One meme about Tristan Thompson captures perfectly the situation between him and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and how his insistence on getting an undeserved max contract comes from being delusional, or simply greedy.
Whether it’s coming from Thompson, “advisors” or his own agent, which is strongly connected to LeBron James in more than just professional ties, it doesn’t matter. Thompson is the only one of the restricted free agents who hasn’t signed a new deal, and the deadline for even signing a one-year tender which makes him a free agent by the end of this season has passed.
This whole saga is hurting mostly Thompson, although the Cavaliers preparing for the season without an important player aren’t exactly benefiting from all of this, at least not in the short term. Long term? They might be better off without Thompson, especially with the money that he’s asking for.
One excellent way to see how Rich Paul and Thompson haven’t folded soon enough in this Poker game is the fact that they didn’t go for the one-year tender. Thompson always wanted $94 million for five years, the Cavaliers weren’t giving him more than $80 million. Paul said that Thompson can sign a max deal next season and there are a few teams waiting for him to become available. But if that was true, Thompson would have ended this saga by signing a one year deal.
But turns out no one wants a player who doesn’t do much besides provide excellent offensive rebounding, at least not in a way that stands out. I mean, teams would love to have Thompson on their side, but not for the price he’s asking for. And the deadline passed, and the Thompson-Paul duo has already bent a little bit, trying to get the Cavaliers to agree to a 3-year, $53 million offer. For now, the Cavaliers aren’t budging from their initial offer, and Thompson, because of greed, is losing with every day that goes by while he’s unsigned.