Though we’ve seen Tristan Thompson be the man at that center position for the Cleveland Cavaliers over the last two seasons, that run will come to an end ahead of this campaign. At first just an idea, head coach Tyronn Lue made it official and will elect to start Kevin Love at center in order to incorporate Jae Crowder into the starting 5, relegating Thompson to a bench role.
Thompson has come off the bench before in his career, last doing so in 2015 when the Cavs deployed Timofey Mozgov as their starting center on their way to a championship berth. With a bench role comes less touches and likely fewer minutes for Thompson.
When asked about it after a recent Cavs scrimmage, Thompson touched on his new goals heading into the season, including gunning for the 6ht Man of the Year award. “I’m going to go for Sixth Man of the Year, put myself in position to do that,” Thompson relayed to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I definitely knew where T-Lue was coming from and it was definitely tough, I could see when I was talking to him, but I told him I’m one guy you don’t have to worry about. I’m a team-first guy. I understand that at the end of the day it’s about winning and if you win, we all look good — whether you come off the bench or you start.”
Though a demotion to the bench is sometimes a tough pill to swallow for players, it’s clear Tristan Thompson will instead take his role change in stride. Even as a starter, offense has never been Thompson’s forte so he should still be able to provide his glass cleaning and interior presence off the bench.
Expecting Thompson to win 6th Man of the Year should be considered a stretch with explosive reserve scorers such as Eric Gordon and Lou Williams still likely dominating votes. Thompson may not even have the best shot at the award on his team as it appears J.R. Smith will serve as the backup shooting guard with Dwyane Wade’s arrival.
Rostering two Sixth Man of the Year candidates in Thompson and Smith is a testament to the fruitful offseason the Cavs have had and the amount of quality depth they’ve added.
