BASKETBALL — 25 July 2012
This will be Tristan Thompson’s second season in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers and he’s ready to step it up a notch.
“I think I need to take a bigger leadership role,” Thompson said Tuesday while in Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League. “With Kyrie and myself coming in here we’ve got a lot of young guys so we’re almost like the veterans.
“We’ve got to come in here and show them the ropes, show them right from wrong, really build chemistry.”
Thompson became the highest-ever Canadian draft pick when he was selected #4 by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The 21-year-old from Brampton, Ont., averaged 8.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in his rookie season after taking over as the starting forward when Anderson Varejao broke his wrist.
“I think this year’s schedule is something that a lot of rookies didn’t expect,” Thompson said. “The rest time was to a minimum, I didn’t expect that … We all came from great colleges and played under great coaches so basketball-wise, I don’t think it was that different.”

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