Tristan Thompson has the Cleveland Cavaliers in quite the pickle, and it's going to be difficult for them to relish any of the possible outcomes.
The 24-year-old power forward burst onto the scene during the 2015 playoffs, replacing an injured Kevin Love with aplomb and sparking the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed on its run to the NBA Finals. Though the Cavs were ultimately unsuccessful against the Golden State Warriors, Thompson still managed to completely change his reputation.
Entering the postseason, he was coming off a year in which he averaged 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 54.7 percent from the field. He was a threat on the offensive glass, but his struggles protecting the rim and overall lack of dynamic scoring potential severely limited his impact.
After stepping into the starting five, the Texas product proved what he could do. Even though he couldn't average double digits in the scoring column, he was a game-changing presence, imbuing Cleveland with newfound levels of energy that stemmed largely from his never-ending reserve of hustle plays.
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Article written by Adam Fromal
Tristan Thompson’s Bet on Himself Is Catch-22 for Cleveland Cavaliers
September 4th, 2015 by Adam Fromal Leave a reply »
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