Tristan Thompson

[killerkev369]

Can anyone share that new ESPN Insider article on him?

 

[raisen]

From Pluto's latest article

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cavaliers are in negotiations with Tristan Thompson this week. They have until October 31 to see if they can sign the power forward/center to a contract extension.

Here are some key facts:
1. Thompson is already under contract for the 2014-15 season for $5.3 million.

2. If Thompson fails to sign by October 31, the Cavs have to wait until after the season to talk extension. He would then be a restricted free agent, meaning the Cavs could match any offer he receives.

3. Thompson was the No. 4 pick in the 2011 draft, the same year that Kyrie Irving was the first pick.

4. Irving signed a five-year, $90 million maximum contract on July 1. He plays 2014-15 under his current deal, and the extension starts in 2015-16. He was a Designated Player, meaning the Cavs could offer him the five years. A team can only do that with one player. That means the longest extension they can give Thompson is four years.

5. Thompson won't qualify for a maximum contract, but he could be in line for a huge deal.

Thompson is represented by Rich Paul, who is the agent for LeBron James. As I wrote about on October 5, Paul and his chief negotiator Mark Termini put together a whopping five-year, $70 million deal for Eric Bledsoe with Phoenix.

Paul took a lot of criticism for turning down the four-year, $48 million offer from the Suns in the middle of the summer. In the end, the player and his agent cashed in.

So what does that mean for Thompson? This will be a interesting negotiation as both sides face the October 31 deadline -- and try to find the right deal.

The 6-foot-10 Thompson is only 23. He had an excellent preseason, averaging 12.3 points and 9.2 rebounds in 24 minutes a game. He shot .540 from the field, .833 at the foul line. He will split center with Anderson Varejao, who was announced as the starter.

Thompson's hustle and athleticism really fit with the new Cavs. There is no need for him to worry about scoring, and there also is room for Thompson to gather in rebounds and pick up fastbreak baskets.

The Cavs have very few big men. Varejao is 31. He has battled injuries in the last four seasons. He is an unrestricted free agent at the end of year. The Cavs can offer him an extension at any time -- no October 31 deadline. They may do that at some point.

But Thompson is the main contract concern right now. He has averaged 11.7 points and 9.3 rebounds in the last two regular seasons, shooting 48 percent from the field and 66 percent at the foul line.

So what is he worth in the outrageous salary climate of the NBA, a league where big men really are rewarded?

1. Denver signed 6-foot-8 Kenneth Faried to a four-year, $50 million extension. It also contains some incentives. Faried averaged 13.7 points and 8.6 rebounds for the Nuggets last season. He is a hustle player/rebounder. He was the No. 22 pick in the 2011 draft.

2. Orlando signed Nikola Vuvecic to a four-year, $53 million deal. He is a 7-foot center who averaged 14.2 points, 11.0 rebounds and shot 51 percent. He also is a true center, that gives him extra value in the NBA where 7-footers with any talent are precious.

3. In the summer of 2013, Utah signed 6-foot-10 Derrick Favors to a four-year, $48 million deal. He was coming off a season where he averaged 9.4 points and 7.1 rebounds.

So those are some examples of contracts. The Cavs can spend beyond their salary cap to keep their own players -- assuming owner Dan Gilbert is willing to pay the luxury tax. When James was here the first time, Gilbert always did so. In James' final three seasons, the Cavs were among the highest luxury tax payers in the league.

http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/index.ssf/2014/10/terrys_talkin_about_the_clevel_19.html

 

[Lee]

I honestly think we see a 4 year 48 mill deal with incentives and we cant be too mad at that because of what other players with similar numbers and skill levels receive.

This is going to be a very expensive team to keep together, in 2 or 3 years we will see what gilbert wants to pay in luxury tax.

That said, with the new TV Deal coming, 4/48 might not be that crazy expensive. The cap is going up crazy amount in 2 years. Some are talking a 90 mil+ plus cap, that means if 5 players are on min contracts, average players make 8 mill a year. I know we have 3 max players, but after those 3, Dion and Thompson should be the only ones making over 8 mill a year.

 

[wuck]

According to Chris Haynes, there has been no progress in current negotiations. Rich Paul's clients cashed in during the RFA period this past summer, so perhaps there is little urgency. We'll find out soon.

---
Behind the scenes for Thompson, there's not much happening.

The deadline for the Cavaliers and Thompson to agree to a rookie-scale extension is Friday. That's less than a week away and a source close to the situation says, "There has been zero discussion on an extension" between the two sides.

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2014/10/no_monetary_value_can_properly.html

 

[shoes22]

Yeah, I would be extremely shocked if a contract extension gets done now. I don't see any way how both sides could agree to terms at this juncture. More than likely, both sides are willing to wait and see how things go next summer.

 

[Adam]

We will over pay him for what the fans think he's worth, but he will get a deal in line with faried.

I've liked what ive seen so far. Lots of movement, huge offensive rebounding numbers, made FTs even some one handed dunks.

He's not a high level athlete but he's starting to use his base better and not getting stuffed at the rim so much, unless gasol is there. He will have to work his ass off to play the 5 consistently like the team wants and his durability is unquestioned.

I would like him to face up on offense against true 5s and maybe pass every once and a while. It would also be nice to see him spend a hard foul ever once and while

 

[Jack Brickman]

The smart move for Thompson would be to play out the season and hope to increase his value. He's almost undoubtedly going to look better playing with LeBron and Love.

 

[Kizzle]

I fully expect TT to make more than Jordan Hill in FA. And seeing Hill made I think 9 mil per that puts my guess at 11-12 mil per year type money. TT gets shitted on here but his rebounding rate is MONSTER and he's not a lost cause on offense and he's young. On top of all that he's a handsome talkative player who you can market. You can't tell me a team like the Suns wouldn't pay 11 mil for TT. He's gonna be like Anthony Parker. People won't really complain about not having TT until he's gone for good.

 

[NasstyNate]

TT gets shitted on here but his rebounding rate is MONSTER and he's not a lost cause on offense and he's young.

Monster? TT is pretty much the definition of an average rebounder. His raw numbers are high because of minutes played and just generally standing around the basket, but his rebound rate was 16.3% last year, which puts him at 31 out of 64 for F-C who played at least 300 minutes last year. League average rebounding, when that is your best skill, is not worth $11-12m.

 

[Simon]

 

[*L-Train*]

I fully expect TT to make more than Jordan Hill in FA. And seeing Hill made I think 9 mil per that puts my guess at 11-12 mil per year type money. TT gets shitted on here but his rebounding rate is MONSTER and he's not a lost cause on offense and he's young. On top of all that he's a handsome talkative player who you can market. You can't tell me a team like the Suns wouldn't pay 11 mil for TT. He's gonna be like Anthony Parker. People won't really complain about not having TT until he's gone for good.

the Lakers did the same thing with Jordan Hill that we did with Earl Clark. way overpay him during his first year so you can get a team option for his 2nd year (when you want to have the option to have as much cap space as possible). in other words the Jordan Hill contract isn't the best comparison. Markieff Morris got 8mio, i would be pretty happy with that but they extended him before the news about the new TV deal broke so you're probably looking at at least 10+Mio now... (to be honest i don't blame him after what the Nuggets gave Faried)

 

[BimboColesHair]

Monster? TT is pretty much the definition of an average rebounder. His raw numbers are high because of minutes played and just generally standing around the basket, but his rebound rate was 16.3% last year, which puts him at 31 out of 64 for F-C who played at least 300 minutes last year. League average rebounding, when that is your best skill, is not worth $11-12m.

That's a weird cutoff point considering the type of players who play 300 minutes a year, especially when Tristan played over 2500 last year.

 

[NasstyNate]

That's a weird cutoff point considering the type of players who play 300 minutes a year, especially when Tristan played over 2500 last year.

Ok, but that's not going to help you. For 1500 minutes, he was 17 out of 28. For 2000 minutes, he was 12 out of 18. So even worse and now below average taking your quibble into account. Care to address the substance?

 

[BimboColesHair]

Ok, but that's not going to help you. For 1500 minutes, he was 17 out of 28. For 2000 minutes, he was 12 out of 18. So even worse and now below average taking your quibble into account. Care to address the substance?

Hey man, I wasn't questioning your logic. Just saying 300 to 2500 is too large of a gap. Take a deep breath, everyone's not out to get you.

 

[mhi]

Hopefully we get some option years in this contract so it can be easier to move.