Tristan Thompson

[The Human Q-Tip]

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He's yet to really prove himself as an agent. So maybe he's using Tristan Thompson to try to separate himself, from just being seen as a LeBron flunky.

Not even suggesting Paul isn't a smart guy, but I think his inflated ego has gotten too big for him.

If I was Tristan, I know he won't do it, I would consider cutting ties with him. Of course unless this is all just an end game, and they've already agreed they will sign back no matter what this year, and they're just trying to squeeze every last penny out of Danny (which is fine for them).

But, if there's an outside chance he really is willing to test the market with Tristan next year, and Paul is believing his own hot air at this point. I would fire him if I'm Tristan. He's going to cost him a lot of money.

It's Paul's job to get the best offers for TT, but it's up to TT to accept them or not. If TT is satisfied with whatever the Cavs last offer is, he doesn't have to fire Paul. Just say you want the offer on the table, and it's over.

I can't fathom a player having the awareness and assertiveness to fire his agent, but being to oblivious and/or timid to simply say you want the offer on the table.

 

[godfather]

By the way, weren't the Knicks talking about trading their 4th pick, to the Suns for Bledsoe? So yeah, they would have paid him the max in a heartbeat.

You know he's thinking right now you suck Paul, you cost me money, which he did.

 

[Helium filament]

Some clarification of what we've offered and what Paul wants, according to Haynes.

Chris Haynes: I’m not really sure what the outcome will be, but all I know is Rich Paul is asking for five years and $94MM and the Cavaliers are $14MM short of that figure. That’s Randy Moss-type separation. There’s limited to zero communication because of that tremendous gap. If Tristan takes the qualifying offer, according to Paul, his client is gone after the 2015/16 season. And if he takes a hike, the Cavaliers won’t have the resources to replace him. The Cavaliers believe they’ve presented a more-than-generous offer for a player who figures to be a backup for them. I suspect a long-term deal is reached closer to camp. Paul has shown he’s more than willing to play the waiting game.

http://www.hoopsrumors.com/2015/09/the-beat-chris-haynes-cavs.html

 

[godfather]

[


It's Paul's job to get the best offers for TY, but it's up to TT to accept them. If TT is satisfied with whatever the Cavs last offer is, he doesn't have to fire Paul. Just say you want the offer on the table, and it's over.

I can't fathom a player having the awareness and assertiveness to fire his agent, but being to oblivious and/or timid to simply say you want the offer on the table.

Yeah, I don't think he will, but I think TT is getting worked over. I think he trusts Paul too much, he seems like a quiet enough personality to just leave it all up to his agent. But that could prove to be costly for him.

If he were a veteran, seen his fair share of deals, this might all go done differently, but he's a pup when it comes to this world. Paul is probably constantly in his ear. He probably could convince TT the moon is made of cheese at this point.

But there's nothing wrong with working to get more money, that's why you need an agent. I have no problem that they're trying to do. If this is all an end game, and they're going to accept a contract no matter what, then it's good.

If there's an off chance, that Paul is serious, and will test the market with TT, he should get another agent.

 

[HurricaneKid]

If Paul played it smart, he could have gotten Bledsoe probably a max contract this year. Would have been better off signing the QO last year. Given how desperate teams like the Celtics, Knicks, and Lakers are. I have little doubt one of those teams would have offered a talented 25 year old guard, who can score, the max contact.

I remember some of us scoffing at the idea of him getting a max last year when they were asking for it. Boy, he's a bargain at the max, if Tristan could warrant it.

Bledsoe, after 4 years in the NBA had ~8M in career earnings and was the #21 pick so his QO was 2.1M. He has also had a number of injuries cost him a lot of his last few seasons. When you have 70M guaranteed on the table its really really hard to say "Nah I'll take my chances". That is generational wealth. Its one thing if you already have a ton of career earnings. Its another when you are coming out of a rookie deal and you weren't even a lotto pick.

And that is the leverage the Suns had. And used.

 

[HurricaneKid]

Yeah, I don't think he will, but I think TT is getting worked over. I think he trusts Paul too much, he seems like a quiet enough personality to just leave it all up to his agent. But that could prove to be costly for him.

If he were a veteran, seen his fair share of deals, this might all go done differently, but he's a pup when it comes to this world. Paul is probably constantly in his ear. He probably could convince TT the moon is made of cheese at this point.

But there's nothing wrong with working to get more money, that's why you need an agent. I have no problem that they're trying to do. If this is all an end game, and they're going to accept a contract no matter what, then it's good.

If there's an off chance, that Paul is serious, and will test the market with TT, he should get another agent.

This is all pretty presumptuous. I would bet almost anything that Paul told him the game plan well before this process even started. Does anyone really think an energy big off the bench is ever going to have the earning power that TT has right now? Why would he sign for less than he thinks he can get? This is the perfect storm for Tris and one that he won't ever see again. TT isn't going to get into any trouble before camp. And the offer isn't going to go down. Some of you are taking the delay in this process way too seriously. It doesn't matter at all is he signs now or in a month. He is going to be on the team next year no matter what. And there is a 99.9% chance he comes into the season with a multiyear deal.

If he really does take the QO, hate on him then. Until then, just breathe and let this take its course. Its pretty obvious to me where this ends up.

 

[godfather]

Bledsoe, after 4 years in the NBA had ~8M in career earnings and was the #21 pick so his QO was 2.1M. He has also had a number of injuries cost him a lot of his last few seasons. When you have 70M guaranteed on the table its really really hard to say "Nah I'll take my chances". That is generational wealth. Its one thing if you already have a ton of career earnings. Its another when you are coming out of a rookie deal and you weren't even a lotto pick.

And that is the leverage the Suns had. And used.

That still doesn't justify the fact that A.) Paul was trying to get a gigantic deal for his client, and B.) He failed to, badly....

This is something a lot of players have to factor into it. But they didn't appear to last summer.

Sure, some players/agents value security a lot more than the biggest contract, and that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that.

But when you set your sights on a bigger contract, fail to get it, when it turns out you could have, that's just bad negotiating tactics.

Bledsoe is 25, not 32. The odds were still heavily in his favor, he'd get paid one way or another.

Wes Matthews, a guy that's 28, coming off the worst basketball injury you can get, got 70 million.

There's almost no risk, when you're young, have talent like Bledsoe has. You're almost guaranteed to get paid, unless you have a career ending injury.

This is not the same case with Thompson. Although young, not a lot of talent/upside. So if he had a bad injury, his value would drop way off. Part of his value at this point is his durability. If he lost that, then, I don't think many teams would touch him for 10 million plus a year, personally. We're talking a DRASTIC drop off he could risk.

 

[godfather]

This is all pretty presumptuous. I would bet almost anything that Paul told him the game plan well before this process even started. Does anyone really think an energy big off the bench is ever going to have the earning power that TT has right now? Why would he sign for less than he thinks he can get? This is the perfect storm for Tris and one that he won't ever see again. TT isn't going to get into any trouble before camp. And the offer isn't going to go down. Some of you are taking the delay in this process way too seriously. It doesn't matter at all is he signs now or in a month. He is going to be on the team next year no matter what. And there is a 99.9% chance he comes into the season with a multiyear deal.

If he really does take the QO, hate on him then. Until then, just breathe and let this take its course. Its pretty obvious to me where this ends up.

Not even sure why you responded to me with this post, since 90 percent of what you said had nothing to do with what I said.

 

[HurricaneKid]

Not even sure why you responded to me with this post, since 90 percent of what you said had nothing to do with what I said.

You were talking about an interpersonal relationship none of us have any idea about. It was an enormous leap to take and IMO, it shouldn't have been made. I mean I guess we are in a 700 page thread about a bench player in the dead of the offseason but I still think this is just creating information to fit our desires at this point. The notion that an agent, and a horribly inexperienced one at that, could talk TT into doing things he didn't want to do is really peculiar to me. It feels like you want to love TT and hate his agent and are altering facts to support that position.

I'd put all I have on this deal getting done at the last possible moment. If I'm wrong, I'll eat my crow at that point. Until then this is exactly what happened last year to the point it feels like a rerun. Getting worked up about it is counterproductive.

 

[godfather]

You were talking about an interpersonal relationship none of us have any idea about. It was an enormous leap to take and IMO, it shouldn't have been made. I mean I guess we are in a 700 page thread about a bench player in the dead of the offseason but I still think this is just creating information to fit our desires at this point. The notion that an agent, and a horribly inexperienced one at that, could talk TT into doing things he didn't want to do is really peculiar to me. It feels like you want to love TT and hate his agent and are altering facts to support that position.

I'd put all I have on this deal getting done at the last possible moment. If I'm wrong, I'll eat my crow at that point. Until then this is exactly what happened last year to the point it feels like a rerun. Getting worked up about it is counterproductive.

You really don't think agents have agendas of their own, and aren't great at manipulating players into their agenda? Seriously? This is kind of naive to not think that could be going on.

Tristan is 23, he's a kid, he's never been in the business world. This is all new to him. It's only natural for someone that young, inexperienced, to rely strictly on his agent to do what is best for him. This is not some shrewd business man, in Tristan, that's working one over the Cavs. I think it's almost laughable to think that.

Getting worked up? I am not getting worked up at all. For all I care, I HOPE Paul is seriously going to push TT to take the QO, because I've stated numerous times, that would work out for the Cavs. I WANT THAT!

I am taking an objective view of this situation, without putting my personal feelings in it here.

For the record, I have no idea what is going on. I said that specifically. If this is all an end game, which I still think it is, and Tristan and Paul already agree they are taking a contract no matter what, but it's about getting the largest dollar cent on the contract possible, it was a good play.

I've never suggest Paul was not a smart man. I was only pointing to the fact his contract with Bledsoe shouldn't be used as a great example of him getting what he wanted in regards to a player.

Plans change all the time. They don't stay the same. Unless you're in the room, specifically, it's hard to guarantee exactly what they're ultimate goal is here. I think all common sense says they are blowing a shit load of smoke, and they will be back here, for the long-term, with an agreed contract this season.

If I was betting, I'd say that's 90 percent likely. But someone could be blowing smoke up Paul's ass, really making him think they could get a max deal for Tristan next summer. I think it's bullshit, but other teams out there, have an ulterior motive in seeing us badly over pay for Tristan, too.

 

[gourimoko]

You were talking about an interpersonal relationship none of us have any idea about. It was an enormous leap to take and IMO, it shouldn't have been made. I mean I guess we are in a 700 page thread about a bench player in the dead of the offseason but I still think this is just creating information to fit our desires at this point.

You probably aren't aware of this because you're new, but @godfather and anyone with a "gold name" has access to part of the site that others do not. In that section, information is shared that isn't shared on the rest of the site.

We can't get into what the information is, and you can choose to believe what he said or not, but I can't let the idea that @godfather just made that up slide; he didn't. He made no leap, and he didn't "create information to fit his own desire." It may or may not be true, but let's not call him a liar because he's repeating something he happened to read elsewhere.

I can understand why it might seem that way, but that's not the case here.

The notion that an agent, and a horribly inexperienced one at that, could talk TT into doing things he didn't want to do is really peculiar to me. It feels like you want to love TT and hate his agent and are altering facts to support that position.

There's reasons to believe this is the case.

I'd put all I have on this deal getting done at the last possible moment. If I'm wrong, I'll eat my crow at that point. Until then this is exactly what happened last year to the point it feels like a rerun. Getting worked up about it is counterproductive.

I'd agree with this.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Normally, TT being more valuable to the Cavs than to most other teams, and with the cap situation moving forward, i'd agree that they"ll reach a long term deal this summer.

But the huge additional tax burden this season may change that, because it creates a disproportionate incentive for the Cavs to have TT play for the QO this season, and lock him up next.

I still think the QO is a real possibility.

 

[HurricaneKid]

You really don't think agents have agendas of their own, and aren't great at manipulating players into their agenda? Seriously? This is kind of naive to not think that could be going on.

Tristan is 23, he's a kid, he's never been in the business world. This is all new to him. It's only natural for someone that young, inexperienced, to rely strictly on his agent to do what is best for him. This is not some shrewd business man, in Tristan, that's working one over the Cavs. I think it's almost laughable to think that.

Getting worked up? I am not getting worked up at all. For all I care, I HOPE Paul is seriously going to push TT to take the QO, because I've stated numerous times, that would work out for the Cavs. I WANT THAT!

I am taking an objective view of this situation, without putting my personal feelings in it here.

For the record, I have no idea what is going on. I said that specifically. If this is all an end game, which I still think it is, and Tristan and Paul already agree they are taking a contract no matter what, but it's about getting the largest dollar cent on the contract possible, it was a good play.

I've never suggest Paul was not a smart man. I was only pointing to the fact his contract with Bledsoe shouldn't be used as a great example of him getting what he wanted in regards to a player.

Plans change all the time. They don't stay the same. Unless you're in the room, specifically, it's hard to guarantee exactly what they're ultimate goal is here. I think all common sense says they are blowing a shit load of smoke, and they will be back here, for the long-term, with an agreed contract this season.

If I was betting, I'd say that's 90 percent likely. But someone could be blowing smoke up Paul's ass, really making him think they could get a max deal for Tristan next summer. I think it's bullshit, but other teams out there, have an ulterior motive in seeing us badly over pay for Tristan, too.

Of course they can. Fegan just got fired by Deandre Jordan, presumably for putting his relationship with Mark Cuban ahead of his relationship with him. But usually those desires align. Getting your client the best deal available makes them the most money too. And players look forward to their free agency almost as much as draft day. Saying that TT is a pup and doesn't know any better when he has been looking forward to this for years and planning out this process in his mind the whole time rings hollow. There is no world in which he and his agent haven't had conversations about how to play this out to maximize his earnings. If they go M Night and the script completely changes in a month I will be shocked. But until it happens I think this is pretty much open and shut. Keep me here. Get me as much as you possibly can.

I think we are in accordance on pretty much everything else.

 

[godfather]

Of course they can. Fegan just got fired by Deandre Jordan, presumably for putting his relationship with Mark Cuban ahead of his relationship with him. But usually those desires align. Getting your client the best deal available makes them the most money too. And players look forward to their free agency almost as much as draft day. Saying that TT is a pup and doesn't know any better when he has been looking forward to this for years and planning out this process in his mind the whole time rings hollow. There is no world in which he and his agent haven't had conversations about how to play this out to maximize his earnings. If they go M Night and the script completely changes in a month I will be shocked. But until it happens I think this is pretty much open and shut. Keep me here. Get me as much as you possibly can.

I think we are in accordance on pretty much everything else.

Look, I really don't know who is to blame, who is holding it up here. On one hand, we have a 23 year old, that's never made a business decision in his life. He's a kid. We forget that professional athletes can still be kids, and Tristan has barely gotten his feet wet in life.

On the other hand, we have the agent, who does this for a living.

Tristan should man up, and take more initiative, if needed. He's not literally an infant. I am making the counter argument, if Paul is serious (I don't know if he is, and I don't think he is for the record), but if he is. That he thinks Tristan should test free agency next year.

Tristan should see the writing on the wall, and find a new agent.

There's nothing wrong with Tristan wanting to get paid maximum amount he can get. Anyone would feel that way. But there's a difference between wanting that, and then trusting your agent enough to get it.

I am not certain Tristan would be able to see the difference here. Paul could be feeding him with so much right now, like I mention before, that Tristan could believe the moon is made out of cheese if told by Paul.

It's easy to get manipulated by agents, especially when you are young and inexperienced in the business side of sports like Tristan is.

If he were 28, and been around, I'd say he should know better and see things with more clarity.

I think this will all work out fine for them, unfortunately. I guess I kinda am hoping Paul has gone off the deep end, because I don't want him back for anything in the ball park of what it's going to be.

 

[bigking777]

You don't think LeBron is in his ear too?
TT is definitely going to listen to LeBron, who is probably telling him to be strong. Get every dollar you can.