On the final day of the regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers signed veteran big man Tristan Thompson for the remainder of the season and the playoffs. It came after they had worked out a number of free agent centers and following the clamoring of fans for some added depth at the 5.
Thompson barely played for L.A, but head coach Darvin Ham threw him onto the court for Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, and he played some active defense while getting a couple of easy dunks.
At age 32, he could still have something left in the tank in a reserve role, and he may be a good option as far as an inexpensive backup center for the Lakers.
During his exit interview, Thompson said he would love to be with the Purple and Gold next season (at 4:14).
“Yeah I mean I’d love to come back,” Thompson said. “I’d love to be here for training camp. Love to be part of what we’re building here. It’s definitely a role that I embrace. At the end of the day I’m all about winning and Dave you’ve covered me for some time and you’ve been around me and you know my whole thing is about winning. Winning’s number one. Winning trumps everything. So I’m about winning and however, I can help a team whether it’s on the sidelines, whether it’s in the stay ready runs, whether it’s being in the game.
“I’m two feet in for whatever the team needs. So hopefully I’m able to do that again for this team next year because I really loved being here and love what they’re building. So hopefully we can get something done.”
Thompson is only 6-foot-9, but he weighs over 250 pounds and has the experience to provide some serviceable minutes. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that he played with LeBron James several seasons ago on the Cleveland Cavaliers and won an NBA championship with him.
