The Cleveland Cavaliers are working on signing Tristan Thompson to a contract extension and the team may look at a Jamal Crawford trade for Brendan Haywood's unguaranteed deal or Anderson Varejao with the Clippers and this comes as LeBron James has signed and wants JR Smith to return along with Matthew Dellavedova to join Mo Williams, who signed in free agency.
The Cavaliers have taken care of a number of priorities this summer already by signing back Kevin Love, Iman Shumpert and James, but James is looking for the team to do more. Adding Williams was a nice move, as he can be a true backup for Kyrie Irving and be some outside shooting when needed late in games. But the biggest issue left for the Cavaliers is signing back Tristan Thompson and that is something that James mentioned by name when asked about it at his movie premiere in Akron last week.
James said that he wants to see the team get things done with Thompson and he also dropped JR Smith's name as someone else that he hopes will return. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Thompson and the Cavs are still talking, but so far a deal is not close. As this is going on the team is also talking deals with Haywood and the Clippers could be an option for Jamal Crawford.
The team was trying to move Haywood and Anderson Varejao to the Nets for Joe Johnson, but with Deron Williams gone, Brooklyn is planning to keep Johnson. The Cavs are also interested in bringing back Smith and Dellavedova, but Chris Mannix at SI.com reports that the team and Delly are "at an impasse" for now due to their "sizable luxury tax."
Check here for more on the Tristan Thompson contract talks, LeBron James and his thoughts on the Cavs offseason moves, the potential return of JR Smith, the status of Matthew Dellavedova and for more on the potential trade with Brendan Haywood and interest in Jamal Crawford.
According to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal, the Cavaliers and Thompson are talking about a deal and general manager David Griffin said that he "hopes" an agreement happens and that it may not be "relatively soon." Earlier in the offseason there were reports that the Cavs and Thompson were close on an $80 million extension, but that turned out to be wrong, as later it came out that the sides "were apart" in talks. Cleveland.com reported that the gap between Thompson and the Cavs was "not vast," but clearly enough to keep a deal from happening.
James spoke about Thompson earlier in the season, saying that he hopes the team will sign back Thompson. Last season Thompson averaged 8.5 points and eight rebounds per game and showed his value in the playoffs with Kevin Love out. The team is likely going to get a deal done and this comes as the Cavs are also looking to deal Brendan Haywood. According to Chris Fedor at the Northeast Ohio Media Group, the team has until July 31 before Haywood's deal is guaranteed and that would basically take him off the trade market.
The team reportedly is looking to deal Haywood's contract and Crawford could be the target with the Clippers. The Cavs have been interested in adding some perimeter shooting and bench scoring and Crawford would fit that bill. Haywood's $10.5 million is unguaranteed until that date and Crawford could be an option over Nick Young, as the Cavs have not shown interest in a deal with the Lakers in recent weeks.
