The Cleveland Cavaliers and Tristan Thompson have not been able to agree to a contract extension and his agent is continuing to push for a max deal, as he thinks the Toronto Raptors could be a free agent landing spot for the max next summer for Thompson. The Cavs are dealing with Kyrie Irving and his knee injury and he could be out until January
The Cavaliers and Thompson have been talking since the end of the season about a contract extension and the sides do not appear close to a deal. According to Ric Bucher at Bleacher Report, Thompson and his agent Rich Paul are looking for a max deal and the Cavs so far have not offered one. The team offered a deal at around $80 million for five years, but Thompson and his camp rejected that offer. Bucher reports that Paul "believes" that the Raptors could give Thompson a max deal next summer if Thompson is on the market.
A max deal for Thompson would be over $90 million and with the Cavaliers already giving Kevin Love a max deal and signing back numerous players, they may not want to go that high for Thompson. Brian Windhorst reported earlier in the summer that the sides were at a "stalemate" in talks and that stemmed from Thompson not having a real "precedent" for negotiating his deal. Thompson has shown great potential, but with Love already in Cleveland it might be tough to hand out another max deal.
The Cavaliers will not have Kyrie Irving healthy for the start of the season, as reports have him out until possibly January. According to Chris Haynes at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Irving is making solid progress on his rehab from knee surgery, but courses say the Cavaliers will be cautious in bringing him back to avoid having a setback. Irving could be "unavailable" until January and that would leave Mo Williams and Matthew Dellavedova as options to start early in the season.
LeBron James has mentioned Thompson publically this summer and he would like to see him back on a long term deal. Bucher went on in his report about James and how he feels about the Thompson deal and the Cavs are not worried that LeBron could possibly leave Cleveland again if this deal doesn't get done. The Cavs have signed back JR Smith, Matthew Dellavedova, James Jones, James, Iman Shumpert and brought in Mo Williams and Richard Jefferson, so one can claim the team hasn't been active in trying to keep this team together.
The Raptors would have to make some moves to even have a chance at signing Thompson and even then, signing him is no guarantee. The team likely would have to get rid of DeMar DeRozan or Terrence Ross to be able to offer Thompson the max. Thompson could be considering signing his qualifying offer and that would be a one year deal that makes him an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Check here for more on the Cavaliers and the Tristan Thompson talks. Check here for more on Kyrie Irving.
