Cleveland Cavaliers: Statistics predictions for current bigs in 2019-20

2019-20 stats predictions for Thompson: 6.5 PPG on 56.0% true shooting, 7.1 RPG, 19.2 MPG and 30 games active

Thompson was productive last year when he was healthier in the earlier portion of the season up until he reportedly suffered a foot injury in December, but he was clearly not the same after that, and he only appeared in 43 games last season, per Basketball Reference, and I would think some of why that was the case later in the season was due to precaution, anyhow.

Pre-All-Star last season, though, he was playing well, as he had 11.5 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 29.8 minutes per game in 35 appearances (per NBA.com), and he reportedly took on a key leadership role last year as well, which was a plus.

Nonetheless, the Cavs need to see more of what they have in Zizic, who is going into his third NBA season, in 2019-20, and with TT expiring but still being a good interior defender in the postseason (just ask Al Horford), I would think him being packaged with a player the likes of Brandon Knight, a competent offensive combo guard/secondary playmaker for some rotational minutes, or Jordan Clarkson, a highly capable bench scorer, seems to be a reasonable scenario that plays out with Thompson near early to mid-January.

Around that time, I’d think the Cavaliers, who again, are in a rebuilding situation and need to see more of Zizic, who is a more multifaceted offensive player than Thompson, get more minutes going the rest of the way in the season.

As far as the minutes-share and games played, TT’s had problems staying healthy the last two seasons, and Cleveland will probably be playing a bunch of guard/perimeter-heavy lineups anyway, so that’s my take on that there.