Tristan Thompson: ‘I’m going to go for Sixth Man of the Year’

“Tristan [Thompson] has been a big part of what we do. I hated having that conversation, but it was great,” [Cavaliers Head Coach Tyronn] Lue said. “He was phenomenal. That’s what it’s all about. You hate having those conversations, but he was great. He was like, ‘Man, whatever you need me to do, Coach. I’ll just go for Sixth Man of the Year. I understand what’s going on.’ … When you have those talks, usually they don’t go that good. But he was great about it.”

Thompson finished 10th in Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2015-16, when he played 48 of 82 games off the bench at center behind Timofey Mozgov. He became a starter for the entirety of Cleveland’s championship run through the 2016 playoffs.

“I’m going to go for Sixth Man of the Year, put myself in position to do that,” Thompson said after the scrimmage. “Just play hard, though. I’m not going to look too much into it, but if you’re going to come off the bench, might as well have a little goal — and I feel like with the second unit we have and the energy that I bring off the bench, I’ll put myself in pretty good position. Especially when you win.”

Source: Dave McMenamin of ESPN