Tristan Thompson: Initial Thoughts

[red.]

I grew to like this pick in a couple hours. So, let him and Kyrie roam free.

 

[Dirk Gently]

I'm glad we filled our holes at PG and PF. We have more athletic wing players than we know what to do with. Oh wait...

If the Cavs were drafting to fill "holes" this year, we'd have bigger problems. They need to upgrade talent everywhere. With next year's draft having a glut of athletic wings who are actually worth drafting, it actually works out that we didn't take a lesser player this year to placate the fans. The Cavs weren't an athletic wing away from winning a championship. Realistically, they're a few years away (at least). Their main priority is to plan for when their window will be, and make sure they start building that base of players now. An intelligent defensive big is more essential now than an average (at best) athletic wing. There wasn't any wing player worth taking at 4. Anyone they would have taken in the second was a crapshoot at best. I really don't see the problem here, or did you think we were an athletic wing away from winning a championship?

 

[Silky Smooth]

Man is he really raw on offense (terrible from FT line and no jumpshot to speak of).

He did play tough defense against guys like Williams and P Jones and from what the Cavs saw in his workouts his length and athleticism seems to have established in the FO's mind that this guy is a defensive stopper at the PF. Looks like the rumors that he really did a number on Williams and Kanter are true (one of our insiders commented if I remember on how Kanter couldn't score against his length).

Combine that with his rebounding and right now it looks like we drafted a possible a Ben Wallace type in terms of impact on defense and the glass.

The negatives is right now he doesn't seem to have much better of an offensive game then Big Ben as well (FT shooting worries me) and we already have 3 decent to pretty good PF's in AV, JJ, and Samuels. Got to move JJ with this pick: we would be seriously undersized playing Thompson with JJ

Thompson has some offensive game. From what I've heard he has a solid jump hook with either hand. If I were to compare his offensive game I would say it's JJ Hickson when he can into the league. The whole thing with Thompson is he is a better defender, has better hands, has a better bball IQ and has more length than JJ Hickson. I believe his jumper will improve and he will ultimately be better than JJ Hickson.

 

[Birdy89]

I think this shows just how weak this draft was outside the top 3 picks. Puts it in perspective. If we have multiple 1st rounders next year, we're going to be in Heaven compared to this one, trust me. Endless possibilities.

We're most likely going to struggle to get multiple first round picks next year as they are far more valued than they were this year.

Also, something like what happened this year with the unprotected lottery pick will not happen precisely because of what happened to the Clippers this year. There are no GM's that are going to be willing to do any sort of deals for picks that aren't ridiculously protected to avoid having egg on their face like the Clippers.

This was our big shot, between the 2 top 4 picks as well as the massive TPE and we essentially squandered it. Kyrie was the no brainer, but past that we managed to do less with more than just about any other team out there.

 

[mixman]

You guys kill me. "do less with more". How many teams got two starters out of this draft? The TPE is valuable now but if the next CBA has a hard cap taking on shit contracts for the right to draft some other role-player isn't a good idea.

 

[catfish]

Must say that after seeing big V live on tv I was less disturbed that we didn't take him. He appears almost frail.

 

[WhoWeAre]

We're most likely going to struggle to get multiple first round picks next year as they are far more valued than they were this year.

Also, something like what happened this year with the unprotected lottery pick will not happen precisely because of what happened to the Clippers this year. There are no GM's that are going to be willing to do any sort of deals for picks that aren't ridiculously protected to avoid having egg on their face like the Clippers.

This was our big shot, between the 2 top 4 picks as well as the massive TPE and we essentially squandered it. Kyrie was the no brainer, but past that we managed to do less with more than just about any other team out there.

You're an idiot. No team has ever rebuilt in one year. Also, the TPE hasn't expired yet, and we still have all of our trade assets. Moreover, now we can trade JJ without having a hole at PF.

This was a GREAT draft. We got BPA who is a potential franchise player, and we got a player that many people feel was the second best PF in this draft. Grow up.

 

[Pioneer10]

Thompson has some offensive game. From what I've heard he has a solid jump hook with either hand. If I were to compare his offensive game I would say it's JJ Hickson when he can into the league. The whole thing with Thompson is he is a better defender, has better hands, has a better bball IQ and has more length than JJ Hickson. I believe his jumper will improve and he will ultimately be better than JJ Hickson.

I'm no JJ fan and I'm glad he'll be gone. Thompson was drafted for two things: defense and rebounding. The Tracy McGrady effect clearly played on the Cavs minds here (like Thomspon shut down DWill and Kanter in his workout, McGrady came from out of nowhere and shut down Lamar Odom prior to that draft). Considering how good McGrady became, I don't have massive issues with the pick. I also love defense altering bigs like Big Ben, AV, etc. I have two concerns though

1) There is no doubt he has to work on his offensive game:

Tristan Thompson is the only one-and-done player in this class, and while he doesn't stand out overall, his ability to get to the line is an incredibly valuable skill.

No player in this group of big men got to the line at a higher rate than Thompson. More than a quarter (26.3%) of his possessions resulted in a free throw, which is a pretty staggering number. Thompson only scored 0.938 PPP overall (4th last), and there's no question that his skill level has a long way to go, but he has plenty of time to improve and his ability to get his team into the bonus despite being so raw is promising.

Thompson's biggest weaknesses from a situational standpoint are his post-game and jump shooting. With nearly 37% of his touches coming down low, the Canadian big man only scored 0.749 points per-possessions with his back to the basket, 2nd to last in this group after Jeremy Tyler. As a jump shooter, Thompson scored a sample worst 0.654 PPP on a meager 0.7 attempts per-game, which is not much of a surprise considering his 49% free throw conversion rate. The 20-year old big man lacks significant polish at this point.

At this juncture, Thompson's ability to put the ball on the deck and throw his weight around down low are notable, but he's only an average finisher (64%) and has a ton of room to grow into a role in the future as his skill set begins to dictate what he can bring to a team offensively.

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Tristan-Thompson-5226/#ixzz1QAELLWgS
http://www.draftexpress.com

He is very young so there is a good chance his offensive game will get better (he'll likely bulk up as well)

2) I'd like to see what we get for JJ as well before anyone makes a final statement. There is no way JJ can play with Thompson

 

[UDcleveland]

If Thompson can guard 3's in the NBA, I don't mind the pick at all. Even if it isn't the starting 5, we could see stretches of Iriving/(who cares)/Thompson/Hickson/Varejao. The athleticism and defensive potential for that sort of line up is definitely intriguing. Good luck converting anything other than an oop though on offense.

 

[TheISHT]

The only way I rationalize this pick is that TT will eventually replace JJ. If the caves use advanced stats, they might notice JJ's unbelievable shitty +\- numbers.

 

[Dfor3]

You're an idiot. No team has ever rebuilt in one year. Also, the TPE hasn't expired yet, and we still have all of our trade assets. Moreover, now we can trade JJ without having a hole at PF.

This was a GREAT draft. We got BPA who is a potential franchise player, and we got a player that many people feel was the second best PF in this draft. Grow up.

Celtics kinda did, even though it wasn't by drafting players.

Still agree with everything you said, albeit that JJ's value was lessened because everyone knows we need to get rid of him now.

 

[BigErieCavsFan]

I certainly don't understand the the pick at 4. And because I don't, I hope there is an alteirior motive and/or a good reason for it. How many F'n PF do we have...

 

[Baseline Runner]

His defensive versatility is incredible, being able to step out on the perimeter and guard both SFs and stretch fours while also being able to bang inside and take away other players' post game with his combination of length and athleticism. And he is an elite shot blocker and help defender. He is also a very good rebounder, second in the NCAA in offensive rebounding average last season. He is the type of glue guy that turns a good team into a championship team. I would rather draft a defensive anchor than a typical 20 PPG swing man, like a Rudy Gay type player, who doesn't bring much to the floor other than his scoring abilities.

As for why we drafted him at four, Grant must have gotten wind that Toronto or the Wizards were looking to draft him at #5 or #6. Remember the Wizards wanted Kanter so they obviously were looking for a big. And Toronto passed on Knight, who was supposedly their guy, to draft a big in Jonas.

 

[Birdy89]

albeit that JJ's value was lessened because everyone knows we need to get rid of him now.

No need to let minor details like that get in the way of the apologists.

 

[WhoWeAre]

Celtics kinda did, even though it wasn't by drafting players.

Still agree with everything you said, albeit that JJ's value was lessened because everyone knows we need to get rid of him now.

No they didn't. I'm talking about going from contending, to being torn down, and back to contending again. Celtics went 12 years between championships, and had many of their pieces in place when they made those trades.