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Tristan Thompson: No Deal, Now What?

By Joshua Howe

Feb 21, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson (13) celebrates after scoring against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors won 98-91. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 21, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson (13) celebrates after scoring against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors won 98-91. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tristan Thompson had until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday to sign a qualifying offer with the Cleveland Cavaliers and end the madness that’s been going on for the past few months. The progressive insanity that has become insidious to all Cavs fans has actually been an awing spectacle.

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So here are the specs: Thompson didn’t sign the qualifying offer, which means that his options are vastly reduced. He can now either sign a new (longer) deal with Cleveland, sign an offer sheet with another team or continue to wait things out in silence.

Sean Highkin probably said it best:

It’s rare, but it looks like Paul might’ve finally had a misstep. The only teams that can even try and offer Thompson anything close to the kind of money he wants are the Philadelphia 76ers and the Portland Trail Blazers, but the Cavs will match any offer they give anyway.

So that option is basically off the table, which leaves signing anew and waiting. Obviously, Thompson doesn’t want to just sign a deal that Cleveland offers, since that’s why we’re here in the first place. But waiting won’t do him much good either.

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    • If he decides to sit out the entire season, he won’t become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Instead, things would continue the way they are now and the only difference would be that other teams would be able to clear enough space to make an offer. Thus, we might not see Tristan Thompson play at all this NBA season and he won’t get paid, which, for a young guy, isn’t a great feeling.

    In my humble opinion, I’m glad the Cavaliers held off. I (and many others) have stated before that Thompson is not a max player, and even in a world where non-max-level guys are getting paid more than they should be, it’s better not to bend if you can. Plus, Cleveland’s already paying an insane amount of money for the rest of the squad and is so far over the luxury tax that I think I can actually hear Dan Gilbert’s wallet crying.

    Yes, Thompson is a valuable player and a great addition to Cleveland’s roster. He’s an improving defensive player who is very mobile, athletic, tenacious on the offensive glass, and a spark off the bench. But he is not the be-all end-all to this team.

    The Cavs can (and likely will) win the East even without him on the team. They don’t absolutely need him, and they know it. Sure, they’d love to have him, but it wouldn’t be ridiculous to think that Cleveland couldn’t locate another, far cheaper big who could provide something similar to what TT provides from the pine.

    On paper, at least, it’s not overly difficult to replace a guy who averages 8.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and less than a block per game. Now, Thompson is clearly more valuable than the numbers alone would have you believe, but he’s simply not that valuable.

    I tip my hat to you, Mr. Gilbert.

    The more concerning result of Thompson’s holdout may be the fact that he simply won’t be suiting up for the Cavs if no deal happens. They are already going to be short on players, with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love still recovering from injuries; and now Iman Shumpert is out for three months.

    The last thing you want if you’re David Blatt is to be forced to pile on excessive minutes for LeBron James. As I wrote recently, the Cavaliers’ number one goal for the season should be to remain healthy. Thompson’s health is perhaps his most valuable asset to the Cavs at the moment.

    It’s all a rather big mess. Of course, Thompson and his agent could come round and make a deal with Cleveland and suddenly everything could be flowers and rainbows again. It’s not like this sort of thing hasn’t ever happened before.

    The Cavs also dealt with this situation back in 2007 when Anderson Varejao (who now has, for him, a great contract) reached an impasse with the team. His holdout lasted through the first 21 games of the regular season until he signed an offer sheet from the Bobcats and Cleveland matched it.

    This franchise has endured some rough times and this is just another one of those moments. Hopefully, something will get done that benefits both team and player, but the best time to have worked something out has already passed.

    For now, just like we have been for months, we continue to wait.

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