Tristan Thompson or Daniel Theis?

[NKY fan]

I didn't really watch much of Thompson in Cleveland, but how was he a double, double guy? Did he ever have an offensive game, or was it all put backs? I mean, seriously, i don't remember seeing an NBA player with a worse offensive game. He has no moves, and tends to miss a large amount of short hooks, if that's what that is he's shooting.

I also don't see how he's going to match up with a guy like Bam. He doesn't impress me on on the defensive side of the ball either, and he is certainly not a rim protector.

He does appear to be a good rebounder however. Sets a decent screen.

All in all, I wish they had kept Kanter. Great rebounder, decent passer, and wasn't actually any worse on the defensive end, as far as I can see.

Danny had a very underwhelming off season. He blew most of his moves. I also can’t quite get why was there a need to move Kanter

[wdleehi]

I didn't really watch much of Thompson in Cleveland, but how was he a double, double guy? Did he ever have an offensive game, or was it all put backs? I mean, seriously, i don't remember seeing an NBA player with a worse offensive game. He has no moves, and tends to miss a large amount of short hooks, if that's what that is he's shooting.

I also don't see how he's going to match up with a guy like Bam. He doesn't impress me on on the defensive side of the ball either, and he is certainly not a rim protector.

He does appear to be a good rebounder however. Sets a decent screen.

All in all, I wish they had kept Kanter. Great rebounder, decent passer, and wasn't actually any worse on the defensive end, as far as I can see.

Danny had a very underwhelming off season. He blew most of his moves. I also can’t quite get why was there a need to move Kanter

Kanter was moved because he is unplayable against to many of the other top teams in the East that Boston would likely run into.   



I want to see Thompson get more of a run with Kemba and let some chemistry build.   

[NKY fan]

I didn't really watch much of Thompson in Cleveland, but how was he a double, double guy? Did he ever have an offensive game, or was it all put backs? I mean, seriously, i don't remember seeing an NBA player with a worse offensive game. He has no moves, and tends to miss a large amount of short hooks, if that's what that is he's shooting.

I also don't see how he's going to match up with a guy like Bam. He doesn't impress me on on the defensive side of the ball either, and he is certainly not a rim protector.

He does appear to be a good rebounder however. Sets a decent screen.

All in all, I wish they had kept Kanter. Great rebounder, decent passer, and wasn't actually any worse on the defensive end, as far as I can see.

Danny had a very underwhelming off season. He blew most of his moves. I also can’t quite get why was there a need to move Kanter

Kanter was moved because he is unplayable against to many of the other top teams in the East that Boston would likely run into.   



I want to see Thompson get more of a run with Kemba and let some chemistry build.

Well yea keep Kanter for he embiids of the league and give more minutes to time lord . Isn’t that what most people on here want ?

[Somebody]

I didn't really watch much of Thompson in Cleveland, but how was he a double, double guy? Did he ever have an offensive game, or was it all put backs? I mean, seriously, i don't remember seeing an NBA player with a worse offensive game. He has no moves, and tends to miss a large amount of short hooks, if that's what that is he's shooting.

I also don't see how he's going to match up with a guy like Bam. He doesn't impress me on on the defensive side of the ball either, and he is certainly not a rim protector.

He does appear to be a good rebounder however. Sets a decent screen.

All in all, I wish they had kept Kanter. Great rebounder, decent passer, and wasn't actually any worse on the defensive end, as far as I can see.

He actually had some pop in the mid 2010s - he was a pretty good lob finisher who could put the ball on the floor a bit (he used that handle in the 2016 finals to have some pretty good games against the traditional 7 footers GSW would put out there at the start of games).

[Somebody]

TT is at least our best rebounder. If he just focuses on that he's a positive effect

Agree. Rebounding,  toughness defense. Scal and Mike were saying his game fits in beautifully with the team because he is content doing the dirty work.

People are forgetting too how badly Theis was abused by Bam in the ECF last year. Tristan will not get knocked around like that.

I like Theis BTW. If he keeps his head in the game he is quite good. But just a week ago half the blog wanted to trade him, and now he's a world beater. Lol

To be fair, I started this thread about a week ago and the results are in favor of Theis: 31-9, so definitely not half. And I'd bet several of those 9 are in favor of keeping both.

Anyway, no question at this point. Theis is so much more versatile, is younger, more athletic, and can spread the floor. I highly doubt he is going to be getting $15M+/yr offer next season - it is essential that we keep him regardless of what the rest of our C rotation looks like.

You mention Bam not knocking around Thompson like he did with Theis, but I provided stats above from the PHI match-ups where Embiid absolutely destroyed TT. I realize they are different players, but I was at least hoping TT would be able to hold Embiid at his season averages - especially since he is an absolute zero on offense.

I thought TT guarded Embiid pretty well when Embiid wasn't selling contact on a parade to the free throw line - Embiid just hit a lot of tough shots to go along with his insane number of FTs that I'm pretty sure is unsustainable in a 7 game series (he did go off on us last playoffs, but I'm willing to bet that he'll regress to the mean this postseason on a larger sample size).

[Moranis]

Thompson's FG is off slightly, but he is otherwise the same player he has been for the last few years.  This is who he is i.e. a good to great rebounder that is basically average at best at everything else on the floor.  Also a guy that doesn't always give maximum effort, though generally plays hard.  There is a reason the Cavs were fine letting him walk for a 2 year, MLE contract and why he didn't get much interest elsewhere. 

[Indocelts]

I think Thompson does not finish well around the basket on offense. Too many times I saw him miss some close range shots, the ones average centers normally do. Theiss is much better in this category.

Theiss should focus his energy on the game itself rather than yapping and complaining to the refs. I think the refs are somewhat annoyed by his constant criticism, and he often failed to get back on defense in the process.

[jambr380]

I think Thompson does not finish well around the basket on offense. Too many times I saw him miss some close range shots, the ones average centers normally do. Theiss is much better in this category.

Theiss should focus his energy on the game itself rather than yapping and complaining to the refs. I think the refs are somewhat annoyed by his constant criticism, and he often failed to get back on defense in the process.

I get the criticisms on Kanter, but I was in love with his offensive put-backs. He just saved so many possessions by getting a free 2 off of a miss - it was automatic. Like, did he ever miss when he grabbed an offensive board? He most certainly never passed it back out lol. And while he was unplayable against Bam, he most definitely was better than TT against Embiid.

[Vermont Green]

Thompson, who signed a two-year, $19 million contract with Boston this offseason after spending the first eight years of his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, hasn't played in a competitive game since March, as Cleveland was one of the eight teams that failed to qualify for the NBA's bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

That layoff only further complicates Thompson's ramping up of his activity, Stevens said, after he hurt his hamstring in the lead-up to the start of training camp.

"He hasn't played in a long time," Stevens said. "He didn't play in the bubble, so there will be a ramp-up period for him whenever he is able to go live in practice, and I'm assuming it won't be just one of those situations where you're available one day and you get a good practice in and you can play. I think it'll be a little more than that.

Thompson has been somewhat disappointing so far.  I remember him as being better than what he has shown so far with the Celtics.  I don't want to discount the injury at the start of the season though.  Hadn't played since March, got injured when he restarted training, got a late start with the Celtics, and less opportunity overall for any practice, preseason or otherwise.

He is only 29 but this is his 10th NBA season (the article says 8 seasons with CLE but I count 9).  He is playing like someone who is not in shape, not fully tuned.  He was never viewed as highly skilled but he was better than this.  I am hoping there is improvement with better conditioning and with more time with the team, but I am a hopeful guy.

[Goldstar88]

Kanter is averaging a double double in 20mpg. Should have Kept him over Thompson. His PER is 25.76, 10th in the league. By comparison Thompson is an 11.31 and Theis is 17.65. Theis has been looking better of Late, but we don’t have a legitimate C, which is problematic.

[Evantime34]

Kanter is averaging a double double in 20mpg. Should have Kept him over Thompson. His PER is 25.76, 10th in the league. By comparison Thompson is an 11.31 and Theis is 17.65. Theis has been looking better of Late, but we don’t have a legitimate C, which is problematic.

I can't stand guys that get cooked in the pick and roll. Thompson hasn't been that good this year but his defense is worlds better than Kanter.

I'm happy that I'll never have to watch Kanter defend in a Celtics uniform again.

[gouki88]

Kanter is averaging a double double in 20mpg. Should have Kept him over Thompson. His PER is 25.76, 10th in the league. By comparison Thompson is an 11.31 and Theis is 17.65. Theis has been looking better of Late, but we don’t have a legitimate C, which is problematic.

Hahaha. Grass is always greener isn’t it? Kanter is a woeful defender who Brad doesn’t play.

[Vermont Green]

Kanter is averaging a double double in 20mpg. Should have Kept him over Thompson. His PER is 25.76, 10th in the league. By comparison Thompson is an 11.31 and Theis is 17.65. Theis has been looking better of Late, but we don’t have a legitimate C, which is problematic.

Hahaha. Grass is always greener isn’t it? Kanter is a woeful defender who Brad doesn’t play.

Yeah, Kanter was kind of Fools Gold.  When you look at his numbers, you get one impression, when you see him play on your team, it is something different.  Kanter was not good, even compared to our woeful group of bigs.

[Goldstar88]

Kanter is averaging a double double in 20mpg. Should have Kept him over Thompson. His PER is 25.76, 10th in the league. By comparison Thompson is an 11.31 and Theis is 17.65. Theis has been looking better of Late, but we don’t have a legitimate C, which is problematic.

Hahaha. Grass is always greener isn’t it? Kanter is a woeful defender who Brad doesn’t play.

Honestly, I thought Kanter did a much better job guarding Embiid than either Thompson or Theis. Least he held his own. Thompson/Theis got abused.

[gouki88]

Kanter is averaging a double double in 20mpg. Should have Kept him over Thompson. His PER is 25.76, 10th in the league. By comparison Thompson is an 11.31 and Theis is 17.65. Theis has been looking better of Late, but we don’t have a legitimate C, which is problematic.

Hahaha. Grass is always greener isn’t it? Kanter is a woeful defender who Brad doesn’t play.

Honestly, I thought Kanter did a much better job guarding Embiid than either Thompson or Theis. Least he held his own. Thompson/Theis got abused.

That was as much a result of Brett Brown's terrible coaching as it was Kanter's defence. The only thing Kanter could do was hold his ground - helpful while the Philly offence stagnated around Embiid trying to back him down, but with a better coach I don't think he'd be as effective.