Cavaliers: Grading Tristan Thompson’s 2019-20 play thus far

Touching on TT’s overall play

Overall, I’ve been more than pleased with Thompson this season. He’s been one of the best players on the Cleveland Cavaliers, and has led by example and been a vocal leader seemingly both on and off the floor.

The young pieces on this team love him, as does the Cavs’ coaching staff. It’s been awesome to see him reassert himself as one of the more versatile defensive bigs in the league, and offensively, his growth as an interior scorer has been really encouraging for his future outlook.

Thompson has clearly carved out a heck of a career to this point, and I would love for him to at some point be on a contender once again.

At any rate, while Fedor did hit on how TT is a realistic sign-and-trade candidate, whenever offseason/free agency ultimately is, Fedor did also touch on how he did believe there’s a higher chance Cleveland could re-sign Thompson than was the case near the acquisition of Drummond.

I’d still imagine Thompson could definitely be involved in a sign-and-trade, though. Even while he has been bought into a bench role post-Drummond trade, among potential options, Drummond is “most likely” to opt into his $28.8 million player option for next season, per Fedor, and I’d think TT could very well look to play elsewhere. That could be perhaps for the mid-level exception, as Fedor has suggested.

So what’s my grade for Thompson to this point for this season, which may or may not eventually play out, at least in some capacity, then?

Thompson’s overall grade thus far in 2019-20: A-

At this point, I have to give TT an A- grade.

While I’d still prefer him to have been able to add more of a mid-range shot or catch-and-shoot three-point game, he has been one of Cleveland’s most consistent contributors and has continued to lead.

If this is the near-end for Thompson with the Cleveland Cavaliers, it’s truly been a heck of a ride. Once again, thank you for everything, TT!