The Cleveland Cavaliers and Tristan Thompson have not been able to agree on a contract and reports have the Cavs pulling their previous five year- $80 million offer to the big man. Kevin Love is looking to make his preseason debut, while LeBron James had a back injection and also said that he is not concerned about Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert being injured to start the season.
The Cavaliers are coming back after a very busy summer and the one major thing they did not get done was a contract with Thompson. According to ESPN.com, Thompson is holding out from the team right now after deciding not to sign his qualifying offer and now the two sides are in a bit of a stalemate. Brian Windhorst at ESPN reports that the holdout for Thompson could extend into the regular season and that it could take a "third party event" to get things completed.
UPDATE: According to Chris Haynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Cavaliers and Thompson's camp are not talking about a deal. The two sides have not been communicating.
According to Ohio.com, James had an injection in his back and he is unlikely to play again this preseason. James is the leader of the team and while he said the Thompson situation was a bit of a "distraction," James is not worried about the makeup of the roster. James said he is ready to start the season and is looking to get the Cavs back to the finals.
Thompson and the Cavs were reportedly close to a deal in July, with reports saying that Thompson was agreeing to a five year deal worth $80 million. That did not end up happening and now things likely will extend into the regular season. According to Basketball Insiders, the Cavaliers pulled their five year offer to Thompson after the qualifying offer deadline passed and now the two sides are waiting each other out to see who will budge first. Thompson reportedly is willing to sign a shorter term deal at around $50 million for three years, but the Cavs have not been willing to offer that yet.
The Cavs have Irving out for a stretch after he had knee surgery in the offseason following his injury in the finals, but he appears to be recovering on schedule. Chris Haynes at Cleveland.com reports that Irving is progressing well and that he could be back within a month or two for the Cavs. Kevin Love has not played in the preseason yet as he comes back from shoulder surgery, but Chris Fedor at Cleveland.com reports that his debut could come this weekend against the Toronto Raptors.
The Cavaliers made a number of moves this offseason and now with the Thompson situation, the team could use a trade exception to try and make up for his absence. The team traded Brendan Haywood to the Blazers to make an exception after trading Rakeem Christmas to the Pacers and those moves followed the team signing James Jones and Richard Jefferson. Matthew Dellavedova and JR Smith signed back soon after the team also brought in Sasha Kaun from overseas after they moved Haywood.
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