NBA: Assessing what remains of the buyout market

Tristan Thompson, Cleveland Cavaliers 

I don’t know for a fact that Thompson wants to be bought out, nor do I know anything about his desire to play for a contending team for the remainder of this season. But we can make an educated guess.

This already disastrous Cavs season took a turn for the worse recently, as John Beilein stepped down. The team also brought in Andre Drummond a few weeks ago and he now occupies Thompson’s spot in the starting lineup.

Thompson is different from a lot of potential buyout guys, in that he’s already reached the pinnacle of the sport, winning an NBA title back in 2016. He may be content to play out the year before cashing in during free agency in the summer. Alternatively, he could seriously impact the playoff race if he signed on with any number of teams in need of a bruising big with valuable playoff experience.

He’s actually posting career highs in both points (12.1) and rebounds (10.3) this season, and the eye test suggests that he’s much more spry and active than he was during the last two injury-riddled campaigns. Some of those gains can be attributed to an expanded offensive role on a team desperately looking for people who can consistently put the ball through the hoop.

But we’ve already witnessed Thompson’s usefulness on a more successful, championship-caliber team. He spent four years as LeBron’s primary screen-setter and roll man, often turning well-timed, pinpoint passes into easy dunks and layups.

The Rockets would definitely benefit from Thompson’s presence, but he would disrupt their small-ball dreams of trotting out lineups where no player exceeds 6-foot-8. The Rockets just sent an objectively better version of Thompson packing, in Clint Capela, which makes me think that they’re just out on the center position altogether.

The Celtics are another team that could use Thompson’s services. Many of their most effective lineups feature a lead guard and three wings spaced around the perimeter, with almost everyone on the floor able to threaten the opposition from long-range. The Cavs used a similar lineup construction to win it all four years ago when LeBron-Thompson pick and rolls were surrounded by Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, and Kevin Love, three high-level 3-point threats.

As a Cavs fan, I’m not rooting for this outcome, however, the partnership could be mutually beneficial, as it would give the Celtics get a rock-solid big man and Thompson a chance to return to the playoffs.