If Tristan Thompson decided today that he wanted to sign the reported five-year, $80 million contract the Cleveland Cavaliers offered him, it doesn’t sound like he would have the option of doing so.
Larry Coon of Basketball Insiders reports that the Cavs have pulled their best offer to Thompson off the table.
One assumption I think we’re safe making is that if there was a big offer sheet waiting for him, he would have signed it by now. The Cavs were under no obligation to leave their $80 million offer on the table, and from what I heard, pulled it as soon as Thompson’s qualifying offer expired.
Thompson is a restricted free agent, and Cleveland’s $6.7 million qualifying offer to him expired on Oct. 1. Thompson had been holding out for a max contract, which left him and the Cavs $14 million apart in negotiations. Now that he has let the qualifying offer expire, Thompson has until March 1 to sign an offer sheet with another team — one the Cavs would have the option of matching. As Dan Feldman of Pro Basketball Talk notes, the Portland Trail Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers are the only teams with the cap space needed to offer Thompson a max contract of five years and $94 million. Neither team is expected to make that offer.
Thompson and his agent may have overplayed their hand, as the Cavs have proven with stunts like this that they are willing to play hardball. Thompson’s best negotiating chip is that LeBron wants Cleveland to keep him, but it doesn’t sound like the Cavs are worried about LeBron leaving if a deal can’t be reached with Thompson.
