# Jaylon Tyson
**Jaylon Tyson** (born 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the [Cleveland Cavaliers](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleveland-cavaliers) of the NBA, selected 20th overall in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft after a breakout junior season at the [University of California](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-california).[1](https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylon-tyson) Listed at 6'6" (1.98 m) and 224 pounds (102 kg), he plays guard-forward.[2](https://www.nba.com/player/1642281/jaylon-tyson)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 2002, USA[2](https://www.nba.com/player/1642281/jaylon-tyson) |
| Draft | 2024 NBA Draft, first round, 20th pick, by the Cleveland Cavaliers[1](https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylon-tyson) |
| College | Texas, Texas Tech, and California in three seasons; junior year at Cal[3](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2024/06/27/jaylon-tyson-cavaliers-first-round-pick-2024-nba-draft) |
| Cal breakout | 19.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals in 34.3 minutes per game; All-PAC-12 First Team[1](https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylon-tyson) |
| Rookie season | 3.6 points per game in 2024-25[4](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2026/03/260308-boscle-notes.pdf) |
| Second season | Career-best 13.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists in 27.7 minutes; .458 on three-pointers, third in the NBA; 2026 Castrol Rising Star[4](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2026/03/260308-boscle-notes.pdf) |
| Career high | 39 points at Philadelphia on January 16, 2026[4](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2026/03/260308-boscle-notes.pdf) |
## Early life and high school
Tyson is the son of John Tyson and Sandra Brown and has two brothers, Jordyn and Berron; Jordyn is a wide receiver at Arizona State and Berron played football at South Alabama.[5](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2026/01/260104-detcle-notes.pdf) He graduated from John Paul II High School in [Plano, Texas](https://www.edgepedia.org/plano-texas), where he helped lead the school to its first TAPPS class 6A state championship during his junior season.[5](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2026/01/260104-detcle-notes.pdf) As a recruit he was rated a four-star prospect.[1](https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylon-tyson)
## College career
Tyson's three-year collegiate career spanned three schools because of coaching changes: he began at the University of Texas, transferred to Texas Tech, where he started all 31 of his appearances as a sophomore, and transferred again to California for his junior season.[1](https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylon-tyson) • [3](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2024/06/27/jaylon-tyson-cavaliers-first-round-pick-2024-nba-draft) At Cal he played for Mark Madsen, a two-time NBA champion as a player.[5](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2026/01/260104-detcle-notes.pdf)
**Breakout at Cal.** In his junior season Tyson averaged 19.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.2 steals in 34.3 minutes per game, was named to the 2023-24 All-PAC-12 First Team, and was a top-10 finalist for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award.[1](https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylon-tyson) He posted eight double-doubles that year, including double-digit rebounds in his first two games and in three straight games in early February.[6](https://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/features-jaylon-tyson-240627) He carried a high offensive usage on a Cal team with little surrounding talent, which scouts linked to his turnover rate and uneven defensive effort.[7](https://sports.ksl.com/nba/utah-jazz/utah-jazz-draft-prospect-jaylon-tyson/518118)
## 2024 NBA Draft
The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Tyson with the 20th pick of the first round on June 26, 2024, at [Barclays Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/barclays-center) in Brooklyn.[6](https://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/features-jaylon-tyson-240627) General manager Mike Gansey said the team's strategy was to select the best player available.[3](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2024/06/27/jaylon-tyson-cavaliers-first-round-pick-2024-nba-draft) Tyson was the first Cal player drafted since Ivan Rabb and Jabari Bird in 2017, and Cal's first first-round pick since [Jaylen Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/jaylen-brown) in 2016.[8](https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/288627/files/TheDailyCalifornian_20240703.pdf)
NBA.com's draft profile described his biggest strength as the ability to create his own shot, alongside reliable spot-up shooting and pick-and-roll playmaking, and projected him as a scoring option off the bench with secondary playmaking duties; it compared his game to [Kelly Oubre Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/kelly-oubre-jr) and [Caleb Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/caleb-martin-basketball).[1](https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylon-tyson) Pre-draft evaluations also flagged turnovers and defense as the main questions, with Axios noting he was turnover-prone on offense and heavy-footed on defense.[3](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2024/06/27/jaylon-tyson-cavaliers-first-round-pick-2024-nba-draft) [CBS Sports](https://www.edgepedia.org/cbs-sports) projected him as a versatile creator who can play on and off the ball, likely used early in his career as a catch-and-shoot threat.[9](https://picks-s6.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/2024-nba-draft-first-round-player-evaluations-fantasy-breakdown-team-analysis-and-more/)
## NBA career
**Rookie season, 2024-25.** Tyson played spot minutes off the bench and averaged 3.6 points per game.[4](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2026/03/260308-boscle-notes.pdf)
**Second season, 2025-26.** With injuries to several [Cleveland](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleveland) regulars early in the season, Tyson moved into a larger role, and his minutes rose from 9.6 to about 28 per game.[10](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2025/11/05/cavs-corner-week-2-injury-merrill-allen-mitchell) Through the season he averaged career-best 13.6 points on .503 field-goal shooting and .458 three-point shooting, the third-best three-point percentage in the NBA, with 5.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 27.7 minutes per game; he scored in double digits in 41 games with eight 20-point games, including a 15-game streak from January, and was named a 2026 Castrol Rising Star.[4](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2026/03/260308-boscle-notes.pdf) His scoring average improved by 10.0 points over his rookie season.[4](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2026/03/260308-boscle-notes.pdf) On January 16, 2026, he scored a career-high 39 points in a 117-115 win at Philadelphia.[4](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2026/03/260308-boscle-notes.pdf) In 2026-27, Cleveland's acquisition of Peyton Watson added competition for perimeter minutes.[2](https://www.nba.com/player/1642281/jaylon-tyson)
## Playing style
Tyson is a crafty ball handler and competent shooter with the wingspan and bulk to play either guard spot or small forward.[3](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2024/06/27/jaylon-tyson-cavaliers-first-round-pick-2024-nba-draft) Scouting reports credit him with creating his own shot from all over the court, midrange shooting including a turnaround jumper (39.8 percent on non-rim two-point attempts in college), and the ability to shift between scoring and facilitating within a possession.[1](https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylon-tyson) • [11](https://sportsbusinessclassroom.com/scouting-california-forward-jaylon-tyson/) His noted weaknesses were keeping his man in front of him on defense and ball security, both partly a product of the high-usage role he held at Cal.[12](https://lastwordonsports.com/basketball/2024/05/17/jaylon-tyson-2024-nba-draft-profile/) • [7](https://sports.ksl.com/nba/utah-jazz/utah-jazz-draft-prospect-jaylon-tyson/518118)
## References
1. [Jaylon Tyson 2024 NBA Draft Profile, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylon-tyson)
2. [Jaylon Tyson player page, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/player/1642281/jaylon-tyson)
3. [Meet Jaylon Tyson, the Cavs' first round pick in the 2024 NBA draft, Axios Cleveland](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2024/06/27/jaylon-tyson-cavaliers-first-round-pick-2024-nba-draft)
4. [Cleveland Cavaliers 2025-26 game notes, March 8, 2026 vs. Boston, NBA.com](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2026/03/260308-boscle-notes.pdf)
5. [Cleveland Cavaliers 2025-26 player pages, January 4, 2026 vs. Detroit, NBA.com](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2026/01/260104-detcle-notes.pdf)
6. [Jaylon Tyson: The Newest Addition to the Cavaliers, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/features-jaylon-tyson-240627)
7. [Jazz Draft Breakdown: California Guard Jaylon Tyson, KSL Sports](https://sports.ksl.com/nba/utah-jazz/utah-jazz-draft-prospect-jaylon-tyson/518118)
8. [Cleveland Cavaliers draft Jaylon Tyson 20th in NBA Draft, The Daily Californian, July 3, 2024](https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/288627/files/TheDailyCalifornian_20240703.pdf)
9. [2024 NBA Draft: First-round player evaluations, CBS Sports](https://picks-s6.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/2024-nba-draft-first-round-player-evaluations-fantasy-breakdown-team-analysis-and-more/)
10. [Cavs Corner, Week 2: Withstanding the injury wave, Axios Cleveland](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2025/11/05/cavs-corner-week-2-injury-merrill-allen-mitchell)
11. [Scouting California Forward Jaylon Tyson, Sports Business Classroom](https://sportsbusinessclassroom.com/scouting-california-forward-jaylon-tyson/)
12. [Jaylon Tyson 2024 NBA Draft Profile, Last Word on Sports](https://lastwordonsports.com/basketball/2024/05/17/jaylon-tyson-2024-nba-draft-profile/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Basketball and court team sports › Basketball players and coaches (biographies) › Current NBA players › Shooting guards › Young and recently drafted guards*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license