Join the Cavaliers! Looking back on Tobu s career, can he stay in the NBA this time?

Thomas Bryant, returns to the NBA.

The latest report from famous reporter Shams, free agent Thomas Bryant signed a one-year contract with the Cavaliers. Follow-up news, the contract is an insured contract.

It should be noted that at the end of July, European media reported that Greek team Panasinakos was interested in signing Thomas Bryant and provided him with a one-year, $3 million contract.

At that time, if everything goes well, Thomas Bryant will leave the NBA and go to Greece to play. However, judging from the final result, Thomas Bryant still chose to stay in the NBA, even if he just got an insured contract.

So the question is, Thomas Bryant just helped the Pacers to the finals last season, why is the market so deserted this year that he even ended up getting an unsecured contract?

The first choice must be affirmed. Thomas Bryant still made some contributions to the Pacers' Finals trip last season. He played 56 games in the regular season, averaged 15.1 minutes per game, scored 6.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.6 blocks, shot 51.5% from the field and 32.1% from three-point shooting percentage.

Playoffs, thanks to Carlisle's long rotation system, Thomas Bryant played 20 games, averaging 8.4 minutes per game, scoring 2.6 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.3 blocks, shooting percentage of 48.5% and three-point shooting percentage of 50.0%. The data may not be outstanding, but the magic of the Pacers is that any player may become a surprise player in a certain game, and so is Thomas Bryant - in the last game of the Eastern Conference Finals, Thomas Bryant only played 13 minutes, made 3 of 4 three-pointers, and scored 11 points, helping the Pacers successfully eliminate the Knicks 4-2 to advance to the finals.

As a center, Thomas Bryant's advantage is that he has a certain three-point ability (although he doesn't make many shots), and is 2.08 meters tall, with good finishing ability, so he can easily eat cakes.

But his disadvantages are also quite outstanding. As an inside line, the defense and rebounding are not outstanding, and it is even a bit bad. In today's league, centers with three-pointers are indeed popular, but if they can't do well in the inside defense, they may not even get a basic salary. This is exactly the case with Thomas Bryant.

At this point, let's briefly review Thomas Bryant's career, who could have been better than he is now.

Thomas Bryant was the 42nd pick in the second round of the 2017 class. His career began with the Lakers, but in the rookie season, he only played 15 games for the Lakers, and averaged only 4.8 minutes per game, which was not valued at all.

In the 2018 offseason, the Lakers cut Thomas Bryant, and then the Wizards quickly picked it up. It was also during the Wizards that Thomas Bryant gained a foothold in the NBA and received a big contract. In his first year of joining the Wizards, Thomas Bryant averaged 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of up to 61.6%.

Because of its outstanding performance, in the 2019 offseason, Thomas Bryant received a three-year, 25 million contract renewal from the Wizards.

The turning point occurred in the 2020-21 season. In this year, Thomas Bryant only played 10 games before he was torn apart by the ACL and had to be reimbursed for the season. Before being injured, he had already secured the Wizards' starting point, averaged 14.3 points per game, scored a career high, and shot a 64.8% shooting percentage.

In the 2021-22 season, Thomas Bryant returned from injury, but his form was not as good as before, and he averaged only 7.4 points per game and his shooting percentage dropped to 52%. In the 2022 offseason, Thomas Bryant once again became a free agent, and the Wizards did not renew his contract, and then the old club, the Lakers, gave him a chance.

Unlike the rookie season in the Lakers, this time he joined, Thomas Bryant brought a lot of vitality, averaging 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, shooting percentage of 65.4% and three-point shooting percentage of 44.0%.

During the injury of Thomas Brow, Thomas Bryant supported the Lakers' inside line, scoring 31 points and 14 rebounds in a single game. In seven consecutive games, he averaged 19.7 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, with a shooting percentage of up to 73.8%, making him a top inside line in the league.

It may be because of the performance that was so good during this period that Thomas Bryant was a little bit arrogant. Before the trading deadline, because Thomas Bryant returned, he applied for a deal with the Lakers and then went to the Nuggets (this matter was reported by ESPN at the time, but Tobu later denied that he had applied for a deal).

Joining the Nuggets brought Thomas Bryant a championship, but his role status has not improved, and he has even decreased. He averaged 4.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in the regular season, and only played 1 game in the playoffs.

In the summer of 2023, Thomas Bryant became a free agent again. The Nuggets did not provide a contract renewal. He chose to join the Heat with a basic salary and then played for more than a season with the Heat. However, during this period, his positioning was still a substitute with only 10 minutes of playing time per game.

The next time is the 2024-25 season. Just two months after the start of the game, he was sent to the Pacers by the Heat, and then helped the Pacers reach the finals, and then he was looking for a long job this summer.

Joining the Cavaliers this time is still an opportunity for Thomas Bryant, but it is highly likely that he will still be the team's marginal substitute, because the Cavaliers already have Mobley, Jarret Allen and Dean Wade in the interior..

Actually, Thomas Bryant could not have had to do like he is now. His career has experienced two twists, one was injured, and the other did not stay in the Lakers. He is only 28 years old. I hope he can contribute to the Cavaliers' championship journey next season.