Tristan Thompson Says Cavs Are Still Favorites In East Without LeBron, Marcus Morris Disagrees

Tristan Thompson Argues With Marcus Morris
Photo credit USA TODAY Images
By WFAN.com

The NBA’s Eastern Conference looks a lot different heading into the new season. LeBron James has left Cleveland for the Lakers, Kawhi Leonard was traded from San Antonio to Toronto, and the Celtics are finally healthy and ready to challenge for a title.

Despite all this, Tristan Thompson still thinks the Cavaliers are the favorites in the East. He told reporters as much Thursday at Cavs’ practice.

Tristan Thompson: “We’re still 4-time Eastern Conference champions, so until you take us down from that, teams ain’t got much to say. Boston, Philly, they ain’t got much to say. Boston had homecourt Game 7 and lost. Philly, you guys almost got swept. Toronto - we know that story” pic.twitter.com/gnGqd4mGeM

— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) September 27, 2018

Last year’s Cavaliers team made it to the NBA Finals after narrowly beating Boston in seven games in the Eastern Conference finals. Once in the Finals, LeBron’s Cavs were swept by the Golden State Warriors despite the best efforts of the 33-year-old superstar.

On July 1st LeBron’s agents announced that he intended to sign with the Lakers. That was the only major roster move in Cleveland this summer, but it was quite a significant one.

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VegasInsider.com currently has the Cavs with 100/1 odds of winning the Eastern Conference. The new favorites in Vegas are the Celtics, whose odds of winning the east are evaluated at 10/11.

The Celtics’ efforts last year were hampered by some costly injuries. They lost Gordon Hayward to a gruesome ankle injury just five minutes into the opening game of last season. Brad Stevens’ team then had to play the entirety of the playoffs without Kyrie Irving, who missed out due to a knee injury.

Boston forward Marcus Morris saw Thompson’s comments on Thursday and took to Twitter to make his response.

"Cut it out. Get that vacation ready early this year fam! Ain't s--t going through the Cavs this year! #facts," Morris wrote on his account.

Morris and Thompson infamously tangled during game two of last year's tightly contested Eastern conference finals. The Cavs ultimately won the series with James averaging 33.6 points per game. 

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The Celtics and Cavaliers will meet on Tuesday in pre-season action. The two rivals will meet for the first time this regular season on November 30 in Cleveland.