ultimately, Proctor showed he had a knack for being incredibly disruptive with a set of active hands, sound positioning and sharp game instincts which was frustrating for the Kings’ offensive flow. The Kings couldn’t attack a superpower that came with their paint presence, and Proctor’s offensive rhythm was fuelled as he grew defensively with the game wearing on.

The most encouraging sign was his ability to bring a level of physicality against more experienced opponents, including 23-year-old Clifford, and second-year player Devin Carter.

For the Cavaliers, it was a promising sign that Proctor may be able to contribute defensively sooner than anticipated.

Overall, while Proctor’s Summer League campaign started slowly, a statement performance like this may have altered the outlook for Proctor’s first pro season in the States — handing the Cavaliers coaching staff a dilemma heading into training camp.

Proctor’s Other Summer League Performances

116-115 L vs Indiana

Stat line: 14 points, 5-13 FG, 3-7 3PT, 1-1 FT, 1 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 28 minutes.

93-83 W vs Milwaukee

Stat line: 12 points, 3-11 FG, 3-8 3PT, 3-6 FT, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover, 29 minutes.

92-72 W vs Miami

Stat line: 8 points, 3-13 FG, 0-5 3PT, 2-2 FT, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 28 minutes.