Things seemed so much simpler when it was thought to be that LeBron James was just going to hold his services hostage on behalf of Thompson because of their shared agent, Rich Paul.
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“If (Thompson) is on the qualifying offer, (this) will be his last year with the Cavs”, agent Rich Paul told ESPN. It would appear, on the surface, that Paul is running the same playbook here as he did with Bledsoe, who eventually moved off his demands for a max and settled for a five-year, $70 million deal. He’s basically taking a 1 year contract worth $6.8 million to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Sports World Report (SWR) has stated that there is an ample hint for Cleveland Cavaliers aka Cavs to offer a trade for Crawford this summer as the team member of Los Angeles Clippers is said to be ready to play for the Cavs.
Nicknamed “J. Crossover”, he ranks second among bench scorers in points per game, averaging 16.8 a night while shooting 40% from the field, and 32% from beyond the arc.
“It’s rare to see an unrestricted free agent that’s 25 or younger, especially a big”, said Thompson, who averaged 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds last season. Portland and Philadelphia are the two teams with enough space to approach Thompson’s desired contract number.
The Cavs are looking for a backup for LeBron James at small forward and another interior player or two. According to Spotrac, the Cavs are on the hook for $88.6 million in player salaries next season. At the moment, both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Thompson have yet to reach an agreement regarding the matter.
Thompson remains the last major free-agent domino to fall in a busy offseason.
The Toronto Raptors had long been enamored of its native son Tristan Thompson and recent developments with regards to the 24-year-old’s contract standoff with the Cleveland Cavaliers made that possibility not so distant anymore.
Meanwhile, the Raptors could really use someone like Thompson and might actually become a starter ahead of power forward Patrick Petterson or center Jonas Valanciunas if Dwayne Casey decides to go small ball.
The Cavaliers are in this bind because they recently committed big contracts Kevin Love, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Anderson Varejao and Iman Shumpert. Many teams would love to have an aggressive player like Tristan Thompson on the boards but only one team can have him. His teammates will see him as a player who’s already planning on committing elsewhere, and he’ll be viewed this way from opening night all the way through the season.
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So then, why would Paul talk up Thompson leaving if he takes the qualifying offer if it’s best for all sides? James has been to the finals multiple times in the past few years and he could have exhausted legs by the end of the season and should have his minutes managed at times.
