Tristan Thompson threw the contract the Cleveland Cavaliers offered him right back, as the 24-year-old power forward out of Texas had a coming out party in the 2015 NBA Finals, and is looking for a major payday.
Thompson averaged 10.8 rebounds in the postseason along with 1.2 blocks per game, making him one of the most efficient players on the court for the Cavaliers at times. For his career so far, Thompson has averaged 8.4 rebounds per game and 10.1 points. As a free-agent, he was recently offered a five-year, $80 million dollar deal by the Cavaliers, only to turn it down.
His reason? Thompson believes his value is more than what he was offered. Thompson would be walking away from $16 million per season, which is a major step up from his modest $5 million a year contract.
As important as LeBron James has said he is to the organization and the future of the team, Thompson falls in the second tier of free agents. This includes Enes Kanter who OKC retained at a tune of four years, $70 million, and Robin Lopez who went to the Knicks at four years, $54 million.
The players who landed the big contracts were ones such as LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol and DeAndre Jordan. While Tristan Thompson might be a game changer given his rebounding ability, he is nowhere near the type of player as the three mentioned above. Aldridge and Gasol are very offensively skilled and can take over a game, while Jordan is the toughest center to defend and will fly around the court to whip away shots.
At the moment, no other team is touching Thompson. However, the Portland Trail Blazers who recently offered Enes Kanter that four-year, $70 million dollar deal, could be in the mix if they chose to make a move.
Thompson's agent is Rich Paul, the same man that represents LeBron James. So while it feels as though Thompson will definitely stay in Cleveland, he needs to figure out a deal with the Cavaliers that won't jeopardize the team in the future.