Cleveland Cavaliers: Five best starters of the 2010s
#4 – Tristan Thompson
If the Cavaliers extend Thompson this summer, he could very well end up a Cavalier lifer. The Cavs drafted him fourth overall in the 2011 NBA Draft, the same draft in which they grabbed Irving, and Thompson has been a beacon of hard work and availability ever since.
Thompson always talked about “being a star in your role” during the magical four-year run for the Cavaliers. He was just that. No matter what was asked of him, he did it.
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He was relegated to coming off of the bench for the majority of 2014-15 and 2015-16 and there wasn’t a gripe to be heard from him.
Just like with Smith, Thompson was a major factor in the NBA championship despite a limited role in the game plan.
In those finals, he showed why he was so valuable and showed the entire NBA that he was perhaps the best big at guarding the basketball on the perimeter. He did an excellent job of, at the very least, making it difficult for guys like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson when he would get switched out on them.
He was also his usual self on the glass and he pounded the boards. Per Basketball-Reference, during their NBA championship playoff run, Thompson averaged 9 rebounds per game, including a robust 4.1 on the offensive end. Those extra possessions were huge for the Cavaliers.
Regardless of what happens with Thompson at the trade deadline, or if he moves on after the season in free agency, he will go down as an all-time Cavalier fan-favorite.