Tristan Thompson

[Gimme Some Mo]

He hasn't looked good so far.

And Brandon Knight's ceiling is Jason Terry, not his floor.

I disagree. Knight averaged 13 & 4 last year. Terry's career average is 16 & 4.6. Not too far off already. He also shot 38% from 3 which is terrys career average as well. Knight also has great defensive potential where terry has never been good in that area. I'd trade TT for Knight right now without thinking twice.

[RchfldCavRaised]

I disagree. Knight averaged 13 & 4 last year. Terry's career average is 16 & 4.6. Not too far off already. He also shot 38% from 3 which is terrys career average as well. Knight also has great defensive potential where terry has never been good in that area. I'd trade TT for Knight right now without thinking twice.

Knight, Vesely, Valanciaunus, Faried, Klay Thompson, BIYOMBO easily without thinking twice, and Id even throw in a second since Grant thinks they have no value

And either Morris twin STILL to this day, Id trade Thompson for.

Dont get me started on the 12 draft. He'd have been a early 20's pick easily

[Numbers Guy]

Biyombo is trash.. never get why his name gets brought up. And Jan Vesely?? Come on now. Morris twins are soft. Knight is not an option.. we'll have to get rid of him before he's up for an extension. Faried is undersized.. but I do like his game.. I wouldn't make that trade without thinking twice.. but I would consider it.

I would trade him for JV, Thompson, or Leonard, though.

But really... Jan Vesely??

[KCOTT]

it drives me insane how often his fucking shot gets blocked

[apolo29]

it drives me insane how often his fucking shot gets blocked

YES. I don't really understand why that is, though, care to explain?

[Triumph36]

Knight, Vesely, Valanciaunus, Faried, Klay Thompson, BIYOMBO easily without thinking twice, and Id even throw in a second since Grant thinks they have no value

And either Morris twin STILL to this day, Id trade Thompson for.

Dont get me started on the 12 draft. He'd have been a early 20's pick easily

the fact that this is already being discussed is really disheartening.

edit: want to add that wasn't a criticism, i (mostly) agree. but with the significance of the pick, to have so much second-guessing this early is...not good. that ben happened to choose that question for that poll is not good either.

[ArchieBunker7]

TT's biggest problem right now is he basically negates his athleticism with terrible instincts on how/when to use it. His timing is terrible, his mechanics are awful, and his third eye is basically blind. Just watching Braxton Miller yesterday, the kid is amazing in the way he applies his athletic ability. He has tremendous instinct for what to do with what his surroundings give him. He had one play late in the game that typifies his third eye awareness, where he was about to get blindsided, but his pocket awareness allowed him to dodge the sack without appearing to have ever seen the guy. He felt the rush. It was wonderful to watch.

I realize TT is not the athlete Miller is, but the point remains that TT needs to feel his surroundings better. I'm just nervous that may not be possible. It seems like something some people just have in them. It's similar to reading where a ball is going to come off the rim before it ever gets there. You either have good anticipation or you don't. I believe that's what seperates average rebounders from great ones. It's part of what makes Andy one of the league's best whilst not being anywhere near the top echelon athletically. It really typifies why the most athletically gifted people aren't always the best players. I'm hoping TT will show he has some of this awareness to his game, but each game I fail to see it make me more and more nervous this kid may never get it.

[Jon]

Well, lesse ... compared to last season: PPG up, TOV down, STL up, AST way up, FT% up, FG% up. The kid actually is making progress - and he would have been entering his junior year if he stayed at Texas. The only thing odd is Tristan hasn't blocked a shot yet this season.

["Boobie" Gibson]

Are you basing this on a sample size of 3 games? That's pretty weak, isn't it?

Weak, sure. But it's all we have to go off of at this point.

I agree that it is odd he has yet to block a shot. I thought that would be one of his biggest strengths, to be honest.

["Boobie" Gibson]

What's that quote about lies and statistics?

In his first 3 games last season he shot .588 fg%, ,667 ft% and had 1,3 blocks per game, in little over 19 minutes per game.

If you are insisting on taking the small sample size to measure his development, why measure it against the whole of last season? Why not against the last month?

In April, TT averaged 9.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 0.7 apg, 0.9 bpg, 0.7 spg with 1.5 to's. He shot .449 fg% and .625 ft%.

These 3 games, he averaged 9.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 0.0 bpg, 0.7 spg with 1.0 to's. He shot .474 fg% and .643 ft%.

So based off that... he's improved in assists (which is skewed because of his 5 in the first game) and regressed in blocking shots.

I'm only concerned with his shot blocking right now. I was hoping he'd have a few a game, at least.

[IWantAKouki]

He did block at least one shot this season, in the opening game, he swatted one off the glass...

[CalBuckeyeRob]

So based off that... he's improved in assists (which is skewed because of his 5 in the first game) and regressed in blocking shots.

I'm only concerned with his shot blocking right now. I was hoping he'd have a few a game, at least.

While he averaged 1 blocked shot a game last season he had no blocked shots in 31 games. Going 3 games without a blocked shot is just within the random variation of events based on last season. Revisit this issue in about 15 games and you will have a much better read on it as you will with all of his stats.

[Frank Reynolds]

If anyone needs to come off the bench, it's Tristan. Zeller needs to start alongside of Anderson. Andy and Tyler are different enough players that they can co-exist. Anderson is just balling so hard right now that Thompson is Mr. Invisible.

It's really not fair to be evaluating Tristan after only 3 games into the season. RCF already has a poll asking if he's improved as a player, get the fuck out of here with that shit, that is simply not fair to do.

Typical Cleveland shit, just like after week one of the Browns game with Brandon Weeden's performance. Fire the coach, fire the gm, trade Weeden for a 6 pack of Schlitz. Now what are we all saying. "Hmm maybe we have a player here"

Give the dude some time. A RAW big-man is not going to come out like Hakeem in year 2 I have predicted multiple times that Thompson doesn't "get-it" until year 4 minimum. People's concerns about his court awareness and bodily awareness are valid concerns, but to call him a waste of a pick after 3 games of the season, playing next to Anderson "the Brazilian Rodman" Varejao is going to hinder Thompson's game.

I say bring TT off the bench, play him and Samardo together, scrap Walton for Casspi and say some Hail Marys because our bench makes people cringe.

[CPK]

Hail Marys will not help with Casspi. Just saying.

I see what you did there...

[Douglar]

I have predicted multiple times that Thompson doesn't "get-it" until year 4 minimum.

That sounds about right to me. Thompson's a long term project and projects take years. That's why it's important to get project players that have a good attitude and work ethic. You need a project that stays focused on the gym and the game instead of late night parties with paid ladies and nearly eating himself out the league like Diop did.