As we all know, the NBA free agency market has been open for a long time, in fact, there is only less than a month and a half left before the start of the new season preseason (September 30), but as of now, there are still many players who have not found their next home, such as Tristan Thompson.
Tristan Thompson is no stranger to most fans, he is the fourth pick in the first round of the class of 2011, and james's teammate after returning to the Cavaliers, he helped the Cavaliers reach the Finals for four consecutive years in 2015-2018, and won the 2016 championship.
Among them, in the summer of 2015, under the impetus of agent Rich Paul, Thompson and the Cavaliers signed a five-year 82 million contract, and in that year's regular season, as the team's substitute inside line, he could only get 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, which is why Thompson was happy to mention the nickname of "Eight Sages".
Jokes come to ridicule, combined with the later salary cap surge and Thompson's performance of helping the Cavaliers reach the Finals for four consecutive years, in fact, this contract did not have much premium, not only that, at that time, Tristan Thompson really had two brushes.
In the 2015 playoffs, Tristan Thompson, who played the playoffs for the first time, handed over the data in fact, 20 games, averaging 9.6 rebounds and 10.8 rebounds per game, including 4.4 frontcourt rebounds.
In the Finals against the Warriors, although the Cavaliers lost 2-4, Thompson averaged a double-double of 10.0 points and 13.0 rebounds per game, and could grab 5.3 frontcourt rebounds per game - which was the key reason why he was able to sign a big contract at that time.
Tristan Thompson is 2 meters 06 tall, arm span 2 meters 17, as an interior line is actually short, and does not have the ability to attack independently, but his athleticism, physical talent, bouncing ability is really good, so the rebounding ability is not bad, in the 2016 Finals, he can still average 10.1 rebounds per game, of which nearly 4 are frontcourt rebounds.
As a blue-collar worker, Tristan Thompson's offense basically relies only on eating cake and secondary offense, so the role is not prominent, but on the defensive end, Thompson in those years is very important, with excellent movement speed, Thompson can easily achieve a change of defense, which is also the key point of the Cavaliers against the Warriors.
If you can maintain this level all the time, Tristan Thompson is actually OK, a good blue-collar worker, but in the 2017-18 season, things have changed a little.
That season, Thompson, who had been full-time for four consecutive years, suffered an ankle injury and played only 53 games, while off the court, Tristan Thompson was also deeply involved in the "cheating goal", and the impact on and off the court led to a sharp decline in his stats, and the average playing time per game was reduced to 20.2 minutes, only 5.8 points and 6.6 rebounds.
The data can directly show that Thompson was completely negative for the team at that time:
- When Thompson was on the floor, the Cavaliers' offensive and defensive efficiency was 107.7/113.2, and the net loss per 100 rounds was 5.5 points
- Thompson is not present, the Cavaliers offensive and defensive efficiency is 112.6/109.3, and the net win per 100 rounds is 3.4 points
Thompson's original biggest advantage was that he could adapt to the small-ball era and be able to change defenses, but whether it was injured or "derailed" or affected, Thompson did not show his value this season, coupled with the fact that the offensive end was not excellent, resulting in a sharp decline in this season.
After 2018, James left, Thompson became one of the longest players on the team, and because of the young age of the Cavaliers and the injury of Lefour, Thompson suddenly had a lot of more ball rights - in the previous three seasons, Thompson's ball usage rate was not even 12%, but in 2018-20, Thompson's ball use rate reached 17.5% and 18.1%, respectively.
As a result, Thompson improved the data for two years:
In 2018-19, he averaged 10.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, shooting 52.9% from the field.
In the 2019-20 season, he averaged 12.0 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, shooting 51.2% from the field.
Among them, in the 2019-20 season, Thompson, who was in the contract year, also shot three points on a whim, but Thompson in these two years did have the suspicion of "brushing data", and he also had the "outrageous" situation of grabbing rebounds and not passing the ball, but directly shooting outside the three-point line.
In terms of contributions to the Cavaliers, when he was on the court in the past two years, the team's net loss of 12.3 points and 10.1 points per 100 rounds can also explain the big problem.
You don't have to say, although the value of the data is not as good as before, Thompson still relied on the performance of these two years to get the next contract - in the 2020 offseason, Thompson joined the Celtics for two years and 19 million.
But Thompson is no longer the same passionate Thompson who can go from the three-point line to the three-second zone, and after only a year of playing for the Celtics, he was traded to the Kings, and then last season, the Kings sent him to the Pacers in the Halburton trade, and the Pacers cut him shortly after.
After being cut, the Bulls signed him with a basic salary, originally thought that he could help the team on the defensive end, but unfortunately it backfired, in the 30 games played for the Bulls, he averaged only 5.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, and he did not help the team on the defensive end, and the shooting percentage of the opposing players not only did not decrease, but increased from 49.2% to 49.4%.
Thompson was originally a very functional blue-collar worker, the offensive end was originally playing the inside line is very bad, so the efficiency of eating cake is not high, it is worth mentioning that Thompson's career free throw shooting rate is only 60.5%, free throws have not been practiced, let alone change the way of play to shoot three points;
Defensive end, his biggest advantage is the speed of movement, change of defense, in the face of blocking and demolition can be extended to the greatest extent, once the loss of this role, his value is basically gone, so far no one wants.
Thompson is actually only 31 years old, which is a player at the peak of his age, but from the foreseeable future, it is difficult for him to continue to survive in the NBA, he is a player who was achieved by the small ball era, but eventually eliminated because of the era.