The representative for Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson is turning up the heat. It has been hard to negotiate a middle ground, setting the stage for possible tension as training camp approaches.
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Tristan Thompson’s deal was once thought to be imminent, but here we sit well into August and the impactful power forward remains unsigned. The Cavs’ offers have been for significantly less.
There has been no real progress since the second week of July when talks reached an impasse and both sides dug in. But with the TV money set to arrive next summer and increase every team’s cap room astronomically, Thompson could be looking at an even bigger payday at this time next year.
For now, it seems to be all about the money.
The Cavaliers can match any offer sheets and appear to be content on waiting it out to see whom folds first. But that option may give them reason to stand fast when Thompson attempts to use the qualifying offer as leverage.
Thompson is a Restricted Free Agent.
“The 2016 free agent class isn’t very deep and it’s generally older”, one National Basketball Association general manager told Windhorst. However, Crawford still has one-year on his contract, meaning that the Clippers-Cavs would have to come to an amicable trade to make this a reality.
Taking the $6.8 million qualifying offer would be an interesting avenue for Thompson to take. Moreover, Paul’s clients have been involved in restricted free agency talks similar to this one before, most recently with Eric Bledsoe and the Phoenix Suns. Would they really take that chance?
It’s simple supply and demand. Eventually, they’re going to have to bite the bullet and do it, or else lose one of their most important frontcourt players a year from now. Thompson and his agents are quite aware of this.
Thompson has a career average of 10.1 points and 8.4 rebounds.
As complicated as all that is, there’s still more to this situation. He was the only Cavaliers player to play all 82 regular season games and all 20 playoff games involving the Cavs. The Cavaliers would save luxury tax money while keeping Thompson an extra year, and it would open up more Bird rights flexibility to possibly re-sign Timofey Mozgov if they can create some wiggle room. If Thompson signs the qualifying offer this summer, he could get a max deal from the Cavs next year that would exceed $94 million because the salary cap is expected to skyrocket by about $20 million.
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This means that although he can force the Cavaliers’ hand in his requests for a long term max contract, Thompson would be wise to just accept the team’s qualifying offer of just over $6.7 million and look to up his value as a bench player so that, once the salary cap rises next year, he can sign the contract he so desires.
