Competition in the East this season is fierce, and in addition to the old powerhouses, a number of upstarts who have been sinking for a long time have also ushered in an outbreak, and the Chicago Bulls are the most typical examples. Against the Atlanta Hawks, who have seen a significant downward trajectory this season, the Bulls are in a bitter battle at home in the United Center, but fortunately, the star of the house, Demar DeRozan, has once again stepped forward, and the Bulls have finally laughed to the end.
Of course, the reason for the victory, the Bulls did not rely on the strength of DeRozan alone, Zach Lavin had 20 points and 5 rebounds, center Nikola Vucevic cut a double-double, and the rookie Ayo Dossom, who started from "Ball Brother" Lonzo Ball, also contributed 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. At the same time, Bulls replacement center Tristan Thompson also made his new club debut in this game, he performed really efficiently, and Tristan Thompson shot all three times in the game, with 100% shooting rate to get 11 points and 6 rebounds, becoming an important supplement to the interior position.
Unconsciously, Tristan Thompson is already a veteran who is about to turn 31. He was selected by the Cavaliers with the 4th overall pick in the first round in 2011 and spent most of his career with Tristan Thompson. In the second and third seasons of his career, Tristan Thompson averaged about 12 points and 9 rebounds per game, but at that time, the Cavaliers were the league's fish belly, and such data was somewhat watery.
Until the summer of 2014, LeBron James chose to return to the Cavaliers, and his arrival not only made the team a championship champion again, but also benefited his teammates. Tristan Thompson is like this, if you only look at the regular data, Tristan Thompson can only average 8.5 points and 8 rebounds per game, even worse than the previous two years. But because of James's return, coupled with the Cavaliers' immediate return to the Finals stage, his teammates around him got more attention, and his value also rose. So in the summer of 2015, Tristan Thompson asked the Cavaliers for a big contract, and the two sides fell into a tug-of-war, until the start of the new season, Tristan Thompson successfully earned a five-year fat contract worth $82 million. Because he is the same agent as LeBron James, who in turn has the nickname of "Little Emperor", coupled with his own statistics for that season, many fans have also given Tristan Thompson the nickname of the Eight Sages.
Of course, after signing a big contract, Tristan Thompson was also quite contentious. Although the stats don't look particularly prominent, Tristan Thompson is the ceiling for blue-collar centers because of his outstanding eating, rebounding and defensive ability. The most impressive thing is that Tristan Thompson has the top speed and flexibility among the inner players, so he does not lose a lot of defenders. Tristan Thompson has since reached the Finals three times in a row, including the cavaliers' first championship trophy in team history in the 15-16 season, and Tristan Thompson was also a big contributor to the team at that time.
But after James left, the Cavaliers also began to rebuild again, tristan Thompson contract expired, was not left, in 2020 he joined the Boston Celtics, signed a two-year, $19 million contract with the Green Army. From the regular data, Tristan Thompson averaged 7.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, basically maintaining a career average, but the Celtics felt that he was not particularly suitable for the team, so the two sides divided in the offseason.
So this season Tristan Thompson has changed teams in a row, he played for the Kings in the first half, but before the deadline, the team packed him up with the new star Harry Burton and others to send him to the Pacers in order to get All-Star center Sabonis Jr. However, Tristan Thompson was clearly not in the team's future plans, so he only played three games for the Pacers before being cut again. You should know that Tristan Thompson did not perform badly during this period, against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, Tristan Thompson scored 9 points and 5 rebounds. Against the Washington Wizards, Tristan Thompson simply shot 8-of-9 and recorded 17 points and six rebounds.
When Tristan Thompson became a free agent again, a large number of championship-winning teams threw olive branches at him, and finally Tristan Thompson chose to join the Chicago Bulls as the team's backup center. The Bulls' ascent this season has been very rapid, but the strength of the second team is slightly more average, and if you want to break through or even break through in the East, it is obviously not enough. In the center position, although the Bulls have Nikola Vucevic, he has no reliable substitute behind him, and the arrival of Tristan Thompson effectively solves this problem. Tristan Thompson would be very useful if he played about 15-20 minutes per game, which would be crucial for the Bulls; in turn, Tristan Thompson would be a free agent again this summer, and he would need to use his performance to try to get a guaranteed contract again.