Former Celtic, NBA Champion Signs with Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are bringing back a core member of their 2016 title team.

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After acquiring Donovan Mitchell last offseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers surged to a 51-31 record in the regular season, finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference.

However, their offense struggled in the playoffs, as the New York Knicks held them under 100 points in four of five matchups in their opening-round series, including limiting Cleveland to 79 in Game 3.

As the Cavaliers aim to address what undermined them in their 4-1 series defeat to New York, they've added Max Strus from the Miami Heat and Georges Niang from the Philadelphia 76ers, hoping their proficiency from beyond the arc will help propel the franchise to more postseason success than they experienced in 2023.

As Cleveland continues tinkering with its roster before training camp arrives, the Cavaliers have brought back a familiar face, reportedly signing Tristan Thompson, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.

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For the former Texas Longhorn, it's a return to the organization that drafted him fourth overall in 2011. Five years later, Thompson helped the franchise capture its only championship. He was also a member of the LeBron James-led core that made four trips to the NBA Finals.

After nine seasons with the Cavaliers, the Toronto, Ontario, native appeared in 54 games with the Celtics during the 2020-21 campaign. Boston then traded him to the Kings in July of 2021.

The Los Angeles Lakers added Thompson at the end of last season to give them more depth upfront in the playoffs.

While he only averaged 5.3 minutes in six appearances, his physicality against Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and his four points in 9:41 provided a needed jolt of energy for the purple and gold as they tried to avoid a sweep at the hands of the eventual NBA champions.

Now Thompson returns to Cleveland, where he will fill a similar role while working closely with burgeoning star Evan Mobley.

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