Tristan Thompson is starting to get it.

[RedBlackAttack]

After what was called a reach at No. 4 overall, a so-so rookie season and a general "meh" reaction from most basketball enthusiasts, Tristan is beginning to show the basketball world why Chris Grant thought enough of him to take him so high in the draft.

At just 21 years old, he's got plenty of time to add to and refine his game, but it is time people start becoming aware of how he has produced since Anderson Varejao went down with an injury. I have always thought that Varejao and Thompson had redundant games and they weren't a good pairing on the offensive end. Now, those theories look to be true.

Here is how Tristan has produced in the eight games since Varejao has played...


@Boston - 11 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals
Indiana - 12 points, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks
@Milwaukee - 14 points, 14 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
@Washington - 15 points, 12 rebounds, 1 block
Atlanta - 8 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
@Brooklyn - 17 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks
Sacramento - 9 points, 13 rebounds
Tonight @Charlotte - 19 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists

Also, he's shown some very good defensive instincts and the team is notably better defensively when he is on the floor. In addition, the Cavs are 3-3 in their last 6 with Thompson logging heavy minutes in the middle.

Here are his averages since Varejao went down...

13.1 points on 51% FGs, 73% FTs
12.5 rebounds
0.9 assists
1.13 blocks


I'm not saying he's there, but his talent is becoming easily visible.

[fpliii]

What's his position in the long term?

[chips93]

What's his position in the long term?

power forward

hes a hair under 6'9 in shoes

[RedBlackAttack]

What's his position in the long term?

It really depends on who he is paired with. He sometimes has trouble with his man-to-man defense against skilled offensive centers, but there aren't many of those in today's league.

I'd say the ideal position is probably the 4, but he can play the 5 with success.

[Rose]

Luckily I picked him up in fantasy awhile ago.

[Chapallaz]

[bdreason]

And when Varejao returns it's back to the bench.

[bdreason]

Luckily I picked him up in fantasy awhile ago.

Trade him now because when V-Jo returns he turns back into waiver wire material.

[Meticode]

And when Varejao returns it's back to the bench.

Back to PF actually. He's not been on the bench all season.

[RedBlackAttack]

And when Varejao returns it's back to the bench.

Uh, yeah... Except, when Varejao playes, Tristan is the starting power forward and Varejao moves to the 5.

[bdreason]

oh my bad based on his previous production I assumed he was coming off the bench.

[red1]

TT

[Pushxx]

What's his ceiling? I don't watch him enough.

[RedBlackAttack]

What's his ceiling? I don't watch him enough.

Hard to say what his ceiling is. He's still so young at just 21 and he has a lot of natural athletic ability. It really just depends on where he decides to focus with his game. I'm not sure if he'll ever become a reliable midrange kind of big man. He just doesn't seem comfortable more than 10-feet from the basket with the ball in his hands.

Then again, we've seen players helpless in that department early in their careers become efficient from range, so you never totally know for sure.

Right now, he's a very good rebounder and has the potential to be a very good defender. He has a very high motor and is an excellent natural athlete. The biggest thing for his first season in the NBA was confidence. He had a lot of trouble finishing around the basket. A lot of his success recently is due to becoming more comfortable around the basket.

He is even showing a semblance of a post game lately, including a pretty nice looking hook with either hand. He is improving so much from week-to-week, at this point, it is tough to say where his ceiling is.

One thing is for sure... Guy is a gym rat and works like hell on his game. He's shooting 72% from the line over the last eight games, which is astonishing if you saw his form early in the season.

[NuggetsFan]

I think he'll probably always be a reach at number 4. I'll need to see more than an 8 game stretch to change that. Might even be unfair to call him a reach I guess because it's not like it was realistic to draft a guy like Leonard, Parsons, Faried etc. at 4 or something. Think the what if game is stupid but think if you're Cleveland after landing a superstar in Irving you want more than Thompson at 4. Kinda reminds me of OKC getting Durant/Green in the same draft.

Good that it seems like he's on the upswing. Thing that would scare me about Thompson is his inefficiency for a big man on such low volume. Not like a Cousins who's routinely dropping 15+ but he seems to struggle with it while only scoring like 10 points. At the start of the season guy was shooting like 43% on 8.5 points taking almost 8 shots a game. Safe to say Cleveland lost alot of games that month.