Cleveland Cavaliers: Grading The Tristan Thompson Deal

Exactly 113 days ago, it was first reported that the Cleveland Cavaliers had agreed to a five-year, $80 million contract extension with Tristan Thompson. And 112 days after that first day of free agency, the Cavaliers actually agreed to a five-year extension for Thompson, though this one was worth $82 million.

Aren’t you glad you stuck around for this long and drama-filled journey? THAT EXTRA $2 MILLION MATTERS, PEOPLE!

In all seriousness, with the deal finally being done and both sides avoiding a messy holdout situation, where does each side stand? And what grade do the Cavs earn for drastically overpaying to compete for a championship in 2015-16?

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For starters, the basic facts of the deal are important. Thompson’s new contract is for five fully guaranteed years, with no opt-out. That lack of future flexibility for Thompson is helpful for the Cavs, who will be able to trade him further down the line when the NBA’s salary cap is so large that even this deal won’t look so bad.

And make no mistake about it: In a vacuum, this deal is pretty bad.

It wasn’t long ago that Tristan Thompson was viewed as a waste of a top-five draft pick, much like Dion Waiters was for the Cavs. Selected fourth overall in 2011, Thompson averaged 11.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game in his best season in 2012-13, but was seen as part of the problem with those lackluster Cleveland teams that daydreamed about the return of LeBron James.

Thompson slightly regressed in his third season, and then in 2014-15, the arrival of Kevin Love saw him return to a bench role where he averaged a meager 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in 26.8 minutes per game.

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His effort, improved defense, offensive rebounding, and simply being an extra body down low after Anderson Varejao went down were all extremely useful to the Cavs last season, but let’s be honest: if it weren’t for Love’s shoulder injury and Thompson’s breakout postseason, nobody would’ve dreamed of paying him an average of $16.5 million a year.

And yet, here we are. When Love went down, Thompson moved into the starting lineup and proved himself on the offensive glass, earning extra possessions for the Cavs against the Chicago Bulls’ highly vaunted frontcourt and the small-ball Golden State Warriors in the championship series.

One successful postseason run — borne of an injury to the guy ahead of him in the rotation — earned Thompson this absurdly inflated payday, which is identical to the deal Draymond Green got this summer. One is one of the league’s best defenders and the second most important player for the defending NBA champs, who won 67 games last year. The other is Tristan Thompson.

That alone should tell you that based on production and salary figures alone, this is a drastic overpay.

In terms of actual production, what Thompson brings to the table is nowhere near befitting the salary of the sixth highest paid power forward in the league. If you were to put every player in the NBA in a pool and redraft the entire league, Tristan Thompson probably wouldn’t be taken until the very end of the second round.

There are also the luxury tax considerations to take into account. While I joked earlier about that extra $2 million “mattering,” it actually does matter a little bit to Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, whose team is already WAY over the tax line and who is writing an extra luxury tax check for every extra dollar spent.

According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Cavs are bordering on making history:

So why did the Cavs overpay — both in salary AND with luxury tax implications in mind — for an 8 and 8 player who will simply back up Kevin Love off the bench? After all, the Cavs are now dishing out a combined $192 million between their two power forwards, and have shelled out more than $290 million in guaranteed money this summer.

Well, that’s kind of the point: contracts can’t be examined in a vacuum anymore. And with LeBron James approaching his 31st birthday and the Cavaliers still in search of their first ever championship, now is the time to pay up.

King James won’t be in his prime forever, and with Kyrie Irving out until January and Varejao as fragile as fine china, Cleveland needs able bodies to ease the burden on LeBron. Thompson is more than that, as someone capable of bringing relentless energy in his extended bursts off the bench.

Love is back from his shoulder injury, but he hasn’t had the cleanest bill of health over the years either. Paying $16.5 million a year for a backup power forward seems like a lot, especially since the frontcourt is already crowded with Love, Varejao, Timofey Mozgov and even LeBron capable of playing minutes there.

But after King James spoke up about this holdout being a distraction, both sides quickly agreed to a deal, and that’s the most important thing. It’s not just about keeping the best player in the league happy; it’s about putting aside any internal issues that could derail this team’s championship aspirations.

To that end, re-signing Thompson and ending this ugly staring contest was essential. Thompson is one of the game’s most devastating offensive rebounders and even if he’s not much of a rim protector, he’s still only 24 years old.

His deal won’t look so bad a few years down the road when the NBA’s salary cap skyrockets, and even if it does, that’s simply the price you pay to compete for championships.

Even though the Cavs overpaid for his services, the final figure was $12 million less than the five-year, $94 million max deal that Thompson and his agent Rich Paul had been holding out for. It may not feel like it, but $82 million is a victory for Cleveland by comparison, especially since they held their ground.

With the first game of the 2015-16 NBA season being only five days away, it was essential for these two sides to come to an agreement. Thompson has missed training camp and will likely get off to a slow start now, but at least he’ll be on the court for the beginning of the new season.

For better or worse, the Cleveland Cavaliers went all in on Tristan Thompson. But with the larger context of winning a title in mind, not to mention the fact that LeBron and Thompson share the same agent, overpaying to rectify a potentially uncomfortable relationship has the Cavs all in on a championship quest in 2015-16.

Grade: B-

Next: NBA: Complete Offseason Grades For All 30 Teams

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