Thomas Bryant — 2026-27 Fantasy Basketball Encyclopedia

Research cutoff: July 18, 2026. Team: Cleveland Cavaliers.

2026-27 projection

GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	3PM	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
55	8.0	.515	.760	0.4	4.0	2.2	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.5

Bryant averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 12.2 minutes across 60 games in 2025-26. Cleveland re-signed him to a one-year contract in July. NBA.com signing report, July 7, 2026 · NBA offseason deals

Fantasy profile

Role: traditional backup center; eight healthy-night minutes, with inactive/DNP nights possible when Mobley covers the five.
9-cat: positive FG%, REB, and a little 3PM for a center; low defensive stocks and very low volume. Undrafted outside deep leagues.
Points leagues: useful per-minute scorer when promoted to 20-plus minutes, otherwise irrelevant.
Dynasty: veteran handcuff, not a development asset.

Floor, base, ceiling

Floor: DNP-CD or six minutes in small matchups.
Base: eight minutes, four points, two rebounds; waiver wire only.
Ceiling: top 120-150 during an Allen absence if he reaches 22 minutes and supplies roughly 11/6 with a three.

Health and role uncertainty

Bryant has a history of lower-body injuries earlier in his career, but no current limitation was reported with the new contract. The important constraint is defensive fit: Cleveland can prefer Nae'Qwan Tomlin or Mobley at center in switching units.

Career record

Pre-NBA: Indiana, two seasons (2015-17). Freshman: 11.9 PTS, 5.8 REB; Big Ten All-Freshman team and third-team All-Big Ten. Sophomore: 12.6 PTS, 6.6 REB, 1.5 BLK. Draft: 2017, Round 2, Pick 42, Utah Jazz — draft-night trade to the LA Lakers (with Josh Hart for Tony Bradley).

Season	Age	Team	GP	MPG	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	3PM	FG%	FT%	TO
2017-18	20	LAL	15	4.8	1.5	1.1	0.4	0.1	0.1	0.1	.381	.556	0.1
2018-19	21	WAS	72	20.8	10.5	6.3	1.3	0.3	0.9	0.5	.616	.781	0.8
2019-20	22	WAS	46	24.9	13.2	7.2	1.8	0.5	1.1	0.8	.581	.741	1.2
2020-21	23	WAS	10	27.1	14.3	6.1	1.5	0.4	0.8	0.9	.648	.667	1.1
2021-22	24	WAS	27	16.3	7.4	4.0	0.9	0.2	0.8	0.4	.520	.875	0.7
2022-23	25	LAL/DEN	59	18.3	9.8	5.7	0.5	0.3	0.5	0.4	.623	.738	0.6
2023-24	26	MIA	38	11.6	5.7	3.7	0.6	0.3	0.4	0.1	.577	.872	0.6
2024-25	27	MIA/IND	66	14.6	6.5	3.8	0.8	0.4	0.6	0.7	.508	.859	0.5
2025-26	28	CLE	60	12.2	6.2	3.4	0.6	0.3	0.4	0.8	.506	.803	0.5
Career	—	—	393	16.9	8.5	4.9	0.9	0.3	0.7	0.6	.573	.781	0.7

2022-23 split: 41 games with the Lakers (12.1 PPG) before a deadline trade to Denver (18 games, 4.6 PPG; ring on the 2023 champion Nuggets). 2024-25 split: 10 games with Miami, then traded to Indiana on December 15, 2024 (56 games, including the Finals-run rotation).

Durability: The defining injury is the January 10, 2021 partial ACL tear (left knee) that ended his season at 10 games and shortened 2021-22 (27 GP). Since then he has been a reasonably available backup: 59, 38, 66, 60 games the last four seasons, with GP driven by role rather than health.

Trajectory: The record shows a former starting-caliber per-minute scorer (13-14 PPG on elite efficiency in 2019-21 Washington) who settled into a journeyman backup-five role after the ACL tear. In 2026-27 he competes to be Cleveland's third big behind Allen and Mobley, against Tomlin's switchability. He becomes fantasy-relevant only during an Allen (or Mobley-at-five) absence that pushes him to 20+ minutes, where his FG% + scoring history makes him a credible two-week streamer.

Career sources: ESPN career stats, StatMuse season averages, Wikipedia — Thomas Bryant, Basketball-Reference

Open questions

Is Bryant active every night or used only against traditional centers?
Which player, Bryant or Tomlin, absorbs Allen-absence minutes?
Can Bryant's defensive stocks improve enough to sustain a larger role?