In his eight seasons since the Cleveland Cavaliers took him fourth overall in the 2011 NBA draft, Tristan Thompson has been mostly the same player: a rebounder who mostly scores close to the hoop.
Year after year, the numbers were fine: a smattering of points, a bunch of boards, good field goal percentages and the occasional block. It wasn’t fourth-overall level stuff, but it worked for the Cavs.
But the light went off this year. And suddenly, Tristan Thompson is … exploding.
He’s scoring (16.5 ppg) like never before, and that’s not his only career-high: he’s rebounding (11.4 pg), swatting (1.4 bpg), swiping (0.9 spg) and nailing the occasional trey (3-for-6!).
What has gotten into him!?
Let’s start with the highlights: the 76ers left him wide open on Tuesday night and he punished them for it. Twice.
Yes, I see the irony of Thompson hitting threes before Ben Simmons does. There was also this hilarious moment:
Whatever. Don’t care. This new Thompson, who can dribble like that, is a revelation.
Back to the question above: what gives? The thing I noticed is Thompson looks more fit, and according to a Cleveland.com story, that’s correct — after missing a 39 games last year due to a foot injury, he stepped up in the offseason and came to camp a new man.
He’s also gotten the green light to do more from head coach John Beilein:
“His MO is sort of … he’s the rebounder, he’s the guy that sets screens and rolls,” Beilein said. “But we worked hard all summer to let him be a transfer guy too, and can be more involved as a decision-maker. I think he’s an underrated passer, and we’re trying to put it in his hands as well so that he has a lot of assists.”
It’s great news for both parties. Thompson’s doing all this in a contract year, and if he keeps this up for the rebuilding Cavs, he could be an extremely valuable trade target by the deadline. So there’s motivation everywhere for Thompson to keep up this surprising start.
