Cleveland Cavaliers big Tristan Thompson is reportedly going to miss nearly two more weeks due to soreness in his left foot (which he previously sprained) and that news makes it seem as though it’s less likely that he’d be traded.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have not much luck this season when it comes to health. Cleveland’s been decimated by the injury bug this year, particularly in the frontcourt. For example, Kevin Love has only played in four games due to a reported toe injury, and Tristan Thompson has missed a number of games because of reported soreness in his previously sprained left foot, including the last four for the Cavaliers. Today, the team announced that due to the foot soreness, Thompson will be additionally out for “approximately two weeks.”
The Cavs noted that the sprain that has caused the soreness initially occurred on December 10. That game was against the Milwaukee Bucks, and as Bleacher Report’s Mike Chiari highlighted, the foot sprain “caused him to miss 10 games before returning against the Miami Heat on Jan. 2.”
This nagging soreness has to be especially rough for Thompson, who’s been the most consistent player for the Cleveland Cavaliers this year when he’s been on the floor, with 11.5 points and a career-high with 11.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 0.8 steals per game, per Basketball Reference.
On the plus side for Cleveland, Larry Nance Jr. could be back tonight against the Heat after reportedly spraining his MCL on January 8 against the Indiana Pacers. Yesterday, Nance said he’s “very optimistic” about his return coming really soon to the media, per the Cavs’ official Twitter.
“Life without basketball is boring. I’m excited I get to be back out here with my guys, helping us fight.”@LarryDn22 talks about his excitement for returning soon: https://t.co/E5Jga5L0C6#BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/RcQcfTHwgL
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) January 24, 2019
That should make Thompson’s absence a bit less of a dagger, considering Nance has played pretty well this season with averages of 8.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and a qualified-Cavalier-leading 3.2 assists per game, per NBA.com.
When Thompson was sidelined for that earlier stretch mentioned by Chiari, Nance really stepped his game up.
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In the month of December overall, he had averages of 11.4 points on 64.7 percent true shooting, 9.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game, per NBA.com.
Hopefully Nance, Jaron Blossomgame and Ante Zizic (who’s played very well recently, as Chiari pointed out) can help Cleveland have a semi-respectable interior presence on both ends of the floor.
Obviously, that’s easier than done, but with Love’s injury timetable seemingly never clear and with Thompson out for approximately the next two weeks, the Cavs will have to patch things together.
Moreover, with Thompson being reportedly out in the coming stretch, I would think it’s very unlikely that he’s traded near the coming NBA trade deadline on February 7. It was also recently reported by The Athletic’s Joe Vardon (subscription required) that Thompson won’t likely be traded unless he “puts a team over the top.”
Even though the San Antonio Spurs reportedly “have an interest” in Thompson, per Sam Amico of Amico Hoops, this extended absence makes a deal even less likely, in my opinion.