Cavaliers Sign 2026 NAB Draft Pick Meleek Thomas

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed 2026 NBA Draft pick Meleek Thomas, Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. In a related move, the team has also signed Ernest Udeh Jr. to a two-way contract.

Thomas (6-3, 190), who was selected with the 34^th overall pick in this year’s draft, appeared in 37 games (21 starts) this past season as a freshman at Arkansas, averaging 15.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 30.5 minutes while shooting .416 from the three-point line. The 2024-25 McDonald’s All-American led the Razorbacks in free throw percentage (.844), three-point field goal percentage (.416) and steals (51) and ranked 10th in the SEC in field goals made (203) and steals per game (1.5). Thomas earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors after scoring a career-high 30 points at Missouri on March 7 and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.   

Udeh Jr. (6-11, 266) went undrafted after spending his senior season at the University of Miami (FL) in 2025-26, where he appeared in 33 games (all starts) and averaged 6.7 points on .727 shooting from the field, 9.2 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.4 blocks in 28.0 minutes per contest. He earned ACC All-Defensive Team honors, led the nation in defensive rebounding rate and ranked second in the ACC in rebounds and seventh in blocks. A McDonald’s All-American in 2022, Udeh Jr. also played collegiately at TCU (2023-2025) and Kansas (2022-2023).