The good thing is that he's not really going to impact whether they win games or not.
I mean I know it won't change the fact that we're the 1 seed in the east but there are some other concerns that are just unnecessary and detrimental when gunning for a title.
1. Media distraction. Our players constantly having to weigh in on the situation and all of the bullshit that comes with that. This team showed a lot of resolve and a good bunker mentality last year but it still is not needed.
2. Team chemistry, on and off court. I guarantee you at least a few players think TT is being greedy and selfish. We need everyone to be willing to p;ut it all on the line for each other. I don't think this will be a problem but the holdout at least presents the small possibility. Also, we want him to get in a good rhythm playing with all the guys, and also we need him to develop chemistry with Mo, with RJ, and even with a (hopefully) healthy Varejao. These things take real-game time. He needs to be very well versed with the way the team communicates on both ends, what the key words are, etc. We need to get this machine as perfect as possible.
3. Game shape- While I'm sure he's working out and while Tristan has never been out of shape, there's nothing comparable to playing 30 minutes a night in the NBA. Tristan is an iron-man and missing games would put him at a greater risk to get hurt. Lots of players in these situations pull hamstrings, turn ankles, etc just because they aren't quite up to game speed but get thrust right back into playing big minutes when they come back.
4. Keeping the rest of the team fresh. Do we want Mozgov off a knee surgery, Love off a shoulder surgery, and Andy off an Achilles tear to have to bang down low with the best bigs in the game more than absolutely necessary during the regular season? Or do we want our 24 year old workhorse who dominated the paint for an entire playoff run last season to be in there guarding the Z-Bo's, battling against the Noah's and Gasol's and Gibson's on the glass, switching onto 1's and 2's on the pick & roll? A big part of Tristan's value is being able to play big minutes at the 4 and 5, guard both positions and be our force down low. Mozgov is that too, but I think 23-27 minutes a night is Timo's optimal output , wheras Tristan can play 40 on both games in a back-to-back and show no signs of fatigue. Having him out there really reduces injury risks for Love, Andy, and Mozgov and also allows us to rest them(and LeBron, who will have to play more minutes at the 4 if TT holds out
)more.
This just really really sucks. Tristan is a huge, integral part to us winning a championship. The NBA is stacked, it is in a talent boom that it hasn't seen in decades. The Spurs, Warriors, Rockets, and Clippers are fricken superteams. We need every single ounce of firepower we can muster. Even the Bulls and the Hawks in a weaker East are really good. The only team besides Miami and the 1st stint LBJ Cavs in the last ten years that I would really put ahead of those teams is probably the Garnett/Allen Celtics teams and maybe one of the Dwight Orlando teams, but maybe not.
But he is not a max player. We're just unfortunately mixed up in the middle of Rich Paul pushing his personal agenda as trying to build a tough and credible reputation as an agent. If TT's agent was, say, Dan Fegan, TT would be signed fo 5/80 and ESPN would be murdering the Cavs for giving him that contract.
At the end of the day, I think the Cas will win the negotiation, just because Tristan's only power-play was to sign the QO, kick ass this year, and prove the Cavs wrong next year, but now that no longer exists as an option because TT seems to be a little too scared to truly bet on himself one more time.
He obviously wants his years and his money now. I don't see how any agent could truly advise his client to sit out an entire year, collect $0, and then be stuck again next year as a restricted free agent. His value will be down even with the booming cap and available cap room, the Cavs will still be able to match, and Tristan will be out a lot of money missing a year at 24 years old. Sign the damn contract, TT. 80 million dollars dude. 80 million. 16 million a year, you become unrestricted again at your absolute peak when you're 28-29 years old, the cap will probably be 120 million by then, and if you turn into one of th best PF's in the game by then you can probably go sign a 3 year $100 million dollar contract somewhere.
Sorry for the wall of text. Needed to rant. This situation is pissing me off.