TORONTO -- Tristan Thompson has been through this before.
He was younger back then, a baby-faced 20-year-old rookie trying to find his place in the NBA. It was before he became a full-time starter, NBA champion and consecutive-games-streak ironman. Before he identified his dominant hand and added muscle to a once-wiry frame.
Of the 15 players on this Cleveland Cavaliers roster, Thompson's the only one with experience in a post-LeBron James universe.
It can be gloomy. It can be challenging. The constant losing that typically follows can test mental fortitude.
"My first year, when me and Kyrie (Irving) came to the team, if you looked at the roster, there were guys that were borderline pros," Thompson told cleveland.