The Cleveland Cavaliers are off to a slow start this season after losing in three of their first four games, creating speculation that the Cavs might eventually look for trades to shore up their roster.
According to Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors, Tristan Thompson, who failed to get the starting center spot this season, will likely be the odd man out when the Cavaliers look for trades before the deadline.
Myron said that while there are no signs that the Cavaliers are planning to part ways with Thompson, Cleveland will likely pull the trigger, considering the fact that they have already locked Anderson Varejao up for the next several years.
Varejao, who has spent his entire 11-year career in Cleveland, recently signed a three-year contract extension worth $30 million. Myron believes that the extension is a sign that there would be no room for Thompson moving forward.
Thompson, who is averaging 10.0 points to go along with 7.0 rebounds per game this season, failed to reach a contract extension with the Cavaliers, which means that he will become a restricted free agent next summer.
And instead of running risk of losing him for nothing next summer, Myron believes that the Cavaliers will likely use Thompson as a trade bait before the deadline in February.
Cleveland could just let go of Thompson as well, which will put them in a good position to make a run at a marquee free agent next summer or in 2016 when the salary cap increases significantly due to the new television deal.
And in the event the Cavaliers decide to shop Thompson, they might look to strike a deal with either the Milwaukee Bucks or the Sacramento Kings by packaging the 23-year-old forward with the $5 million trade exception they got from the Keith Bogans trade for another big man.
"John Henson isn't getting minutes in Milwaukee so far this season, which has been surprising, and he'd fit into that Bogans exception," Myron wrote. "Maybe another one of their bigs, like Ersan Ilyasova or Larry Sanders, if Cleveland's looking at a more large-scale deal. Carl Landry and Jason Thompson don't seem to fit in Sacramento."
