The Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers meet Monday night in the NBA 2K27 Summer League. Miami split its first two games in Las Vegas, overwhelming the Milwaukee Bucks 119-86 before falling 93-88 to the Orlando Magic. Cleveland remains winless following losses to the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons, but the Cavaliers have scored at least 93 points in both games and received two impressive performances from second-round pick Meleek Thomas.
The Cavaliers are 1.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook with the total for this game set at 181.5 points.
Heat vs. Cavaliers prediction, preview
Thomas arrived in Cleveland with a longer résumé than the typical second-round project. The Pittsburgh native won consecutive state championships at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, became a five-star recruit, and spent his final high school season competing against older and more physically developed players at Overtime Elite. He then joined John Calipari at Arkansas, where he averaged 15.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting approximately 40% from three-point range as a freshman. Thomas was primarily viewed as a scoring combo guard rather than a traditional point guard, which helped explain why he remained available when Cleveland selected him 34th overall.
His first two Summer League games bodes well for his future. Thomas scored 20 points on 7/14 shooting against Indiana before producing a massive 30 points, seven assists, and four rebounds alongside four steals against Detroit. The scoring itself is not especially surprising given his history as a shot-maker. The meaningful development has been his comfort initiating Cleveland’s offense, finding teammates and making quick decisions. Summer League production should not be treated as proof that a player is ready for a major NBA role, but Thomas showing functional point-guard ability would improve his path to minutes on a Cleveland roster that could use another playmaker behind James Harden and Donovan Mitchell.
The Cavaliers have also received steady production from Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who scored 20 points against Indiana and followed with 17 points and four blocks against Detroit. Malaki Branham provides another experienced perimeter scorer after spending his first four NBA seasons with San Antonio. Cleveland has allowed 99 and 103 points, so its defense remains a concern, particularly after Detroit punished the Cavaliers from three-point range. Still, Thomas, Tomlin and Branham give Cleveland multiple players capable of generating offense against a Miami roster playing its sixth game across the California Classic and Las Vegas schedules.
Miami’s most notable prospect has been Ryan Conwell, another second-round guard whose productive summer carries a different kind of significance. Conwell was not a five-star recruit and began his college career at South Florida before transferring to Indiana State, where he emerged as one of the Missouri Valley Conference’s top newcomers. He continued climbing through higher levels of competition at Xavier and Louisville, earning all-conference recognition in the Missouri Valley, Big East and ACC. Conwell averaged 18.8 points during his final college season at Louisville before Miami traded for the 37th overall pick to acquire him.
Conwell’s shooting and physical maturity have translated already. He averaged 21.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists during the California Classic, then scored 19 points in Miami’s blowout win over Milwaukee. At 22 years old with experience at four college programs, Conwell is closer to a finished product than Thomas and could compete for an immediate supporting role as a floor spacer, especially given the Heat’s offseason moves away from Tyler Herro. With frontcourt monsters such as Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the mix, they’ll desperately need some floor spacing to complement their interior presence once the regular season rolls around. Conwell is comfortable shooting off the catch, and that skill set fits Miami’s developmental system, but Conwell is unlikely to control an entire game through the pick-and-roll.
Heat vs. Cavaliers pick, best Bet
Best bet: Cleveland Cavaliers -1.5
Cleveland’s 0-2 record makes laying points uncomfortable, but its losses have not resulted from an inability to create offense. Thomas has been one of the most productive guards in Las Vegas, Tomlin has been efficient around the basket, and Branham gives the Cavaliers another player with NBA experience. If Thomas continues balancing his scoring with the playmaking he displayed against Detroit, Cleveland should have the best individual creator on the floor during the decisive possessions.
