The Tristan Dilemma

The Cleveland Cavaliers had already drafted Kyrie Irving in the first round in the 2011 NBA Draft when they took Tristan Thompson with the fourth overall selection.

At the time, the select of Thompson was a bit of a surprise, since he averaged just 13.1 points and 7.8 rebounds a game at the University of Texas.

We were hoping for Enes Kanter to fall to the Cavs, but he was taken by the Jazz at #3, and Jonas Valanciunas was still on the board, but remember, he was not going to play in the NBA that season, and the Cavs didn’t feel like they could wait a year after a 19-63 record in the first year after LeBron James departed for Miami.

As a rookie, he averaged 8.2 points and 6.5 rebounds, and increased those totals to 11.7 and 9.4 in his second season.

He stayed at those numbers in year #3, and it began to look like Thompson was a disappointment as the second best player on a team led by Irving.

Then, LeBron James and Kevin Love arrived, and that pushed Thompson down the food chain, where he became a role player on a title contender, a role he can and did excel in.

As a big man, Thompson had an ability to be able to guard smaller players when switching in pick-and-roll situations, a very valuable skill, and one that was a key in the Cavs’ 2016 NBA title.

He was also a relentless offensive rebounder, averaging 3.3 per game for his career and upping that total to 4.1 in the playoffs.

He was durable too, playing every game from his second year in the Association through his fifth year.

However, the last two seasons have seen a drop in Thompson’s game. First, he’s never developed an acceptable jump shot from around 10-15 feet out like former teammate Anderson Varejao did.

He has always been and still is a liability on offense, as his main skill is crashing the boards. Other than that, he doesn’t have to be guarded.

His defense has slipped as well. He had a defensive rating of 108 in the three years he played before James came back, and improved that to 106, then 104 in the championship season.

Last year, it fell back to his rookie level and is now a career worst 112.

Perhaps Thompson’s playing through the bumps and bruises all those years is coming back to bite him, because he’s missed 22 games this season.

Unfortunately for Tristan, the Cavs are 19-3 in those games, which brings into question Thompson’s role with the team not only this season, but going forward.

Since Larry Nance Jr. arrived at the trade deadline, there is a discernable difference in how the wine and gold play with Nance in the game as opposed to Thompson. Nance is more active and definitely a quicker leaper than TT, who needs to gather himself before jumping.

Thompson can still be an important piece for the Cavs, but he needs to be fully healthy, and it looks as though it should be as a guy coming off the bench.

We know coach Tyronn Lue has loyalty to the guys who won a title, both Thompson and JR Smith, so will Lue be willing to make the change for the good of the team?

The other issue with Thompson is his contract, which pays him $16.4 million per year this season, and increases by roughly a million more in each of the next two campaigns.

That’s far too much for what the team is receiving in return, leading to speculation the front office would like to move him this summer.

The point is Thompson may have been the 4th or 5th best player on the team, a key piece, two years ago, but he isn’t that anymore.

Can he fix that this summer? Of course. Do we think it is likely? Our guess would be no.

It comes down to back for the buck. It is likely that Thompson performance and role this post-season determines his fate.

Early Spring Roster Battles For Tribe

Exhibition play is a little over a week old in Goodyear, Arizona and what that means mostly is we are closer to the start of the regular season, which is now just 24 days away.

We have always maintained the perfect record for spring training is around .500, because it doesn’t give the fan bases of a bad team any unrealistic expectations, nor does it worry supporters of good teams, like the Cleveland Indians.

The best news to come out of the desert is it appears Jason Kipnis is healthy and ready to go.

We were never in the trade Kipnis camp, because he is coming off a poor, injury plagued season, so the Tribe front office was never going to get value, it would have been strictly a salary dump.

The negatives have been on the injury front where Danny Salazar likely will not be able to open the season on the big league roster, and OF Brandon Guyer has had some set backs as well, although we aren’t sure his timetable was to open the year on the active list.

Salazar’s injury simply means Terry Francona and new/old pitching coach Carl Willis don’t have to make a decision on whether or not they have to move a starter to the bullpen.

As of right now, Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger, and Josh Tomlin will make up the starting staff.

With Guyer and Michael Brantley likely to be on the disabled list to start the season, it opens up two outfield spots, with holdovers Abraham Almonte, Tyler Naquin, Greg Allen, and Yandy Diaz battling with Rob Refsnyder, Rajai Davis, and Melvin Upton Jr. to make the Opening Day roster.

Quite frankly, we think each spot will go to one in each group.

The first group has two switch-hitters in Almonte and Allen, with Naquin swinging from the left side and Diaz the right. The latter has been playing most infield, so maybe versatility wins out.

The brass knows what Almonte can do and Allen could probably benefit from some time at AAA. In the latter group, Refsnyder offers the multi-position option, while Davis and Upton are trying for one last shot at a big league roster.

To date, neither of the veterans have done much in games, but this is the Indians we are talking about, and we know Tito and his staff love veterans.

We would keep Diaz, putting him in LF to start, and Refsnyder would also get a shot because he can play both infield and outfield.

In the bullpen, the loss of Bryan Shaw and Joe Smith leave two openings, but the recent signings of veteran Matt Belisle, Carlos Torres, and the claiming of Ben Taylor from Boston would make them the leading candidates to win the job.

Torres is durable, pitching in 65 or more games in three of the last four years in the bigs, and Belisle ended last season as the Twins closer, pitching great in the second half, after solid years in Washington and St. Louis.

One reliever to watch is Nick Goody, who has struggled so far in Arizona. He doesn’t have the track record of some of the other arms, so he could find himself the odd man out if he doesn’t start pitching better.

Again, it’s early. But the players we talked about are the ones in battles to make the trip north to Seattle on March 29th.

Which can’t get here fast enough.

Players & Coach Need To Keep Adjusting For Cavs

If you understand the game of basketball, you can understand that the Cleveland Cavaliers are going through some growing pains.

After the fast start when the four new players showed up after the trading deadline, the wine and gold have split their first quartet of games following the all star break, and one of the wins was a close one over the lowly Brooklyn Nets.

Not only are the players getting to know each other, but Tyronn Lue also is going through an adjustment as to how George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance Jr. fit with the holdover Cavaliers.

One thing that continues to be an issue for the Cavs are slow starts, they have been struggling in the first quarter during the last three contests. The problems have a lot to do with the personnel that starts the game.

In the first game after the break, Cleveland led Washington after one, 31-22, with JR Smith leading the way with 9 points.

Unfortunately, in the last three games, the Cavaliers trailed by seven, five, and four points after the first quarter respectively.

Smith has scored 11 points TOTAL, in those three games. Could we make a case that the key in the first quarter is JR Smith?

The bigger issue here is that Smith, who has always been streaky, isn’t having hot streaks with the regularity he had earlier in his career.

So when you have Smith, Tristan Thompson, and Cedi Osman in the starting lineup, there is a real possibility you will not be getting anything offensively out of this trio, and that’s a problem.

That’s why Lue needs to balance out his starting lineup with a more accomplished offensive player. We would recommend moving Rodney Hood to the first unit.

Hood would also give the first unit more length, and more versatility on the offensive end. Smith is more of a three point specialist, while against Brooklyn, we saw Hood attacking the basket, taking just one three point shot.

Nance’s tendency to pick up fouls is the reason to keep Thompson opening the game, although it seems the latter’s offensive game has regressed since last season. If starting Thompson means ending the game with Nance, we are all for it.

As for Osman, he will go to the bench when Kevin Love is ready to play, but somehow Lue needs to keep giving him playing time because as his defensive versatility.

The rookie has been guarding the opponent’s best player, regardless of what position, at the start of games, so the coaching staff has confidence in him on that end of the floor.

If that would happen, who would be the odd man out in the rotation? As weird as it sounds, it could either be Smith or another veteran, Kyle Korver.

When Korver is hot, it is a thing of beauty. He can turn a game around by himself. However, his shooting is the extent of value. His defense should keep him off the floor in close games when stopping the opponent is important.

The reason the newcomers stand out is they are multi-dimensional. Players like Thompson, Smith, and Korver do one thing well, and that’s Lue dilemma, finding the right time to use them.

That’s what the last 22 games should be about, finding balance for the ten players in the rotation, so the lulls that occur within a game are minimal if they can’t be avoided.