Cavs’ Blatt undecided on who will start at center

Anderson Varejao or Tristan Thompson will start at center in Cleveland. (USATSI)

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach David Blatt said he hasn't decided whether Anderson Varejao or Tristan Thompson will start at center:

David Blatt: "The obvious question is: ‘Who is the starter, Tristan or Andy?' And I can tell you, I don't know."

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 2, 2014

At Cleveland's annual intrasquad scrimmage on Wednesday, Blatt elected to start Thompson alongside Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, LeBron James and Kevin Love. That was somewhat of a surprise, as the veteran Varejao is considered a better rim protector and, frankly, a superior all-around player. Thompson can get up and down the floor faster, though, and perhaps the idea is to have Varejao boost the bench.

We'll take Blatt at his word, though, when he says hasn't made up his mind. Some context for this scrimmage: players switched teams throughout the game, James wore two gold chains on the court and Blatt "posed for a selfie with some fans during live action," via ESPN. The fact that Varejao wasn't with the starters isn't necessarily meaningful. This is something to monitor in the Cavs' exhibition games, though.

Cleveland will open the preseason by hosting Blatt's former team, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, on Sunday.

Topics: Anderson Varejao, Dion Waiters, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA

Basketball Hot News

Phil Jackson compared J.R. Smith to Dennis Rodman. Smith likes that.

Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher are bringing the triangle to New York.

J.R. Smith is about the least triangle-style player in the league. Throw in Smith’s antics — untying players shoes during free throws was a fun one last year — and he seems a square peg for Jackson’s Zen triangle holes.

In a Q&A recently with the New York Post Jackson made this comparison with Smith.

“I don’t know if (getting through to him is) possible or not. He might be one of those guys that’s a little bit like Dennis Rodman that has an outlier kind of side to him. But I’m gonna get to know him as we go along, and we’ll find a way to either make him a very useful player on our organization, or whatever.”

How did Smith like being compared to Rodman? Loved it, of course. He said so Wednesday at training camp, as reported by the New York Daily News.

“Last time I checked Dennis Rodman’s got what three, four rings?” Smith said Tuesday about the Worm, who actually won five NBA titles with the Pistons and Jackson’s Bulls during his career. “I’m not offended by that. It’s an honor. He’s a Hall of Famer. And to be put in the same words as a Hall of Famer is something special. So I’m not offended at all.”

Well, that’s one way to spin it.

Another is that Rodman won those rings with the Bulls for a reason (and not just the Jordan reason).

Rodman fit in the triangle because of his energy on the glass and how he moved off the ball (people tend to forget just how athletic Rodman was). Plus Rodman was a lockdown defender. Smith has some work to do on those counts, plus he can be a ball stopper on offense (Rodman rarely saw the ball on offense).

Smith is under contract for this season plus has a player option for $6.4 million next season (one he likely picks up). If Smith can’t fit into the triangle, that’s a moveable deal. There are going to be a lot of Knicks roster shakeups over the next couple years.

But Fisher will get a chance to fit Smith into the system first and see if he has a little Rodman in him. The good parts of Rodman, anyway.