Tristan Thompson signs with Celtics

The now former Cavs center has agreed to a deal with the Boston Celtics.

It was only a matter of time before Tristan Thompson was playing elsewhere. The time has come as the former Cleveland Cavaliers center has agreed to a deal with the Boston Celtics. Thompson’s agent Rich Paul informed Yahoo Sports Saturday evening. Thomspon reportedly had interest from the Raptors and Lakers prior to signing with the Celtics.

The deal is for two years and $19 million.

Tristan Thompson was an integral part of the Cavs organization for the past nine years. During his time in Cleveland Thompson averaged 9.4 points and 8.7 rebounds in 28.1 minutes per game. Thompson’s ability on the glass was the most valuable part of his game. The ability to keep possessions alive on offense while ending them on defense was a huge reason why Cleveland was able to win the 2016 NBA Finals.

There is going to come a time in the future when the Cavaliers need to decide whether or not they are going to retire the number 13 jersey worn by Tristan Thompson. Thompson is seventh in games played (619), eighth in minutes (17,372), second in offensive rebounds (2,115), fourth in defensive rebounds (3,278), third in total rebounds (5,393), sixth in blocks (447), and seventh in field goal percentage (51.8). These numbers are definitely high enough to warrant consideration of retiring his jersey. All of this is before the fact of mentioning that that the Cavs do not necessarily have the highest standards of retiring jersey numbers to begin with. There is a very real possibility that his jersey ends up in the rafters when it is all said and done.