Brandon Jennings blames ex-Cavalier Tristan Thompson for Bulls struggles and that’s fair

Yeah, ex-Cavalier Tristan Thompson was probably a bad get for the Chicago Bulls.

The Chicago Bulls are flailing in the playoffs and this isn’t a new thing. The Bulls were struggling to close the year out, no different than the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Bulls were riding high, a top team with stellar defense and an “MVP candidate” in DeMar DeRozen.

Sorry Chicago, if DeRozen is an MVP candidate, that should give you all the heads up you need. The team isn’t with their starting point guard in Lonzo Ball, who was having a solid season of 13 points, five rebounds, and five assists, while also posting a RAPTOR of +2.9 on defense. Not having him has hurt, admittedly.

Yet, so did the team’s decision to acquire Tristan Thompson. Thompson, a net-negative player on both offense and defense according to RAPTOR, has always been over-valued for the fact that he played somewhat ok on a championship team, but in reality, Thompson was and always has been a bust. He was the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft and went over guys like Jonas Valanciunas, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, and Nikola Vucevic.

Clearly, that was the wrong move.

Yet, with Thompson comes more than just on the court issues but off the court issues too.

Brandon Jennings agrees that Tristan Thompson helped sink the Bulls

Former Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings seems to agree that Thompson joining the Bulls helped sink the team. While his grudge is more anecdotal than factual, the claim seems to be true. Thompson is bouncing around from team to team these days, and can’t seem to stick to one place.

The Celtics needed interior help and signed him, but then later traded him to Sacramento who was hoping for some veteran leadership. Considering they made a trade for Domantas Sabonis in an effort to “win now”, you’d think they’d want Thompson to help. Nope. Then the Pacers got him and quickly dumped him. Clearly, NBA teams don’t think he’s a great option.

Which may be true, as the Bulls went just 8-15 after he arrived with the team. Not only that, but their team defense also fell apart. The defense gave up 129 points in those 15 losses. As bad as the Bulls were on defense, giving up an average of 112 points, to see them jump up 17 points more per game? Yikes.

Sure, losing Ball didn’t help but to see the defense collapse that much? That clearly is some chemistry issue and considering Thompson isn’t the most agreeable person on the planet, no matter his fan status in Cleveland, it’s not hard to see that Thompson’s arrival affected morale and team chemistry.

It looks like a fifth team is on the horizon. Maybe one in Europe or China?