Toronto Raptors: Tristan Thompson On Radar

Canadian Tristan Thompson is killing it in the playoffs right now with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They just won the Eastern Conference Finals and are on their way to play the winner of the Warriors-Rockets series for all the marbles.

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Earlier this season, Thompson decided to decline the Cavs’ offer of $52 million to stay with the team, which most people were shocked by. But betting on himself has worked out just fine, as he’s become a key cog in the Cavs’ system and a better-than-expected replacement for the injured Kevin Love.

There are going to be teams that throw around money this summer. The Toronto Raptors will probably be one of them. With the cap rising, contracts that would normally look bad can be made to look mediocre or even good.

Thompson has earned his money. It’s pretty likely that some franchise will offer him a max deal. That team won’t have LeBron James on it, but still. Thompson is only 24 years old, and money is still a very important factor going forward.

The Raptors badly need an upgrade at the power forward position, which Thompson occupies. They had rebounding issues all season and were not a team known for getting second chance opportunities.

With Thompson on board, that would all change. He’s really becoming the rebirth of Dennis Rodman. He crashes the glass like few other players in the league today, and he’s someone that enjoys what he does. He’s never looking for his own points or trying to fill his stat sheet.

Instead, he merely tries to grab every board in sight and then send it back out to the perimeter for another crack at putting the ball in the hoop.

Thompson averaged 8.0 rebounds for the season in 26.8 minutes per game; 3.3 of that total were offensive boards. In the playoffs, he’s been even better, grabbing 10.2 rebounds a game with 3.9 of them being offensive.

Of course, for the Raptors, the fact that Thompson is a hometown kid would be great for their brand. They’ll definitely look to make that part of their pitch when the time comes.

Come home and play. For us. For your city. For your country.

It’s something that a lot of players take to heart. LeBron, for example, did just that by returning to Cleveland.

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Toronto’s long-term plan also involves trying to make a run at Canadian hero Andrew Wiggins, the reigning Rookie of the Year.

Thompson would be a great ambassador in a pitch to try and bring Wiggins home, if he was already on the squad. It might be a bit of a stretch, since the two are only connected by being from the same country, but any angle the Raptors can take in trying to acquire Wiggins, they will.

In the short term, Toronto would be getting a bouncy, exciting forward who plays his butt off and isn’t afraid to grind. He hasn’t faltered in The Moment either, showing up big in every playoff game this postseason.

The transition from Amir Johnson to Thompson would be seamless. It’s just the type of boost Toronto needs to get off on a fresh start.

It won’t be easy to steal Thompson’s attention away from Cleveland, but it’s worth a shot. Make it happen, Ujiri.

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