Tristan Thompson to Replace Jae Crowder in Cavaliers Starting Lineup

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue said Thursday that center Tristan Thompson will rejoin the starting lineup, replacing Jae Crowder, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

That will result in a starting five of Isaiah Thomas at point guard, JR Smith at shooting guard, LeBron James at small forward, Kevin Love at power forward—a far more natural position for Love than center, where he's played much of the year—and Thompson at center.

Lue told reporters he planned to make a lineup change after Tuesday's 114-102 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the team's 10th loss in its last 13 games.

The changes also come in the wake of a reportedly heated team meeting Monday, during which players challenged Love for leaving three minutes into Saturday's loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder with an illness and missing practice the next day, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

After Tuesday's loss, several players anonymously spoke about the issues facing the team.

"Everybody wants accountability, but nobody actually wants to be held accountable," one player told McMenamin. "The crazy thing is that it still all feels correctable."

Another veteran guard added: "There is no trust out there on the court. This is the worst it's been."

Lue has preached solidarity amid the struggles, however.

"When it got tough, we just got to stay together," Lue said after Tuesday's loss, per McMenamin. "Some guys are frustrated because they missed shots. Some guys are frustrated because they can't get their rhythm. Some guys are frustrated when they get scored on. So I think it's a combination of a lot of things. But for the most part, [we've] just got to stay together and continue to play the game."

The Cavaliers have hit rough patches and had periods of drama in the past, but those Cavaliers teams had continuity. This team still appears to be adjusting to the major offseason changes that saw Kyrie Irving depart and Thomas, Crowder, Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose, among others, join the team.

Additionally, Thomas has played in just eight games and the team is still learning how to incorporate his style of play into the scheme.

And James reportedly wasn't pleased with the Irving trade that landed Thomas in Cleveland. "What's really pissing LeBron off is that he felt like the Cavs could have gotten Paul George and Eric Bledsoe and they didn't get them," ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on Zach Lowe's The Lowe Post podcast (h/t Joshua Schrock of NESN).

Windhorst continued:

"I'm just telling you, LeBron is there and he's like, 'We could have had Eric Bledsoe and Paul George. Instead, we have a draft pick who I'm never going to meet—well I don't know about that, but I'm not meeting him this year. And we have Isaiah Thomas who is very, clearly hampered, and we have Jae Crowder who is having the worst year of his career.'

"And whether or not having Paul George and Eric Bledsoe would have made that much of a difference when it really matters, I don't know. But I know that's what LeBron thinks about because he knows that was on the table that they couldn't execute back in June."

Finally, it hasn't helped that the Cavaliers have played awful defense all season long and are giving up 109.6 points per game, 26th in the NBA. There's a mountain of issues in Cleveland at the moment, it would seem.

Perhaps reinstating Thompson to the starting lineup and allowing Love to play his more natural stretch-4 role will help alleviate some of the issues. Still, it's hard to imagine any team looking more forward to the All-Star break in a few weeks than the Cavs.