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Tristan Thompson

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I find it interesting that people take into consideration on LeBron possibly leaving because he would be "pissed" about Thompson's deal, or anything else for that matter.

Bron has already stated he plans to finish his career right here. After next summer when he signs his max deal, all of this so called "leverage" to keep the Cavs and Gilbert in check will be gone.

When you talk about getting Tristan's deal done, you have to be realistic. While LeBron surely wants his boy to be here and paid well, he isn't clueless when it comes to the salary cap situation. He isn't going to run to tell Griff and Gilbert to pay Thompson $90M just because he's friends with him.

TT's deal should and likely will be done soon, but I don't believe it pisses LeBron off one way or another, because at the end of the day Thompson will be in a Cavs jersey next season.
 
CavsRules said:
Bron has already stated he plans to finish his career right here. After next summer when he signs his max deal, all of this so called "leverage" to keep the Cavs and Gilbert in check will be gone.

TT's deal should and likely will be done soon, but I don't believe it pisses LeBron off one way or another, because at the end of the day Thompson will be in a Cavs jersey next season.
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The Fear on the part of us is the fact he has done it before, and we're so scared we'll screw it up that he might do it again. After the summer of '10 we are subservient to Lebron's interests and the knowledge that Lebron the businessman is always at work. The reason this deal is covered so heavily is the same reason that it's considered a formality already, Lebron the player and Lebron the Businessman are involved and heavily invested in it.

Do i think that TT will be in a Cavs jersey next year and down the road? Yes, most certainly
Do I think that Lebron will be in a Cavs jersey next year and down the road? Definitely
But am I still scared of losing Lebron? yes, because he is the best player in the world
 
Chopz said:
Do you want me to answer all of these? The Cavs wanted JR to opt in this summer and when he didn't he fell on their priority list. Multiple people have talked about he isn't likely back on a multi-year deal. If anything, the second year would be a team option. As for Andy, Moz, and TT, I wrote extensively about the Cavs' front court situations going forward on the front page on RCF.
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You're making it sound like the Cavs are possibly not willing to retain even all of their core roster (i.e. Mozgov and/or JR in particular). Is there any reason for this? Why wouldn't the Cavs just pay whatever it takes to keep them (while keeping that cost as low as possible, of course). And why were the Cavs upset that JR didn't opt in?
 
It's not that the Cavs aren't willing, it's that we're talking about them building up one of the highest payrolls in NBA history for this upcoming season. The Cavs absolutely wanted JR to opt in this summer. JR probably overvalued his own market value, and now he really has no leverage in talks with the Cavs, which is good for the team.

Free Agency God said:
You're making it sound like the Cavs are possibly not willing to retain even all of their core roster (i.e. Mozgov and/or JR in particular). Is there any reason for this? Why wouldn't the Cavs just pay whatever it takes to keep them (while keeping that cost as low as possible, of course). And why were the Cavs upset that JR didn't opt in?
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The claim that "the Cavs will keep TT because LBJ wants them to" may be correct, but it may be in the context of an underlying understanding for which we lack the details.

Clearly, LBJ's support hasn't given TT unlimited bargaining power because if it had, the Cavs already would have been forced to offer a long term deal acceptable to TT. That hasn't happened, so clearly, there is a limit.

My guess is that there's probably a general agreement among all concerned that the Cavs will match any offer TT gets, either this off season or next. All three parties (Cavs, LBJ, TT) are willing to live with that as the fallback next off season. But LBJ's support for TT/expectation for the Cavs does not extend to simply giving TT whatever he asks.

The only wrinkle is that the parties are also open to seeing if a mutually agreeable long-term deal can be reached this summer that might benefit all concerned. But so far, they haven't found a solution.

So I don't doubt chopz's point. If TT plans to re-sign as long as the Cavs match whatever offer he gets next summer, and if the Cavs have communicated that they are willing to do that, then he's staying.

That's my guess as to what has gone on behind the scenes, and it fits everything else we've heard.
 
Cavs Down Under said:
The Fear on the part of us is the fact he has done it before, and we're so scared we'll screw it up that he might do it again. After the summer of '10 we are subservient to Lebron's interests and the knowledge that Lebron the businessman is always at work. The reason this deal is covered so heavily is the same reason that it's considered a formality already, Lebron the player and Lebron the Businessman are involved and heavily invested in it.

Do i think that TT will be in a Cavs jersey next year and down the road? Yes, most certainly
Do I think that Lebron will be in a Cavs jersey next year and down the road? Definitely
But am I still scared of losing Lebron? yes, because he is the best player in the world
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LeBron did NOT like being the villain. He did not wear the black hat easily.

Do you think he would risk a public relations gaffe of that size on a team he had plenty (if not all) of the say in, that was CLEARLY a title contender with the current cast AND Coach?

and a follow-up question.... Really??
 
Yeah. I agree with Chris here. LeBron doesn't want to be the villain and his PR is at an all-time high right now since he came back.

Chris Parker said:
LeBron did NOT like being the villain. He did not wear the black hat easily.

Do you think he would risk a public relations gaffe of that size on a team he had plenty (if not all) of the say in, that was CLEARLY a title contender with the current cast AND Coach?

and a follow-up question.... Really??
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The Human Q-Tip said:
.

So I don't doubt chopz's point. If TT plans to re-sign as long as the Cavs match whatever offer he gets next summer, and if the Cavs have communicated that they are willing to do that, then he's staying.

That's my guess as to what has gone on behind the scenes, and it fits everything else we've heard.
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I think the contention lies in TT's belief in an offer that has never materialized. If there were someone willing to pay him $16M+ it would be one thing, but I don't think even in future salary terms there are (m)any teams willing to pay him $14M, seeing as how his talents are not overwhelmingly unique.

Ed Davis and Jason Thompson once boasted a similar skill set. Which isn't to say he isn't good, but sometimes when the NBA changes things become less valuable.

I seriously wonder how long TT can maintain the defensive versatility he has, and how long it will be able to compensate for a startling lack of offensive ability and I.Q. If he played defense as well as Rodman it would be one thing, but as has been demonstrated, he's not much better than Kevin Love at the rim. So you're paying him for perimeter D and offensive rebounding and hustle. You sure you can't find someone that can do that at 80-90% of that ability (maybe in the 2nd round? Like Jordan Mickey?) for say, 10-20% of the cost? It's not easy, but it's possible, and that's what makes paying him so much w/o a suitor so difficult.

I think THQT's right, the front office could've communicated that we'll match whatever you get. if you think you'll get more next year sign the tender and we'll do this next off-season (secretly hoping exactly this happens).

then whatever noise is made is just hip-hop braggadocio and he signs the tender and has reason to be even better. But even next off-season I question whether anyone brings a player so limited offensively a 5/$80M contract.

the game is moving toward a style where EVERYONE can shoot. Been moving that way a while. TT is a dinosaur, and I don't think his talents are going to age well. Which isn't to say don't sign him, but trying to trade a guy to other teams that does something that is out of fashion and is wildly overpaid is not a fun task. I remember when Atlanta had Jon Koncak.....
 
CavsRules said:
I find it interesting that people take into consideration on LeBron possibly leaving because he would be "pissed" about Thompson's deal, or anything else for that matter.

Bron has already stated he plans to finish his career right here. After next summer when he signs his max deal, all of this so called "leverage" to keep the Cavs and Gilbert in check will be gone.
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Lebron is not going to destroy his legacy by leaving Cleveland a second time because the backup power forward wasn't re-signed to a max contract. That's just crazy talk.
 
The TT situation is interesting for a variety of reasons. Neither side has as much leverage as they probably think, and thus no deal is done yet. LeBron's involvement isn't one of "I'll threaten to leave" if TT isn't taken care of, but more of what he did last year with Eric Bledsoe. He will look out for his Klutch family and has done that with TT this offseason in both his interview at the 'Trainwreck' premiere and his Twitter conversation.
 
yes, well, he should, it's part of his brand. Media is about fluffing. the truth lies somewhere below the crest.
 
That is not what he said. For me anyway there is a gulf of difference from "one of the top available UFAs" and max.

Indeed, I struggle to think of a team who would pay him that next year to play PF.

Now perhaps someone thinks he can play C, and maybe they would give a C that (watch what Whiteside gets), but TT is not a C in my mind....
 
"One of the top FAs" next summer is still more money than a deal would be right now. He laid out the risks for both TT and the Cavs. Doesn't seem favorable to the Cavs to go into next summer with both TT and Moz as UFA. That's a lot of uncertainty.

Chris Parker said:
That is not what he said. For me anyway there is a gulf of difference from "one of the top available UFAs" and max.
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