Tristan Thompson says part of his role next season is to help Collin Sexton adjust to the NBA

Tristan Thompson, taking in the Cavs’ summer league game against the Rockets Saturday, said in a TV interview that first round pick Collin Sexton has been in “attack mode” and that he likes what he’s seen from Sexton. He also laid out what his role is in helping the Cavs’ top pick adjust to the NBA.

“Just try to make his transition as easy as possible, you know?,” Thompson said. “We’ve got a lot of games. It’s kind of different than college, where they play two, three games [a week]. But the NBA’s a grind, the back-to-backs. Just being in his ear, you know, and telling him to take care of his body, be patient.”

“He’s going to have games where he’s going to feel he’s the top of the top and games where he feels like he’s done his best. But stay even keeled, and it’s my job, Kevin [Love]’s, the veteran guys we have coming back to help lead our point guard of the future.”

This year will mark an adjustment for the 27-year-old Thompson. Before LeBron James returned, he was part of a young nucleus alongside Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters. With LeBron, he was a key role player on a team that made four straight NBA Finals and won the 2016 title. Now, on a team that wants to develop young talent while rebuilding, his role is different. And he knows it.

“Yeah, you know, we had a great run with LeBron and, you know, four straight finals, also winning a championship. That was definitely huge,” Thompson said. “But with the guys we’ve got now, we’ve got veteran guys that have had a winning basketball experience and I think it was great for Larry [Nance Jr.], Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson to be part of that final year and that final run just so that, the situation right now, we’ve still got a chance to make the playoffs. We’re still a good team and if you look on paper, we’ve got a lot of talented guys. Adding Collin and some of the other guys that we got playing in Summer League, we’re going in the right direction.”