The Tristan Thompson saga continues for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and it just took a significant turn that greatly impacts both sides. Even though Thompson and the Cavaliers hadn’t come to an agreement, Thompson still had the option of signing the one-year qualifying offer worth $6.8 million. This would have allowed him to return to the team, and set the table for a new round of negotiations next summer, when he would be an unrestricted free agent. This is the same route Greg Monroe chose last year, and it paid great dividends.
That option expired last night. Thompson passed on the qualifying offer, and is now officially a holdout. So where do the negotiations go from here? As Dave McMenamin of ESPN explains, the Cavs are left with little choice but to hammer out a long-term deal:
With the one-year option off the table — Thompson can no longer unilaterally accept the qualifying offer at that rate unless the Cavs choose to make it available again — negotiations will shift toward both sides coming to terms on a multiyear deal.
Paul recently vacated a five-year, $94 million max contract demand for his client in favor of a preferred three-year, $53 million deal, per league sources. The Cavs have already tendered a five-year, $80 million offer to Thompson, according to sources.
The Cavs can still technically extend a qualifying offer, as McMenamin notes, but there’s little reason for them to hand Thompson a guaranteed one-year deal and risk losing him the next summer.
Oddly enough, while holdouts are very rare in the NBA, this isn’t the first one for the Cavaliers. Both Anderson Varejao and, of all players, Sasha Pavlovic, held out for new contracts with the Cavaliers – successfully! – in 2007.
There have yet to be positive signs that the Cavs and Thompson will agree on a deal before the start of the season, but it would be surprising if that doesn’t happen. The Cavs need him back on the court, and Thompson wants to be back. Then again, Varejao’s holdout lasted until December and Tristan might not have the same Sideshow Bob appeal.
(Via ESPN)
