No, what if we're doing it right? What if Tristan Thompson comes on his 4th or 5th season in the league? With a player as raw as Tristan Thompson, you have to be a realist and understand that with these types of players, it takes a long time for them to season their games and learn the tricks of the trade. Some of the little things Thompson is doing this year are very encouraging signs for the future. Once he gets a little more seasoning and savvy he'll be making plays that he simply can't make right now. Some people will argue that if you just don't have it then there is no hope and I'll lend some credence to that. It definitely happens, but more so with players with frail confidence. I believe Tristan Thompson is going to have a moment where he finally just lets the game come to him. Right now he's like a bull in a china shop trying to go out and take it, but great players like Kyrie make the game come to them.
If I were a betting man, I'd bet on Tristan Thompson to have that "aha!" moment over a talent like JJ Hickson. JJ's biggest problem was lack of focus. I don't see the same lack of focus from Thompson. Thompson's issues are from lack of know how. It's actually going to be better for the Cavaliers in the long run. If these players were too good right off the bat, we'd accumulate sub-par talent. You need blue chips to win and the Cavaliers have only had one real shot at a blue chipper. They tried to land Davis, and that's encouraging. But rather than accumulate sub-par talent, you need to remain in the cesspool until you have a minimum of 2 blue chip talents. Jonas Valanciunas, Tristan Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Brad Beal, Andre Drummond they are all decent players, maybe starters, maybe all-stars but none of them have the superstar, blue chip pedigree of Kyrie and Davis. These next drafts have some serious talent in them and we need to do whatever we need to do, in order for us to land an elite perennial all star prospect.
Dion Waiters could be the same thing. Dion Waiters year 5 is going to be way better than Dion Waiters his rookie season. Hopefully he'll be good enough to be a big impact player on the team, but also not become too good where he James Harden's us. If we get one more blue chip talent, and wait until Waiters and Thompson and Zeller hatch, we should have a squad. By that time we'll have 6-7 legit players that can play a real playoff rotation.