In my usual form, I’m back with another edition of The Boots. For those unfamiliar with this feature, I assign loosely defined “Boot Up” or “Boot Down” votes to trending sports topics. Today, I’m all about Cavs pessimism.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are now 4-12. After last night’s shellacking in Boston to the tune of 103-86, they have the NBA’s second-worst road record (1-9). They rank second- or third-worst in almost every team efficiency standing. While the myriad of issues and complaints could go on for days, let’s take care of just three today.

Boot Down: Where is Tristan Thompson, budding All-Star? – One of the emerging trends over this latest five-game losing streak has been the lackluster play of the 22-year-old Canadian out of Texas. He’s averaged only five points and seven rebounds in 26% shooting in 24 minutes per contest during this run.

After his hand change heard ‘round the world, Thompson entered his third season with high expectations. He was just fine as a starter last year in the absence of Anderson Varejao – he averaged 13 and 10 in the final 57 games.

But right now? There’s something going on. His free throw shooting is up from a career 58.6% to 73.8% thus far this season. That’s about it for positives. But he’s not shooting well on the court, grabbing a bit fewer rebounds, not making as many assists and most recently, receiving fewer minutes.

Thompson was reportedly involved in the altercation with Dion Waiters that has made rounds about media circles. He’s viewed as a very good worker in practice and showed that with his hand change. Yet it’s just not working offensively for him right now. Time is on his side, sure, but who knows what might come next.

Boot Down: Andrew Bynum, offensive centerpiece – As Bynum returned to the lineup in mid-November following a “family medical matter“, head coach Mike Brown maintained that the Cavs offense would run through the former All-Star. The experiment has gone terribly thus far.

Bynum is shooting only 37% from the floor, including an abysmal 29% in his usual landmark zone of the restricted area. His offensive rating is only 89, showing that the Cavaliers offense has been dreadful when he’s on the court – NBA average offensive efficiency is 104. Fear The Sword’s Sam Vecenie shared a few other terrible stats on Twitter last night.

I had concerns about the 26-year-old being a main cog in the offense upon his return. For one, there already had been spacing issues with Jarrett Jack, Dion Waiters and Kyrie Irving all looking for holes in the lane. Bynum also is not in full-go mode yet, still averaging only about 19 minutes in his last four. I certainly didn’t expect there to be so many issues with entry passes or with Bynum actually converting inside, but those haven’t helped either.

This team needed size and a defensive presence, as we saw with last year with Tyler Zeller getting extended minutes. Bynum still can make a significant impact for the team, even if he isn’t the major offensive centerpiece. He wasn’t in his first several years for the Lakers. Perhaps it’s time again to revert back to such a model.

Boot Down: Why Jarrett Jack, after all? – Finally, it’s time to go back and look at the decision the organization made this offseason to give $25 million over four years to 30-year-old Jarrett Jack. What exactly was the purpose of it? The organization states it was to bring a veteran presence along to assist with the transition and to provide another ballhandler to spell Kyrie Irving.

Well, so far, Jack has made little impact on the court and is making matters even more difficult for 21-year-old Dion Waiters, who should be a higher long-term priority since the team invested the No. 4 pick on him just 1.5 years ago. Jack is averaging 10 points in 27 minutes with his usual mid-range shots and usage. But it’s just not clear what the direction is with his impact.

If indeed, Waiters was used solely as a shooting guard, as was stated before the offseason, then maybe it makes sense. But he’s now controlling the ball more and more, especially with the struggles of Irving. Add in undrafted rookie free agent Matthew Dellavedova to the mix and suddenly, the Cavs have four ball-dominant guards with undetermined roles in a non-existent offensive structure.

Sergey Karasev earned the start over Dellavedova on Friday. In theory, he serves a different role, although both have good long-distance shooting abilities. The offense has shown good numbers under Dellavedova with his ball movement. But I’d assume the intention of signing Jack was not so that we could have these youngsters starting to make sure ball movement actually happens at times with this odd roster collection.

While trade rumors are heating up now for Waiters, I’d personally be more interested in what interest might perhaps be out there for Jack. His contract could quickly become a situation if things don’t improve.

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