Former Longhorns Generating Lots of NBA Buzz: Tristan Thompson

Last year, the Texas Longhorn basketball team was led by two freshman (Corey Joseph and Tristan Thompson) an done sophomore (Jordan Hamilton).  Up until the draft, I'm going to focus on these prospects and how they fit into the NBA.  For today's article we are going to focus on Tristan Thompson

Thompson is generating the most buzz out of any of the three young Longhorns for the upcoming NBA Draft.  Thompson is a true power forward who has a non-stop motor.  He's listed at 6-foot-9 but has a huge 7-foot-2 wingspan that will give him a nice advantage in the NBA.  He's a little bit undersized but his wingspan will make up for that.  He has a little trouble scoring with his back to the basket.  Doesn't create a whole lot of shots for himself and mostly scored off of hustle points and put backs during his one year in Texas.

With Thompson's game, it's fairly easy to see how it will translate to the next level.  You can expect him to continue to rebound at a high level.  His scoring will be pretty limited during the first couple years of his career, but he has a lot of room to develop in that area.  He's going to be a really good defender from Day 1.  I think a nice comparison for Thompson is a less athletic-less long version of Serge Ibaka.  He'll impact the game in a lot of the same ways except he is a little shorter.

Tristan Thompson Declares for NBA Draft

Tristan Thompson is leaving the University of Texas to the NBA.  The freshman anchored the Longhorns team this season as a freshman and played exceptionally well.  Thompson averaged 13.1 points, 7.8 rebounds (second-best in the Big 12) and 2.4 blocks per game.  Thompson's draft stock increased when higher rated players at the same position, like Jared Sullinger (Ohio State), Perry Jones III (Baylor) and Harrison Barnes (North Carolina), decided to stay in school.  He is expected to be a mid-to-late 1st round pick, but definitely has upside with his age.  Good luck Tristan!