Tristan Thompson could give Cavs added pop in reserve role

Following the Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly trading for Andre Drummond, Tristan Thompson will seemingly be a reserve, as he has been at previous times in his career. If Thompson buys into that role, he could really give the Cavs a ton of pop as a bench player.

As most Cleveland Cavaliers fans are probably aware of at this point, the squad made a surprising deal right near Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Cavs acquired Andre Drummond from the Detroit Pistons, and that was in exchange for expiring veterans John Henson and Brandon Knight and a future second-round pick, as The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor reported.

Wojnarowski also reported that the pick was in 2023, and is the lesser of the Golden State Warriors or Cleveland’s, and reported that seemingly in a corresponding move, the Pistons waived guard Tim Frazier. Additionally, the trade was made official late Thursday by the league, per Cavs general manager Koby Altman, as shown by a Cavaliers team press release.

This deal seems like a steal for Altman and the Cavs’ front office.

As O’Connor essentially noted, the Cavaliers can have a test run in regards to Drummond for the rest of the 2019-20 season, as Drummond could potentially opt into his $28.8 million player option (rounding up here) for next season, and if he opts out for a big deal, the Cavs would have his Bird rights and could potentially sign him long-term if they so choose.

As far as salary cap projects, ESPN’s Bobby Marks said that if Drummond opts in, or signs a new deal in the $29-30 million range, the Cavs will be “right at the cap.”

At any rate, while it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Cavaliers would trade Thompson by the deadline, who is on an expiring deal, TT wasn’t moved.

To me, considering Thompson’s camp wanted him moved by the deadline, according to a report by The Athletic‘s Joe Vardon (subscription required) earlier this week, and with the team’s current state, it would’ve seemed clear the Cavs were going to move TT.

That didn’t happen, however, and I really hope this doesn’t lead to locker room strife.

For reference, Thompson’s camp was reportedly on Thursday working to get him bought out, according to NBA reporter Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, but staying consistent with a report earlier from Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes that Thompson would not be bought out if he didn’t get moved, The Athletic‘s David Aldridge reported that Thompson will not be bought out, play out the season and will hit free agency this summer.

Maybe I’m wrong for thinking it could potentially do so with TT not playing starters’ minutes, but on the bright side, if Thompson buys in, he could really give the Cavs’ bench a ton of pop as a reserve 5. To be clear, Thompson will not be starting, because Drummond is putting up a career-high 17.8 points per game, and is leading the NBA in rebounding going on for the third straight season with 15.8 boards per contest to this point, according to NBA.com.

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Drummond is the league’s best rebounder on both ends, is a great screener, just like Thompson, but is 6-foot-10, and is very athletic at 279 pounds and provides rim protection the Cavaliers have not had in years, as evidenced by a robust 1.7 blocks per game. He also is fourth in the league in deflections per contest with 3.7 per outing, per NBA.com.

I won’t dismiss Thompson’s season, though, as to this point, he is posting career-highs in points (11.9), rebounds (10.4) and assists (2.1) per game, per Basketball Reference, and he is clearly a much-improved paint finisher in terms of touch on hooks with both hands, and as a push shot player.

Anyhow, it will probably be a bit odd for TT at first, but if he’s bought in, he can really be a heck of a bench 5, which is a role he’s filled at times in his career, while alongside Larry Nance Jr. at the 4. Thompson, though he doesn’t have the passing feel of John Henson, is improved in terms of his big-to-big passing still.

Plus, with Nance’s playmaking ability at the elbows and/or the top of the key, Thompson could be a menacing off-ball screen-setter mostly for pieces such as Kevin Porter Jr. and Dante Exum, who are both effective cutters, a bunch. Thompson I’d also assume will get plenty of burn with Darius Garland still, given Garland’s experience playing with reserves a fair amount, and TT has established rapport with Garland and Matthew Dellavedova in spot minutes, too.

I’d imagine that Thompson could still get some meaningful burn with Kevin Love, too, given how much they’ve played together over the years, and that could result in some spot minutes with Delly, too, on occasion anyhow, and when defenses react to Thompson’s ball screens, we all know Delly is going to find Love on the perimeter when it’s there.

Dellavedova, who is averaging 7.6 assists per-36 minutes this year, as noted by Basketball Reference, has terrific feel of when to hit Thompson for his lobs in settled offense, and I’m sure we’ll see more of that again like the good ole days. Of course, I get Delly’s only playing 12.3 minutes per game, though.

Anyway, with the tenacious offensive rebounding threat Thompson possesses, along with Nance as a putback player, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ new primary bench frontcourt (granted TT has missed the last two games due to reported right quad soreness) should generate a bunch of extra possessions.

On the defensive end, while Thompson doesn’t provide the rotational rim protection Henson, who was leading Cleveland in blocks per game with 1.1 in just 14.2 minutes per outing, per NBA.com, does, TT is a solid interior/post defender that is capable of switching out on occasion against perimeter ball-handlers.

Lets also factor in that Thompson and Nance both are very effective help/team defenders, and  both are outstanding backline communicators, too, as I’m sure Cavs head coach John Beilein would attest to.

Once again, if Thompson buys into a bench role, I really believe he could provide a ton of pop for Cleveland as he did earlier in his career and this Cavaliers’ frontcourt rotation could be one of the league’s best.

Now if this Drummond experiment goes well, does that mean Love, who reportedly preferred to be traded leading up to the deadline but was seemingly fine playing the rest of the year out, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, wants to perhaps stay put?

Do the Cleveland Cavaliers and Altman, no matter what, try to move Love in the offseason, anyway, and Thompson eventually signs a sign-and-trade this summer, maybe, as Fear The Sword’s Justin Rowan suggested?

All I can say for now is let’s see what happens the rest of this season. Initially, I was not a fan of the possibility of the Cavaliers trading for Drummond, but I quite frankly, thought it would’ve taken considerably more assets to do so, as the Cavs barely gave up anything, really.

Moreover, Thompson playing meaningful minutes against bench bigs could lead to plenty of efficient production and activity on both ends for him, as he’s had a heck of a year playing mostly against starters to this point. Again, though, TT needs to be bought-in.