Tristan Thompson may not be a household name but he will be a solid depth player in deeper fantasy leagues this coming season.
Analysis: When I watch Tristan Thompson play I see Tyrus Thomas meets a poor man’s Josh Smith. Thompson filled up that stat sheet quite nicely his only year in college- 13 PPG, 8 RPG, 2.4 BPG and .9 SPG. If Thompson can find at least twenty-four minutes per game he will be fantasy relevant from a rebounding, field goal percentage and blocks perspective. It appears playing time may not be that big of an issue considering JJ Hickson is not a true center although he averaged 17 points and 11 boards in his final thirty games last year. It seems like Hickson will be traded at some point this off season. Although Thompson isn’t a polished scorer he will provide enough in the other categories to compensate, however, Thompson’s biggest weakness is the 48% he shot from the stripe with Texas last year. He did get to the line quite often at Texas so that may be the reason one would not draft Thompson in deeper leagues.
Projection: We’re going to need to see more from Thompson in the preseason but for now he remains a deep league sleeper. He’s capable of seven boards and one and a half blocks per game in limited minutes. If his free throw percentage can make it into the sixty percent range in the preseason you may have more incentive to draft the versatile power forward.