2. Tristan Thompson, Power Forward
The entirety of the career of the talented former Texas Longhorns big man, currently with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tristan Thompson was spent with the same team. The Cavaliers are still trying to make a frontcourt work with two bigs that seemingly clash on a consistent basis. The playing style of Thompson and the former Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond isn’t working out too well yet.
But throughout his run with the Cavaliers to date, Thompson did find a good bit of success in his per game stats. The 6-foot-10 and 240 pound Toronto, ON, native was the fourth overall pick of the Cavaliers in the 2011 NBA Draft. He’s averaged 9.4 points per game, 8.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.7 blocks in his regular season career to date.
And much like the career series between Young and Butler, the regular season matchups are pretty lopsided in favor of the former Bull, but the playoffs go to the Cavs big man. Thompson holds a record of 4-2 over Butler in the playoffs. But Butler holds the edge over Thompson in the regular season with a record of 18-5.
In the regular season, Butler averaged 15.8 points per game, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.6 blocks. Meanwhile, Thompson averaged 8.3 points per game, 8.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.5 blocks. Although, Butler was a lights out shooter against Thompson in the regular season. He shot 48.0 percent from the field, 47.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 82.0 percent from the free-throw line in those 23 tries against Thompson.