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Tristan Thompson

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All we have to do is sit back and wait for TT to sign an offer sheet and I really doubt anybody offers a one dimensional player like him anything close to a max. It would be stupid to pay him close to that just because he is one of LeBrons boys.
 
I love Tristan, but damn, what kind of world do we live in where we might have to pay Tristan Thompson a max contract? He's a good player, no doubt, but other than superb offensive rebounding, adequate defense (good man-to-man, but terrible help defense), and the occasional oop, he doesn't provide much else. He's not a go-to post scorer, he can't stretch the floor, he shows no semblance of playmaking ability, he's not a dominant paint protector, and he doesn't grab many defensive rebounds. Not to mention that his production hasn't seen much improvement at all in the last few years (and that's adjusting for minutes played, as well).

When you look at these numbers, do you see max contract player?

8.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 0.5 apg, 0.7 bpg, 26.8 mpg

0.0 RAPM, -0.6 BPM, 0.8 VORP, .148 WS/48, 15.6 PER


I just hate how nowadays every time a young player starts to play well, he immediately vaults himself into max contract discussions. I think that with the new cap approaching, $44 million over 4 years is fair for a player of Tristan's caliber (but obviously this won't happen).

Keep in mind though, obviously I would rather overpay him than lose him, especially considering that we'll be over the cap anyways, but I think it's strange that we're going to have to pay our backup PF, who's very limited offensively while not exactly being an elite defender either, a max contract.
 
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Tristan averaged 10/11 per 36 mins in the playoffs.

People act as though we dont need Kevin Love because of this.

Kevin Love averaged 19/9 3 assists as well per 36 mins and suddenly he's no good.

Yes, he didnt play against the competition Tristan did, but I think Love would have kept up those kind of #s. We finally found the right mix on offense and I'm sure he would carried a larger scoring role when Kyrie was hurt.

I love (no pun) Tristan's effort and energy for this team. But I'm not sure he deserves Max $. If he was a superb shot blocker and consistently finished around the rim then yea I could see it.

Lets just hope his game continues to develop.
 
Love your posts chuck.

You guys need to understand something..... LeBron is getting everyone paid on Gilbert's dime.


When LeBron specifically dropped Andy's name in the letter and called him "one of my favorite teammates of all time." Boom. Paid. Damon Jones: paid. Mike Miller: paid. James Jones: paid. James Posey: paid...

With Rich Paul and Tristan's contract, that's just a given that it was going to happen......honestly I'm glad a hardworkin guy like Tristan will be the beneficiary.

Look how much money LeBron just made for Dan Gilbert.

This is all part of the LeBron package; and 31 other teams would sign right up.

LeBron knows how much money this cat wields. He's no Mickey Arison with the cheddar.


If LeBron had it his way, he'd probably want Mark Jackson to be the coach, because he's represented by Rich Paul.

LeBron is going to bypass whatever coach he's playing for anyways.

Don't you think he'd like it if another one of his boys got paid?

Then there's this reality...

Dan has cash, that isn't a question. Miller and Jones were locker room guys. Jones actually played pretty well this year.

The Andy contract is the only one that bites them in the ass right now.

Last year was the euphoria year, LBJ back, Q packed etc. TT is going to get paid; young player, still upside, durable as hell. He should get paid. But is he a MAX guy? Doubt it, guy has NO offense. Ball bounces off his hands, clogs the lane. 13-14 mil? That's about right.

If they MAX him without a competing offer, then LBJ is abusing Dan a bit.

That contract will be interesting to see how much power LBJ can wield through Rich Paul.
 
4 year 52 mill with the starting year 12.5.

A max is 4 year 68 mill for him I believe, he wont be offered that nor will he get that.

This is my guess, he gets a bit less than what is being reported, but even the 52 mill is a bit of an over pay. He is a 10 mill a year guy whose situation is getting him over 10 mill extra, he should be thrilled.
 
Buried in ESPN's NBA lockdown podcast from last night, Windy said that LeBron would not be re-signing until the Cavs lock up Tristan. I had not heard that before.

I assumed the Cavs might let this drag out a bit and even let Tristan sign an offer from another team before matching it. But if LeBron is putting that kind of pressure on them, we might be looking at close to a max contract to get this done. Cavs don't want a Bledsoe situation with LeBron out there as a free agent.
 
4 year 52 mill with the starting year 12.5.

A max is 4 year 68 mill for him I believe, he wont be offered that nor will he get that.

This is my guess, he gets a bit less than what is being reported, but even the 52 mill is a bit of an over pay. He is a 10 mill a year guy whose situation is getting him over 10 mill extra, he should be thrilled.

Some higher ups on the board have said they don't think he makes it to RFA (which suggests a max offer is coming on July 1st to me), but I'm curious if the F.O. will offer him a contract like the one you just put out there (4 years, 52 million), which then causes Tristan and Rich Paul to gamble on other teams giving him the max, therefor letting the market determine how much Tristan is worth.

Big thing here is Tristan wants to return, Rich Paul wants him to return, and the Cavs want him back, so it's not like we can piss him off enough to where he accepts the QO and becomes an unrestricted free agent next season...so the smart thing to do would be to see if you can save yourself some tax dollars, which I think the Cavs will do, then let things play themselves out from there.
 
4 year 52 mill with the starting year 12.5.

A max is 4 year 68 mill for him I believe, he wont be offered that nor will he get that.

This is my guess, he gets a bit less than what is being reported, but even the 52 mill is a bit of an over pay. He is a 10 mill a year guy whose situation is getting him over 10 mill extra, he should be thrilled.

I agree that's what the number should be but he already turned down 12 million a year. I find it hard to believe he would have risked playing on a 1 year deal and then accept something marginally higher 12 months later.

I realize that is ultimately up to a team (or our FO) extending an offer but I'd be pretty surprised if he signs for anything lass than 14 per season. 4 years, 56 million seems like the floor to me. If the team wants to reward him for being a good soldier, 4 years, 60.

Even at 15 million per season, it's a reasonable deal given his age and the inevitable cap increase. On a percentage basis, it would be around a 10 million dollar deal under the current cap. Seems like a contract that is very easy to move if you decided he's expendable.
 
Buried in ESPN's NBA lockdown podcast from last night, Windy said that LeBron would not be re-signing until the Cavs lock up Tristan. I had not heard that before.

I assumed the Cavs might let this drag out a bit and even let Tristan sign an offer from another team before matching it. But if LeBron is putting that kind of pressure on them, we might be looking at close to a max contract to get this done. Cavs don't want a Bledsoe situation with LeBron out there as a free agent.

Heard LBJ will be the last to sign to give them as much space as possible during FA.
So technically he would be AFTER TT, but that seems like a "spin" of him simply waiting to be last as a formality.

Fucking ESPIN
 
If TT's getting 15 mil, he'd better be working his ass off on developing a shot and some kind of consistent move in the lane. Dude's a great hustler, but hustle doesn't seem to be worth 15 mil to me.

To us, he is worth 15 million. To most teams, probably not.

We have ZERO flexibility moving forward. Finding another big (who even has a pulse), with the assets we have left, is probably not happening. To find one that is 24 and coming off a post-season where he averaged a double-double? Impossible.

I don't champion TT as a perfect player, he certainly has his flaws but we pretty much have no leverage when it comes to him. His agent knows we can't afford to lose him and LeBron has been openly campaigning to keep him around. His market value is realistically 10-12 million a season but there's absolutely no chance we get him for that, given what he has already turned down.
 
No one is going to pay him 17 million. Mark Gasol , LMA, Westbrook, Love, Harden, Cousins, Paul George, John Wall - all made less than that this year.

That's irrelevent.

Probably 40-50 players made more than Steph Curry this year.

LMA and Love will also sign new deals this summer that net them 3-4 more per year than a maxed out TT would get.

It's not about comparing player contracts. Especially since in the NBA these days almost everyone gets a new deal every 4 years. It's about what the market and market forces bear.
 
To us, he is worth 15 million. To most teams, probably not.

We have ZERO flexibility moving forward. Finding another big (who even has a pulse), with the assets we have left, is probably not happening. To find one that is 24 and coming off a post-season where he averaged a double-double? Impossible.

I don't champion TT as a perfect player, he certainly has his flaws but we pretty much have no leverage when it comes to him. His agent knows we can't afford to lose him and LeBron has been openly campaigning to keep him around. His market value is realistically 10-12 million a season but there's absolutely no chance we get him for that, given what he has already turned down.

What do you mean we have zero flexibility when it comes to him? We can match ANY offer and if no one offers him one we get him on the cheap for another year. That gives us all the flexibility. Draymond Green is 25 coming off a post season where he averaged a double double and is a free agent. Not saying I want him at all but it isn't impossible. I think we could and should have all the flexibility but I also think our front office is so bent over by LeBron that we are going to do whatever to please him even if it's not a smart move and signing TT to a max or close isn't bright just like resigning AV to that deal wasn't. One dimensional players are not worth that and that's LeBrons biggest issue its always about him and what he wants or he just threatens to walk.
 
To us, he is worth 15 million. To most teams, probably not.

We have ZERO flexibility moving forward. Finding another big (who even has a pulse), with the assets we have left, is probably not happening. To find one that is 24 and coming off a post-season where he averaged a double-double? Impossible.

I don't champion TT as a perfect player, he certainly has his flaws but we pretty much have no leverage when it comes to him. His agent knows we can't afford to lose him and LeBron has been openly campaigning to keep him around. His market value is realistically 10-12 million a season but there's absolutely no chance we get him for that, given what he has already turned down.

So what's he gonna do? Go somewhere else for less money? If no one else is willing to pay him 15 million, why are we?
 

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