The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t follow a league-wide trend this season.
While most teams in the league have closed the door on veteran players, they’ve embraced Tristan Thompson.
That’s why, even though it’s been years since the last time he was a factor on the court, team insider Chris Fedor believes the team needs to bring him back:
“The thing that you know about Tristan is that he fits this team, that he fits behind the scenes, that he can be a big brother to Darius Garland,” Fedor concluded. “Unless there’s somebody that you clearly believe is a basketball related upgrade … then I think you lean on the intangible things.”
For most of NBA history, teams have always had a couple of older veterans there.
Even when they didn’t play, they were there to mentor young players, teach them the ropes of the NBA lifestyle on and off the court, and just take them under their wings.
They were also there to provide some much-needed postseason experience.
That’s what Tristan Thompson is there for.
Veterans are a dying breed in today’s basketball, and the league wants to get younger by the year, even if they don’t play all the players on the roster.
Thompson won’t give the team productive minutes, or at least not every night.
He’s no longer the dominant rebounding force he was in his heyday, and he’s not going to be a factor on offense.
Even so, every team needs veteran leaders, and the Cavs admittedly lacked toughness and experience this season.
If the money is right, they should look to keep him around for longer.
And if he doesn’t want to keep playing or the team feels like they could give his roster spot to someone else, perhaps they can convince him to join Kenny Atkinson’s coaching staff.
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