Tristan Thompson: Betting High On Himself
By Joshua Howe
Besides LeBron James, the most impactful player on the Cleveland Cavaliers may in fact be none other than Tristan Thompson, who at 23 years old is trying to show the world that he can ball with the best of them.
Who really would’ve guessed that at this point in the season Thompson would’ve outplayed Kevin Love as the best big man on the roster? Before October that notion would’ve seemed about as realistic as Snookie getting accepted to Harvard.
And now? Well, Thompson is producing for his team like never before. Not just during the recent win streak either; he’s been doing his thing all season long despite change constantly being thrown his way: the Anderson Varejao injury, the Timofey Mozgov trade, the knocks against him being a long-term starter (I was one of those people), etc.
Thompson has gotten to this point betting on himself and letting criticism fuel his game. He took things to the extreme by rejecting the Cavaliers’ offer of a four-year, $52 million extension that was proposed back in October, before the deadline.
While admittedly crazier than a Freudian dream diary, this move encapsulates exactly the kind of player and person Thompson is. And if the number wasn’t $13 million a year for four years, we may be thinking differently about a decision like this one when his play is taken into account.
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This season, Thompson’s offensive rating has ratcheted itself up to 120 points produced per 100 possessions. That ranks 15th in the entire NBA and first on the Cavs.
To put things in perspective, Love’s is offensive rating is 114, LeBron’s is 113 and Kyrie Irving’s is 115.
A big part of how Thompson manages this, while only playing 28.7 minutes per game, is through his offensive rebounding prowess. Tristan ranks second in the league in offensive rebounding percentage (15.4), behind only Andre Drummond (17.0) of the Pistons.
He also ranks third in total offensive rebounds grabbed this season (176), behind DeAndre Jordan (193) and Drummond (225).
Thompson’s rare ability to find a good portion of his teammates’ missed shots has been a large contributor to Cleveland’s top-five offense. He uses a great combination of athleticism, timing and relentlessness to snag the orange out of the air and kick it back out to his sharpshooting wine and gold brethren, or to leap straight back up and jam the ball through the hoop.
Over the course of the season, Thompson has recorded 11 double-doubles, with two of his better ones coming during the Cavs’ current seven-game win streak. If you pay less attention to his scoring (his points are almost always clean-up points), he’s had 20 games this season where he’s grabbed 10 or more rebounds. That means a lot of second chance points.
The Cavaliers’ offensive rating, which currently sits fifth in the league at 110.1 points per 100 possessions, has spiked during their win streak with help from Thompson. It’s now been raised to an insane 120.8 rating, which eclipses the best offensive rating in the NBA held by the Clippers (113.6).
Thompson’s own offensive rating has soared to 124.6 during this winning stretch, which would have him at seventh in the league behind the likes of Chris Paul, Kyle Korver, Anthony Davis and Tyson Chandler.
The on court/off court splits for the entire season are notable as well. With TT on the floor, the Cavs’ offensive rating is 112.5, while without him it’s just 106.7.
While Thompson is mostly an average defender, he is slowly improving and learning how to use his athleticism to keep up with guys who are bigger than him. People seem to forget he’s undersized at 6’9″, and that realistically larger forwards and centers should be squashing him like a bug on a windshield.
But that hasn’t been the case and Thompson’s done just fine holding his own, while obviously not being a defensive stopper. Playing next to Love, however, does give his defense the misleading appearance of Tim Duncan’s and he does average 1.1 blocks per contest.
Sure, it might seem bonkers to have turned down such a great deal (it is), but that’s not exactly the point Thompson is trying to make. He’s trying to show the world and the Cavs that the general league-wide synopsis of his game is undervalued.
He’s no scrub, that’s for certain, and perhaps when Cleveland next offers him a deal, he’ll take it with the comforting knowledge that he’s proven his worthiness and quieted his doubters.