Cleveland Cavaliers: Possible trade packages for Tristan Thompson

The main goal for the 2019-20 NBA season for the Cleveland Cavaliers should be to add as many assets as possible in order to accelerate their rebuild. One way to do that is by trading veteran role players. What are some of the best trade packages for Tristan Thompson?

The Cleveland Cavaliers used the fourth pick in the 2011 NBA Draft on University of Texas big man Tristan Thompson, the same draft they selected former point guard Kyrie Irving first overall.

Thompson has been fantastic throughout his career as a Cavalier, despite his offensive limitations. He was a major key to the 2016 NBA championship run with his timely offensive rebounds and his ability to switch onto ball-handlers.

Thompson is not a player that is going to take a middle of the road playoff team and build them into a top power in their respected conference. What he is going to do, however, is give teams who are expected to contend for their conference championship or a team that is looking to make the playoffs, a very specific set of skills, like offensive rebounding, solid defensive play, and finishing at the rim.

He is also someone who is going to be available night in and not out. As the saying goes, the best ability is availability.

Throughout his career, his highest scoring average for a single season is 11.7 points according to Basketball-Reference. He accomplished that scoring average twice, in his second and third years in the NBA, when the Cavaliers were terrible.

Suffice it to say, whoever trades for Thompson should not expect him to bring a scoring punch off of the bench. They will be trading for Thompson for his incredible ability to give a team extra possessions (3.4 offensive rebounds per game for his career per Basketball-Reference), and his ability to switch onto ball-handlers (which he may be the best big in the NBA at), which is unbelievably valuable in today’s NBA.

Thompson is and always will be loved in Cleveland for his all-out effort and for his plays that don’t always show up in the box score, but it’s time for Cleveland to move on in order to add assets and accelerate their rebuild.

Of note, we will be using tradenba.com to verify the trades work from a financial standpoint.