Sixers Trade Hometown Favorite To Golden State

Apr 12, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Jason Thompson (34) dunks the ball in the second quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Hometown Thompson Opens Up

The story about the accomplished 6’11” NBA veteran power forward returning to the hometown team desperate for success began the moment the trade was announced. Before two weeks had expired, the staff of CSNPhilly had assembled an interview with Thompson touching on the fact that he was coming home. But can you ever come home again?  That was the question posed to the Rider college alumni.

"“It was bittersweet. One, being on the team, an organization for seven years, being the longest tenured, I had a lot of history there, being the team that drafted me. It was a lot of emotions knowing it was going to happen, you just didn’t know where. And then it being a team you grew up watching as a kid made it that surreal.  So you get the texts of ‘sorry to see you go’ alongside the ‘welcome home!’ , things just went crazy once it (the news) came out.   “A situation like in SAC — definitely didn’t have stability. With the Sixers, they’re a young, upcoming team. I know as a kid those were the glory days with Allen Iverson, and getting to the finals. But those were veteran teams. You’re expected to go through your ups and downs with young teams. When you’re at a certain level, you can only go up, so that’s definitely the positive way. With the direction they’re trying to go, it’s very positive. It gives everybody a chance to make things better. It’s very important (getting back to fundamentals) for any type of success, stability is the key. When you have less distractions, success is definitely going to be the mindset. I talked with Coach Brown, I knew him when he was in San Antonio as well. So he’s been under (George) Popavich and he has those fundamental tendencies that obviously work. It’s all about winning and having fun and seeing success. That seems like the formula that they are trying to do in Philly and I’m happy for the opportunity. ” – Jason Thompson"

When asked about the crowded front court, Thompson added that he has the versatility to stretch the floor, and showed flashes of that in his career. But the question about the crowded front court seemed to put him on the edge of his seat.   Whether or not he had that versatility to shoot from the perimeter will be one of those questions we may never know the answer to.  It was clear that he would have been moved into that versatility role to be a contributor to this team.  And the interview, while positive, left me a little lacking on enthusiasm.   Yes, he deserves to be on a “win now” type of roster, but it seemed to me that his answers showed some frustration of ending up on a roster of a team so few wins.

Next: Thompson Traded