NBA: Ranking all 30 starting centers for 2019-20

Tristan Thompson is entering his ninth NBA season and is back as a full-time starter with the rebuilding Cleveland Cavaliers.

Thompson was limited to 43 games last season as he dealt with a sore left foot from mid-December on. He was out for 26 straight games from mid-January through mid-March after missing 10 games in December. He sat out three of the final four games of the season as well.

So why is a guy who averaged his first career double-double last season at the bottom of the list? Thompson is not a rim protector, averaging just 0.4 blocks per game in 2018-19. He’s not a particularly great passer out of the post, with his 2.0 assists per game setting a new career high.

He was a beast on the offensive glass, averaging 4.0 offensive boards per game. The problem was that many of those offensive rebounds came off his own misses, as he shot a sub-optimal 59.4 percent in the restricted area, a place where nearly half (46.1 percent) of his attempts originated.

He hasn’t attempted a 3-pointer since the 2016-17 season and has missed all nine of his career attempts, five of which were end-of-clock heaves.

Offensively, Thompson’s effectiveness is limited to within 10 feet and even that effectiveness is spotty — he made 50.6 percent of his attempts in the three- to 10-foot range.

Thompson is in a strange spot. He’s a former NBA champion — one of just two Cavs remaining from the 2016 title team along with Kevin Love — but entering his age-28 season, he’s off schedule for a rebuilding team.

The problem is that the younger Ante Zizic hasn’t distinguished himself, while John Henson is coming off a major wrist injury and, while a better defensive presence, is even more offensively limited than Thompson and has problems staying out of foul trouble.

So by default, Thompson will open the season as the guy in the middle for the Cavaliers, who may be two years away from being two years away.