Tristan Thompson Ruled Out at Least 2 Weeks with Foot Injury

The Cleveland Cavaliers announced Friday that center Tristan Thompson will miss approximately two more weeks with a left foot sprain.

Thompson has missed Cleveland's past four games, all of which have been losses.

He first suffered the injury during a Dec. 10 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, which caused him to miss 10 games before returning against the Miami Heat on Jan. 2.

The 27-year-old Thompson is in the midst of his most productive season with averages of 11.5 points and 11.1 rebounds in 35 games.

When healthy, Thompson has been one of the few bright spots on a team that has the NBA's worst record at 9-40 in the wake of LeBron James leaving to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers during the offseason.

During Thompson's absence, the Cavs have leaned more heavily on 22-year-old center Ante Zizic, who was acquired from the Boston Celtics as part of the Kyrie Irving deal.

While Zizic is averaging just 6.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game overall this season, he has put up 17.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest over his past five appearances, four of which were starts.

Zizic is also averaging over 30 minutes per game with Thompson on the shelf, which is up significantly from the 14.5 minutes per game he is averaging overall.

If Thompson can make it back before the Feb. 7 trade deadline, he could be a solid trade chip for the struggling Cavs.

The 27-year-old is signed for one more season beyond this one at a salary of $18.5 million, which means he would not be a rental, but a team also wouldn't need to make a long-term commitment.

Thompson is among the NBA's top rebounders, and if Cleveland can find a taker for the 2011 No. 4 overall draft pick, it will allow the Cavs to delve even further into rebuild mode and give Zizic more opportunities to shine.