Tristan Thompson mum on whether contract could keep him from Team Canada
Tristan Thompson has been a mainstay of Canada’s men’s basketball team for the past several years, but his NBA contract status will likely keep the Cleveland Cavaliers forward from playing in the Olympic qualifying tournament this summer.
The 28-year-old from Brampton, Ont., becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, three days after the Canada’s last-chance qualifier in Victoria ends.
Thompson was hesitant to talk about this summer at Monday morning’s shootaround, saying: «I’m just thinking about tonight, playing against the Raptors at home at 7:30 at Scotiabank Arena. So that’s where my mindset is at. I’m happy Nick Nurse is the coach.»
But it’s unlikely Thompson or Miami Heat centre Kelly Olynyk — who could opt out of his current deal and so would also be without a contract — will play in the June 23-28 tournament, which Canada must win to earn its first Olympic berth in the 20 years.
Both Thompson and Olynyk could join the Canadian team for the Tokyo Games.
Thompson has yet to play for Nurse, who was hired by Canada Basketball shortly after the Raptors’ historic NBA championship run, but he’s pleased with the choice.
«We’ve got a good relationship and he’s a great guy,» Thompson said. «For him to take time out of his summer, especially after winning a championship, to coach the national team [at the World Cup in China last August] says a lot about his character and how much he cares about Canada Basketball.»
Thompson has stepped up numerous times when Canada has come calling. He played in Canada’s last-chance qualifier for the Rio Olympics in the Philippines, in which Canada lost to France in the final to narrowly miss an Olympic berth. He also played in a handful of Canada’s qualifying games for the 2019 World Cup, among other tournaments.
Last month saw a groundswell of Canadian players enthusiastically declare their intention to play for Canada this summer.
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, who hasn’t worn the red and white since the 2015 Pan American Games, got the ball rolling, tweeting: «I want to play my part to help push our team into the Olympics and compete at the highest world stage.»
Playing for my country is always an honour and I want to take the step and leadership role to commit to @canadabasketball this summer. I want to play my part to help push our team into the Olympics and compete at the highest world stage. Let’s go Canada????
—@BeMore27
RJ Barrett, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Melvin Ejim, Kyle Wiltjer and Trey Lyles all quickly followed suit.
«It’s good that guys are finding times in their schedules to play for the national team,» Thompson said. «We’ve got a lot of pros and we’ve got more coming every year, so the fact that guys are stepping up and making themselves available to play is huge, and it’s great for Canada Basketball.»
Thompson, who won an NBA championship with Cleveland in 2016, cheered on Toronto’s championship victory.
«It was huge for the city, huge for the country . . . Toronto basketball’s on the rise,» he said. «It was great with Kawhi [Leonard] and it especially was huge for Kyle [Lowry], just because I know how many times we’d beat up on him in the playoffs.»
The Raptors were eliminated by Cleveland in the three previous post-seasons, winning just two of a combined 14 games.
«I’m happy for them, they deserved it and now we’re gonna try to get a win tonight.»
Thompson is having a strong season averaging 13.1 points and 9.8 rebounds.
The Cavs, however, haven’t been having much success. They arrived in Toronto with a 6-20 record — 13th in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors went into Monday’s matchup at 17-8 and fifth in the East.
