Make no mistake, if he sits out during the regular season, the contract will get smaller. Every week that goes by is a week TT doesn't get paid, and I see no reason Griffen would even remotely think of upping their offer if Paul & TT decide to hold out that long. Let the contract get smaller and smaller, it's on them.
Some on here have suggested Griffen should offer a smaller contract because of all this. Up until the start of the season, that would be a big mistake and a poor decision going forward. Once the season starts, he ABSOLUTELY should offer a smaller contract. There is no bad blood forming from that decision, if Griffen makes it clear now that once the season starts the 5 year/80 million deal is off the table. If Paul is unwilling to negotiate and hold out Thompson from being a part of a contending team, then Paul has to realize he's going to be stuck with a smaller contract for his client, and a bad rap as an agent. There's no way the Cavs let this run it's course with Paul/TT knowing they'll always have an 80mil contract to fall back in. The Cavs hold the leverage now, there is no reason to give Paul any, even with the potential of pissing LeBron off, because at the end of the day we just want a championship, not being held hostage by our bench players to pony up to whatever they desire. That's not how the organization will be run.
Just bottom line, if this goes on for a month or longer as Windhorst predicts, I'd expect Griffen to only get more aggressive and Thompson to get screwed in the long run. He doesn't have any other options, so no reason not to punish him for this.