HoopsHype.com Rumors

Privately, the Cleveland front office has pitched a fantasy of trading young players and picks to Portland for All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge, sources said. Only, that's never going to happen. Cleveland is far higher on its two top- five picks, Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters, than the rest of the NBA. Yahoo! Sports

Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers, Trade, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters 

Mary Schmitt Boyer/Jodie Valade: Tristan Thompson, speaking about Byron Scott, became choked up at one point, had to pause and regroup. Said Byron made him better man. #Cavs Twitter @PDcavsinsider

Cleveland Cavaliers, Byron Scott, Coaching, Tristan Thompson 

With just one game left in the regular season, Tristan Thompson's pursuit of NBA history is now a long shot. That doesn't trouble the Cleveland Cavaliers power forward. He was closing in on a rather dubious distinction: becoming the most-rejected player in NBA history. For most of the season, nearly 17%, or one in six, of Thompson's shots had been blocked. That's well above the 6.3%, or about one of 16, average for the league, according to NBA.com's statistical website, and it threatened Danny Fortson's 16.7% rejection rate in 1997-98, which is the highest for anyone who has attempted at least 500 field goals in a season since 1997, the earliest for which NBA.com has data. Wall Street Journal

Cleveland Cavaliers, Tristan Thompson 

But after working with a former player that the Cavaliers brought in to help him get stuffed less often, Thompson appears safe from the record. Entering Monday's game, his blocked-shot rate stood at 15.3%. He's now battling Charlotte's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who gets 15.7% of his shots blocked, for the regular-season crown. That's still high. Before this season, only three players who attempted at least 500 field-goals in a season had blocked-shots rates above 15%. "There's no need to be embarrassed," said Thompson, a 6-foot-9, 240-pounder who was the fourth overall pick out of Texas in the 2011 draft. Wall Street Journal

Cleveland Cavaliers, Tristan Thompson 

Q: Any thoughts on who will win the Final Four? Tristan Thompson: I'm going to go with Wichita State. I hope Wichita State wins, because we've got two Canadians on the team. (Nick Wiggins and Chadrack Lufile.) The Shockers. If not, Louisville. Q: Did you see Louisville's Kevin Ware break his leg, and what did you think when that happened? A: We were in the locker room when the game was on, so we saw it happen. Our reaction was what everyone else thinks. Some of us turned. You don't want to look at it. You're just praying for the kid. I actually know the kid. In high school, Adidas would run these basketball clinics and he was there. He played for the Atlanta Celtics. Cleveland Plain Dealer

Cleveland Cavaliers, NCAA, Tristan Thompson, Kevin Ware 

But one day after Cleveland was embarrassed at home by Brooklyn for its 10th straight loss, second-year Cavs forward Tristan Thompson decided it was time to defend Scott, who is just 62-160 in three seasons and may not be back for a fourth. "All the rumors about Coach Scott and hot seat and all that crap, that's bogus," Thompson said following Thursday's practice. "It's up to us to come out and compete and play hard because we're the ones out there. When he was out there playing, he won championships. So it's up to us to come out there and play." ESPN.com

Cleveland Cavaliers, Byron Scott, Coaching, Tristan Thompson 

Jason Lloyd: #Cavs Tristan Thompson one of 7 finalists for PBWA's J. Walter Kennedy award, which honors outstanding service & dedication to community Twitter @JasonLloydABJ

Cleveland Cavaliers, Tristan Thompson 

Rosters set for Rising Stars Team Shaq: Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving, Andre Drummond, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Chandler Parsons, Dion Waiters, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Tyler Zeller, Kemba Walker. Team Chuck: Anthony Davis, Kenneth Faried, Kawhi Leonard, Bradley Beal, Ricky Rubio, Tristan Thompson, Nikola Vucevic, Brandon Knight, Isaiah Thomas, Alexy Shved. Sulia

Ricky Rubio, Harrison Barnes, Kemba Walker, Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas, Klay Thompson, Nikola Vucevic, Kenneth Faried, Anthony Davis, Tristan Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Tyler Zeller, Bradley Beal, Brandon Knight, Chandler Parsons, Andre Drummond, Damian Lillard, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Dion Waiters, All Star Game 

The BBVA Rising Stars Challenge -- televised live nationally on TNT at 9 p.m. ET and broadcast live on ESPN Radio, with live audio also available on NBA.com in multiple languages -- features two teams each consisting of nine rookies and sophomores mixed together, drafted from a pool selected by the NBA's assistant coaches. Joining Irving from the Sophomore class are: Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets), Brandon Knight (Detroit Pistons), Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs), Chandler Parsons (Houston Rockets), Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors), Tristan Thompson (Cleveland Cavaliers), Nikola Vucevic (Orlando Magic), and Kemba Walker (Charlotte Bobcats). Davis and Lillard lead a group of rookies that includes Harrison Barnes (Warriors) Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Bobcats), Alexey Shved (Minnesota Timberwolves), Dion Waiters (Cavaliers), and Tyler Zeller (Cavaliers). Oregonian

Harrison Barnes, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Nikola Vucevic, Kenneth Faried, Tristan Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Tyler Zeller, Bradley Beal, Brandon Knight, Chandler Parsons, Andre Drummond, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Dion Waiters, Alexey Shved, All Star Game 

But please don't think all the Cavs are doing is Waiting For LeBron. Those reports about how they have "no contracts" on the books for the 2014 -15 season are silly. Consider these players and salaries: Kyrie Irving ($7.1 million), Tristan Thompson ($5.1 million), Dion Waiters ($4.1 million) and Tyler Zeller ($1.7 million). All are team options -- and you can assume the Cavs will pick up all of those deals. Anderson Varejao has a $9.78 million contract for 2014-15, with $2.5 million guaranteed. Cleveland Plain Dealer

Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Free Agency, LeBron James, Anderson Varejao, Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Tyler Zeller, Dion Waiters 

According to the website 82games.com, Thompson's shot is blocked 22 percent of the time when he throws the ball at the rim. Further, Thompson's attempts when "close" to the basket -- in essence, not a dunk but not a jumper -- is a staggering 37 percent. By comparison, Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao is blocked 4 percent of the time, overall, and 10 percent when he attempts a "close" shot. Enter the solution: Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Byron Scott brought in the former Cavaliers big man and current assistant to the general manager Thursday to teach Thompson a thing or two about how to avoid being blocked. Ilgauskas was strolling the Cavaliers practice facility in street clothes Thursday. The main thing Thompson needs to work on, Scott said, is making quicker decisions -- and moves. Cleveland Plain Dealer

Cleveland Cavaliers, Byron Scott, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Tristan Thompson 

"A lot of times [when] he gets it, he puts it on the floor and he's trying to gather," Scott said. "By the time you do all that, you've got two bigs or three guys surrounding you, and they're just trying to push him under the basket even farther. Now he's going up, and most of the time, it's against somebody who is 6-11 or 7 foot, so he's at a disadvantage." The 6-9 Thompson might be smaller than the 7-3 Ilgauskas, but the Lithuanian still has some tricks to teach. In Ilgauskas' final season in the NBA, with Miami, he was blocked 4 percent of the time and 15 percent of his "close" shots. " 'Z' has shown him some things I think can be really good for him. It's just a matter of him implementing it to be a little more effective," Scott said. "I think he has that in him. It's just a matter of continuing to do it." Cleveland Plain Dealer

Cleveland Cavaliers, Byron Scott, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Tristan Thompson 

Cleveland power forward Tristan Thompson told me that fellow Canadian prep sensation Andrew Wiggins could be the second coming of Scottie Pippen. Thompson said he didn’t know where Wiggins would attend college, although the scuttlebutt has him headed to Kentucky. Racine Journal-Times

Cleveland Cavaliers, Draft, Scottie Pippen, Tristan Thompson, Andrew Wiggins 

“Andy is a horse, man. He might win the Kentucky Derby by himself. I might have to saddle up and try and ride him to victory. That’s how strong of a leader he is.” – Cavaliers’ forward Tristan Thompson after Anderson Varejao had a career best 23 rebounds (12 offensive) plus 9 points and 9 assists in Cleveland’s opening night victory. NBCSports.com

Cleveland Cavaliers, Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson 

The Cleveland Cavaliers have exercised the third-year contract options on guard Kyrie Irving and forward/center Tristan Thompson, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. “Kyrie and Tristan exemplify what we want to be as a team and franchise, both as players and as people,” said Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant. “They are dedicated, hard-working, talented individuals and we’re looking forward to their continued growth and success here in Cleveland as Cavaliers.” NBA.com

Cleveland Cavaliers, Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson 

The question now is whether he’ll get markedly better in his sophomore campaign. Bets are on that he will, and considering how hard he worked in the offseason, it’s hard to imagine him not experiencing some measure of improvement. “The summer is what makes you in terms of the NBA,” Thompson said. “This summer I wanted to put in a lot of time getting stronger and continuing to work on my craft, especially in the post. Big men really only need two or three shots—the hook shot left and right, the turn-and-face and a counter. I worked on that all summer, and I’m going to be doing it in the game.” HoopsWorld

Cleveland Cavaliers, Tristan Thompson 

This whole thing involving LeBron James' agent is a mess. Cavs forward Tristan Thompson told reporters today he paid for Texas guard Myck Kabongo's flight to Cleveland for a workout -- but that Thompson was reimbursed by Kabongo's brother. The work was set up by Cleveland-based agent Rich Paul, who represents James and Thompson. Sulia

Cleveland Cavaliers, Tristan Thompson, Myck Kabongo, Rich Paul 

In addition, Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson, Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe and San Antonio Spurs guard Cory Joseph also filed paperwork to leave CAA, according to league sources. All three are believed to be headed to join the new agency of Rich Paul, who James partnered with during the offseason. Paul represented all three players while working for CAA before leaving to start his own company. ESPN.com

Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, Eric Bledsoe, Agents, Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph, Rich Paul 

A source close to the Heat forward confirmed to the Sun Sentinel early Thursday morning that James will be leaving Creative Artists Agency, the agency that also represents Wade and Bosh, in order to be represented by longtime friend Rich Paul, who has emerged with a significant roster of clients of his own, including Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Tristan Thompson and Jonny Flynn. South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Jonny Flynn, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Agents, Tristan Thompson, Rich Paul, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 

Marc J. Spears: .@RichPaul4 repped Kidd-Gilchrist, E Bledsoe, Tristan Thompson & Cory Joseph with CAA.RP has good relationship with all & might land clients Twitter

Charlotte Bobcats, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, LeBron James, Eric Bledsoe, Agents, Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph, Rich Paul, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist