For the first time in his NBA career, Tristan Thompson will be playing for a different team after signing a two-year, $19 million deal with the Boston Celtics. Thompson spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The 29-year-old big man is ready to help the Celtics next season, and he's already taking inspiration from the one of the team’s most beloved players and most intense competitors in Marcus Smart:
“You see it with Marcus Smart from Day 1,” Thompson said, per NBA analyst Keith Smith. ”He's a dog. He brings it at the guard position. That's what I do at the big position. I'm going to bring it every day. As Big Perk (Kendrick Perkins) would say ‘Bring that wood!' That's what I do.”
Thompson, the fourth overall pick by the Cavaliers in the 2011 NBA Draft, holds career averages of 9.4 points and 8.7 rebounds in his nine seasons in the league. He put up 12.0 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game on 51.2% shooting from the field in 57 games last season for Cleveland. He gives the Celtics an improved inside presence to better handle players like Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo, who torched them in the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
Smart, meanwhile, is not only known by Celtics fans as someone who plays hard, but is also one of the NBA’s best defenders. He was named to the All Defensive First Team in back-to-back seasons. In his sixth year in Boston, the 26-year-old averaged 12.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.7 steals while shooting 37.5% from the field and 34.7% from beyond the arc.
Thompson comparing himself to Smart will not only be appreciated by Boston fans, but also ensures that he will be a hard worker to help a Celtics team that is expected to have another deep playoff run.
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