Cleveland Cavaliers: Tristan Thompson Not Worth The Max

Tristan Thompson is likely going to pull a Michael Bay and go for quantity over quality. What I mean by that is, of course, that he has openly “threatened” to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers if he doesn’t get the contract he wants; which, by the way, is the max.

Fans weren’t too happy:

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https://twitter.com/DHill515/status/630915073310097409

https://twitter.com/PaulTooTall41/status/630930323736432641

https://twitter.com/_____ballxbooks/status/630923602351685632

Does a threat from Tristan Thompson’s agent that he’ll leave the Cavs even work? He’s a luxury for them, but should be fine without him
— Ed Isaacson (@Ed_HunterAM) August 10, 2015

Thompson bet on himself all last season, and he did a great job. He turned into somebody that people recognized and he did an especially gritty line of work in the playoffs, proving to the world that he’s valuable in a couple ways.

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Alas, therein lies the rub. For let me be absolutely, 100 percent clear: Tristan Thompson is not worth the max. Nope, nope, nope. Especially for a team that already houses one of the best power forwards in the game, Kevin Love.

Cleveland doesn’t need Thompson that badly. Perhaps he knows that, perhaps he doesn’t. Either way, with or without TT, the Cavs are going to be a powerhouse. If healthy, they probably wouldn’t need him to make another encore trip to The Finals.

How many max players do you know coming off of the bench? It’s not like Thompson is going to start over Love or Timofey Mozgov. No, he’s a backup. A sixth man at best on this Cavaliers squad. Giving him such a contract is out of the question.

Factoring in that the Cavs are already paying way more than the luxury tax threshold and will be dishing out tons of dough in salary, asking them for so much money seems almost like an insult. This team, with the green light given by Dan Gilbert, is going all out to win.

They’ve already spent an obscene amount; being forced into giving an “Are you kidding me?” level of cash to a player who can do a couple things very well is a kick in the pants.

Yes, Thompson can rebound. He grabs offensive boards like perhaps no other in the game today. He’s a decent defender, and he’s mobile and athletic, so much so that he can guard some wing players when he has to. Running the floor is no problem for him and he gives a boost of energy to the team that is unquantifiable.

But those few honed skills don’t make him a max player. We’re entering a period in which players are getting grossly overpaid, and it will continue to happen, with teams needing to spend money gifted to them by the rising cap.

The sad thing here is that someone likely would/will give Thompson the max. It’s disturbingly easy to imagine him being overpaid when so many other players are or will be. Certain abilities are being coveted more than ever, like the ever-popular rim protector.

Need rebounding? Got some extra cap space? Willing to make that rebounder the starting 4? Throw that money at Thompson like it’s candy.

With this move, Thompson has proved that he wants to cash cheques more than he does win a title. That’s fine. Players are allowed to do whatever they want; if he wishes to get as much money as he can while his value is high, then good for him. Rich Paul sure knows what’s up.

But the Cavs are undeniably the best team in the Eastern Conference. There is no better place for him to be if he wants to win a title. The divide here between Thompson’s refusal to stay if he doesn’t get the max and David West’s move to San Antonio (in which he left around $10 million on the table) is eye opening.

True, Thompson is much younger than West. It’s understandable that when he looks at a guy like DeAndre Jordan, who defends the rim and dunks and does nothing else, he believes that he truly deserves the same level of respect and money.

There is a lot of hoopla surrounding Thompson and the Cavs, but one thing needs to be elucidated, many times if possible: this is no real threat to Cleveland. To make it to their goal, they don’t require Thompson. He’s not a make-or-break player.

The sooner he realizes this fact, the better.

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