Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 reasons why Tristan Thompson can aid contenders

Tristan Thompson has been outstanding this season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and there’s reportedly been trade interest for his services.

The Cleveland Cavaliers should be active when it comes to trades in the coming weeks with the NBA trade deadline coming February 7. This team needs to be stockpiling as many assets as possible in the coming years, given that they aren’t likely to have a boatload of big-name free agents coming to town. One of the players that could feasibly bring Cleveland more future draft picks via trade is Tristan Thompson, and according to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops, Cleveland is reportedly receiving trade interest in their veteran center.

It’s clear that the Cavs aren’t willingly throwing Thompson out of town, but opponents are reportedly making their intentions known, per Amico.

"“The Cavaliers are no longer in any big hurry to trade Tristan Thompson but that hasn’t kept opposing teams from asking.”"

Cleveland is going to be rebuilding for a while, and based on what the team has reportedly been saying, they want to keep Thompson around to help build their culture in the near future. He has reportedly emerged as a leader this season in a really difficult set of circumstances, and that should not be undersold.

Now, Thompson’s more than $18.5 million salary for the 2019-20 season (per Spotrac) is no chump change for other teams, but with the value he provides every single night, contenders might be able to handle that.

Whenever you watch a Cleveland game, it’s easy to tell he shoulders a huge load both on the floor and in the locker room, and he’s more than capable of handling that burden and getting guys to respond to his message. He’s as physically and mentally tough as they come, and the Cavs have been fortunate to have Thompson’s efforts for his seven-plus seasons (per Basketball Reference).

He’s now going through his second rebuild with Cleveland (both have come after a LeBron James departure via free agency), and Thompson’s had a great attitude in this ordeal, even after going to four straight NBA Finals, and he’s individually had a career year.

That career season is the first reason why he could help a team hoping to make a deep postseason run.