Tristan Thompson‘s new contract with the Cavaliers is a one-year, minimum-salary deal that is guaranteed for just $200K, Hoops Rumors has learned. Thompson will earn his full $3.2MM salary if he remains under contract through at least January 7, though Cleveland’s cap hit for the season would be just $2.02MM, with the NBA covering the difference.
Here’s more
- It has been a roller coaster year for Pacers center Daniel Theis, who has battled injuries and seen his NBA role cut back but played a key role for Germany en route to a World Cup gold medal this summer. Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (subscriber link) takes a look at the up-and-down journey and considers what’s next for Theis, who is on a pseudo-expiring contract in 2023/24 — his deal includes a $9.5MM team option for ’24/25 that is unlikely to be exercised.
- One of the challenges facing new Pistons head coach Monty Williams will be how he uses big men Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, James Wiseman, and Marvin Bagley III. Keith Langlois of Pistons.com explores some frontcourt lineup options for Williams.
- Appearing on the 48 Minutes podcast, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said that he intends to travel to Houston to work out with Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon before the 2023/24 season begins, as Dalton Sell of Behind the Buck Pass relays.
Easy for me. You play them together. Duren can play both big spots. Wiseman is strictly a center. Stewart is more a 4 to me. It’s amazing how bigs are used and described today. We have generations growing up not knowing what a low post scorer is. Or what rim protection is all about. Or what and inside outside gm is all about. Imo these three guys are all going to be solid to very good bigs.
Still pissed Knicks traded away Duren. Worst move for this FO.
I was just harping in my final FIBA write up about how much players don’t know the basics like the old heads do.
AAU does not want to see that. It’s a battle ball anatuer model.
Every single time someone says Duren can play the four instead of the 5, it annoys me. He cannot. He has no outside shot, does not switch quickly, and is worse defensively out on the perimeter. All of his best defensive plays are as a rim protector, or in drop coverage. He’s also not even done growing, so concerns about his height are moot.
Also “but he has a midrange game!!!” No. He took *nineteen shots* outside of the short midrange last year. That’s it. Beyond 10 feet, any completed shots are just noise. Short jumper? That’s nice. But it’s also the minimum for a modern Center.
I see him as more of a Bam Adebayo, elite defender and rim runner but who can’t really score in other ways.
This is typical ignorant new gen 2k thinking.
Does Draymond have an outside shot?. Let’s say he’s defending Draymond, do you think perimeter defense is coming into play there?
He has enough of an outside shot that you can’t just flatly ignore him, which is all he needs. And no, because that’s one situation out of… hundreds? Thousands? Are you really attempting to refute my argument with one hypothetical scenario?
Also, it’s not like Duren’s a bad player, but this is a nineteen year old second year player who showed exceptional success in the role he was already in. Let him actually develop his game in the role he already plays instead of jerking him around in the name of versatility. If he puts effort into developing a jumper and proves my analysis wrong, great! But I see zero evidence that it’s a priority for him, or that he’s a better fit for PF than C going forward. Especially since Detroit is already committed to Stewart at PF in the short term.
Y’all are acting like any player under 7 feet can’t play Center long-term, which is the real 2K thinking…
Haha, what? Teams flatly ignore Draymond all the time and he still misses. I don’t think he’s ever shot a contested 3. Not to mention, Duren Only 19.
“And no, because that’s one situation out of… hundreds? Thousands?” Haha, last I knew, there are only 30 teams in the league, please show me the other 970. Wtf is wrong you?
Look at the NBA champs the Nuggets. Gordon is decent, but he ain’t all that.
Cleveland? How many 3s is Mobley draining?
Giannis? Teams ignore him from 3 all the time.
John Collins. Jaren Jackson.
Come on, at least pretend like you’ve actually watched basketball
Yes, because every team has one play for one player against one defender at all times, with no team play at all. Did you seriously think that’s what I meant? How many plays happen per game? How many interactions between multiple players? What kind of logic do you think that was?
Nowhere did I say anything about “contested”, but using Draymond for that is a bizarre take because his skill set is a unique one. He has enough 3pt shooting that the opposing team doesn’t expect him to air all every time, they instead take a calculated risk and know that letting him shoot is inherently less dangerous than opening up a lane for Curry or Klay. Because basketball is a team sport and 1v1 matters most in 2K.
Giannis is one of the most freakish athletes of all time, Gordon shot just a bit below league average from 3 last year and has a developed midrange game, John Collins got booted from the Hawks rotation, and Jaren Jackson shot league average from 3 on just under six attempts per game. And Mobley? He’s a year older than Duren while everyone everywhere expects him to end up at the 5 long term. Shocking that his 3-ball looked underdeveloped and bad in his second year… not. And he at least has a working midrange game, whereas Duren has 19 shots of development at the NBA level. Let him get more experience before you try moving him around like a 2K player.
None of what you said has any basis in reality.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
It’s cute you’re trying to justify you’re nonsense but let’s do some quick math based on your logic. Let’s pretend Duren defended every single player in the league. There are 30 times with a 14 man roster. That comes to….420. So again, thousands?!!!! Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Holy crap buddy, you just failing at every turn.
I’m not even going to waste time destroying your hypocritical nonsense. So I’m just gonna leave it at this. You have shown absolutely no understanding of basketball development, which means you either never played the game or are just complete trash at it. So go pick a basketball and don’t. Comeback here until you can hit 3 shots in a row.
Daniel Theis is a better basketball player than Brandon Ingram