Inside Nae’Qwan Tomlin’s unique path to the Cleveland Cavaliers

CLEVELAND – Six years ago, NBA agent Torrell Harris met with a teenage street ball phenom of Rucker Park fame to offer words of wisdom at Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem. The father of Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris has had so many of these meetings with young basketball hopefuls that it has become tough to remember everyone.

It wasn’t until Monday that Torrell Harris learned that the kid he met with while eating soul food was Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who is now playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers after taking an “unheard of and not normal” path to the NBA.

“I had to call [Rucker Park’s co-founder and commissioner] Steve Barnett up and ask, ‘Is Nae’Qwan in the NBA now?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ It’s a blessing,” Harris told Andscape in a phone interview on Monday. “Steve said [Tomlin] was going to be an NBA guy back then and he did it. I was just looking out. I was just trying to put the kid on the right track.

“He was just a great kid. He listened. Just a humble kid. He just needed help and direction.”

Tomlin, 25, is certainly on the right track now as a two-way forward for the Cavaliers, 6 1/2 years removed from never playing high school basketball and going undrafted by the NBA in 2024.

“What a story,” Cavaliers president Koby Altman said to Andscape. “He didn’t play [structured] basketball until college.”

Tomlin is averaging 6.2 points and 3.1 assists in 36 games for the Cavaliers this season. Two-way players can play up to 50 NBA games before their team is forced to decide whether to offer a standard contract or waive them. Cleveland is expected to sign him to a standard contract, a source told Andscape.

Tonight, Tomlin and the Cavaliers host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).

“Sometimes, I can’t lie. I know it’s a blessing,” Tomlin told Andscape. “It’s a dream come true. Everything I’ve worked hard for has come to light. I’m just happy, happy to be in the moment. Can’t take it for granted.”

Tomlin was born on Dec. 29, 2000, in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Harlem with his mother when he was 10. He fell in love with basketball through his mother, who loved watching it on television, according to Kansas State Sports Extra. He attended Urban Assembly High School in New York City, but he didn’t take his academics seriously. Poor grades kept him from making the boys’ basketball team in his only attempt as a senior.

Tomlin didn’t learn that he was graduating from high school until the actual day of the graduation.

“Do I regret it? No. Everything happens for a reason,” Tomlin said.

Harris said Barnett believed Tomlin had NBA potential while watching him play in their prep league. The slender Tomlin was 6-foot-10, athletic and had a 7-foot wingspan. Harris said Barnett set up a meeting with himself, Tomlin and Tomlin’s mother, Aisha Ismael, at Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem in 2019.

That meeting led to Tomlin’s first life-changing move. Tomlin was sent to San Antonio by Harris to Strength N Motion International, a prep school run by Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer George Gervin. It was there that Tomlin not only learned fundamental basketball skills but matured while getting guidance from Gervin.

For Tomlin, basketball was his only saving grace.

“I was really passionate about basketball, and I just wanted to take it seriously. I didn’t have any plans after high school. So, why not see where basketball can take me?” Tomlin said.

Said Harris: “The kid could flat-out play. It was more about his grades and the guidance of his youth. It wasn’t about his game. George talked to him a lot. It helped his maturity.”

Harris said he helped Tomlin join Monroe Community College men’s basketball team in 2019 in Rochester, New York, to begin his first stint of organized basketball. It was a success as Tomlin averaged 13.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game during the 2019-2020 season. He followed with two successful seasons in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic at Chipola College in Marianna, Florida, from 2020-22, leading the team to a combined 53-11 record.

“I don’t think I saw the NBA as a possibility until my last year of juco,” Tomlin said.

Tomlin was signed by Kansas State and averaged 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds as a starter on a team that advanced to the Elite 8 in 2023. Cavaliers scout Anton Marchand said he first noticed Tomlin at Kansas State and started keeping tabs on him. Tomlin, however, was dismissed from Kansas State’s program on Dec. 6, 2023, despite being granted a diversion weeks after being arrested for disorderly conduct.

Tomlin transferred midseason to the University of Memphis to play for head coach Penny Hardaway. Tomlin debuted on Dec. 23, 2023, and averaged 14 points, six rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 21 games for the Tigers.

Next stop: the 2024 NBA draft.

“The last six games with Memphis I was hooping. I felt a lot of confidence. Penny was giving me a lot of confidence. That was the time I felt like I could definitely play in the league,” Tomlin said. “[Hardaway said], ‘You got the tools.’ I always had the high motor, [I was an] energy guy. When I was at Memphis, I was one of the go-to guys with skill and how hard I played.”

The Atlanta Hawks selected Zaccharie Risacher with the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft in Brooklyn. Harris, however, went undrafted in his hometown as all 60 selections passed without his name being called. The Cavaliers, however, added Tomlin to their summer league team and ultimately the G League Cleveland Charge during the 2024-25 season.

While going undrafted was disappointing, Tomlin didn’t allow it deter him from his NBA dream.

“I definitely thought I was going to get drafted,” Tomlin said. “I had a lot of good workouts. I don’t want to go back and dwell on the past. I’ve been grinding my whole life. I just felt like I had to continue grinding. Juco is a grind. I grinded at K-State, Memphis. Everything was a grind. I didn’t get drafted, but I had to keep grinding.”

Tomlin began his G League career slowly and didn’t play in some games. But once he was given an opportunity, he averaged 15.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 35 games during the 2024-25 season. He drew more attention after having 37 points, five made 3-pointers, 11 rebounds and four blocks in 41 minutes on Feb. 7, 2025, against the Westchester Knicks.

“When I first got to the G League, I wasn’t playing,” Tomlin said. “I was getting DNPs [did not play], sitting on the bench. Then I was getting a couple minutes. And then my opportunity came and I made the most of my opportunity.”

Said Altman: “Give him credit. When we first got him with the Charge, he had so many things to work on. Over the course of the season, he kept getting better and better. Structure was good for him. …

“Nae’Qwan has an elite skillset offensively. You can get on the floor if you have one elite skillset and everything else will develop.”

During NBA All-Star Weekend 2025, Tomlin said he was in Miami on vacation with friends when he got a call from the Cavaliers at breakfast. He was given the news he had dreamed of as the Cavs told him to join the team in Brooklyn. He signed a 10-day contract on Feb. 20, 2025, and on that same day, Tomlin made his NBA debut in his hometown of Brooklyn, scoring three points in a 110-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in front of his mom, sister and other loved ones.

“It felt amazing to get that call. I called my mom. My mom was excited. My friends were excited. It was just another opportunity,” Tomlin said. “All my family and friends were there. When they were killing the Nets, I got an opportunity to get in.”

Altman said Tomlin stayed in Cleveland for much of last offseason improving his game. Still a work in progress, Tomlin has been an instrumental reserve forward this season with the Cavaliers with his energy, defense and athleticism, but still needs to improve his shooting. He has carved out a bigger role of late, averaging 19.3 minutes per game in January, including more than 20 minutes per game in four of the past five.

Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell truly enjoys playing with the inquisitive and growing Tomlin and respects his journey.

“It’s so dope to see what he has done for himself and for his people where he grew up,” Mitchell told Andscape. “Every time he gets out there he gives effort and energy. I don’t really care about the result. He’s always going to go hard. I respect that. He is always working, always finding ways to get better. He always asks me at the end of the games, ‘What do you see here? What did you see there? Why did you do this? Why did you do that?’ He is trying to find ways to get better. For him to be only hooping for five years and to be [playing] for a playoff contender, a championship contender, and getting high minutes is a testament to him.

“It’s a belief we have as a team and a coaching staff in him. But we don’t go there without him putting in the work himself. I love the dude. He is hilarious. Great heart. Great soul. But to see what he has done in his career in short time is unheard of and not normal. It’s something I ultimately respect and love about him.”

Tomlin is expected to be signed to a standard contract with the Cavaliers after the Feb. 5 trade deadline. From Rucker Park to his unique college basketball journey to the G League — to playing against James and the Lakers tonight — Tomlin still feels like his story is surreal.

As amazing as his road to the NBA has been, Tomlin is thirsty for much more.

“I’m going to continue to make the most of it,” Tomlin said. “I’m still on a two-way. I’m trying to make my way into getting multiple contracts. Not just standard — multiple contracts. Just doing everything I’ve been doing.

“I know it sounds cliché to say that anything is possible. But never stop working. One bad mistake is a lesson learned. Everyone makes mistakes. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve learned from my mistakes. I’m reaching to where I want to go.”

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