Tristan Thompson now a virtual outsider for Cavs

http://espn.go.com/blog/cleveland-cavaliers/post/_/id/1152/tristan-thompson-now-a-virtual-outsider-for-cavs



Tristan Thompson now a virtual outsider for Cavs
16h

Dave McMenamin, ESPN Staff Writer




INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- The Cleveland Cavaliers’ message on Friday, considered the first official day that Tristan Thompson’s contract standoff with the team escalated to a “holdout” situation, was loud and clear:

If you are not going to be present for training camp, you are not going to be weighing on our minds.

“Right now, my thoughts are just about the guys that are here and how hard and how well they are working and no specific expectation otherwise,” said Cavs coach David Blatt when asked for his reaction to Thompson letting the Cavs’ one-year, $6.8 million qualifying offer for this season expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday without accepting it. “Just happy to see our guys working as well as they are."

Blatt punctuated his indifference towards the free agent big man by revealing he didn’t even bother to stay up late Thursday night to find out Thompson’s decision.

“I was liking the dream I was having,” Blatt said with a wry smile. “Usually I don’t go to sleep that early, but last night I was tired. We’re just back at it. We’ve got to focus on the now and here and that’s what we’re doing.”

The Cavs spent Friday removing Thompson’s likeness from any signage that adorns Quicken Loans Arena, as captured in a tweet by Northeast Ohio Media Group’s Chris Haynes:


Chris HaynesVerified account
‏@ChrisBHaynes
An elevator at The Q is getting a facelift today...




They also removed all Thompson-related merchandise from the team stop at The Q as well as from their online store.


Courtesy of Dave McMenamin


With the qualifying offer off the table, negotiations will shift to both sides focusing on a multi-year agreement. Thompson’s agent, Rich Paul, recently vacated a five-year, $94 million max contract demand for his client in favor of a preferred three-year, $53 million deal, per league sources. The Cavs have already tendered a five-year, $80 million offer to Thompson, according to sources.

Friday was the fourth consecutive day of camp that Thompson missed, however Blatt was adamant that the big man’s absence has not caused a distraction as his team readies itself for the regular season.

"We got a veteran group,” Blatt said. “We got a very professional group of guys going about their business and going about their jobs the way that they should. The team is working and we are going to continue to do so."



bob
MY NOTE:  Thompson was a helluva force throughout the playoffs last year.  He is almost like a modern-day Moses Malone at how hard he was to keep off the offensive boards, but a max deal?  His numbers don't come anywhere near close enough to justify that kind of contract.


.

Agreed

Way, way too much $$$$

Dboss

He'll get it I bet.

what did Henson just resign for $44M over 4 years?

Thompson has proven to be a much better player than Henson as is just as young....IMO.

I also feel the Cav's should have kept Thompson over Love myself, and not because I wanted Love here.

rumor I read was that Portland was a possible landing spot for him now. They are about $18 M under the cap at this point, so they can make him a long term or short term offer at his price point.

forcing the Cav's to go DEEP into tax territory to match him or try to work out a sign and trade with them.....or maybe the Cav's will just let him walk.

either way good for US if he's not on the Cav's next year OR they are cap strapped over even NEXT years high cap numbers!

Cav's have over $90M on the books for NEXT year (including James) for only NINE players. IF they keep Thompson they will be well over $100M in salary's.

Money makes people do some crazy things. Cleveland will be less powerful without this guy, but he seems very strong in his belief that he is going to be highly paid.

In the end, he will get his money from somewhere very soon.

The Cavs offer of $80 million for five years seems very generous. Thompson is a very good rebounder, but he was exposed as a limited player in the finals against a pace-and-space team. He couldn't defend against the Warriors' small lineup, and he's so weak offensively that he couldn't make them pay at the other end.

He's a role player who averaged 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds during the regular season. The Cavs have LeBron, Irving, and Love to carry the load. They have Mozgov, Varejao, and Love in the frontcourt.

Thompson isn't happy to make $16 million per year as Love's backup? Some of these players and agents seems drunk on the cap numbers coming in the next few years. It makes no sense to me. What the Cavs have offered Thompson already doesn't make sense to me.

I like Thompson but he is nothing more than a role player.  He averages 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds, 0.7 Blocks .05 assists... nothing there that would justify what he is asking for.  The cavs made a very reasonable albeit outrageous offer of $80 million over 5 years.  He played well in the playoffs and his numbers went up but considering that Love got injured in the first round Thompson's season averages are probably more reflective of what to expect from him

The Cavs want to get Love more involved in the offense so Thompson's scoring opportunities will remain the same or even decrease.  

The Cavs need to stand firm and just say no.  The salary cap increase does not approach infinity.  Teams will still have to manage the cap.

His agent originally asked for $93 mill over 5 and has revised that to $53 mill over three.

Does anyone out there think that he is worth $17,000,000 per year?


Dboss