The three-month stalemate in Ohio came to an end Wednesday night, as Tristan Thompson and the Cleveland Cavaliers came to terms on a reported five-year, $82 million contract extension.
.@RealTristan13 is signed & sealed.
OFFICIAL RELEASE: https://t.co/t4aSUcwhRJ pic.twitter.com/EFMOllQl1q
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) October 22, 2015
The Thompson camp held out the restricted free agent for as long as possible in search of a max deal, with the stated threat of possibly going elsewhere next summer, but in the end they backed down and agreed to the five-year pact.
Thompson reps kept pushing story client would sit year w/o max deal. Cavs, NBA never bought it. In end, agents caved, accepted lower deal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) October 21, 2015
Tristan Thompson deal makes him 6th highest paid PF behind Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap, David Lee.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) October 21, 2015
The big fella says he’s happy to be back with the Cavs, and that they have unfinished business to handle.
Per the NEOMG:
Cleveland will have the highest payroll in NBA history with the signing, opening training camp next week with a commitment this year of approximately $115 million. […] The dollar amount may baffle some, but Thompson earned his new contract. He bet on himself at the beginning of the 2014-15 season by turning down a four-year, $52 million extension.
Knowing he was stepping into a season in which he was Kevin Love’s backup, Thompson, advised by his agent Rich Paul, decided he was better off playing his hand at restricted free agency. […] Critics mocked him for rebuffing such a lucrative offer, citing his “limited skill set.” Nevertheless, he played on and accepted his new reserve role. He was the league’s leading rebounder off the bench with 8.0 boards a night, while also continuing his streak of not missing a game in his four-year career.
The Cavaliers’ ability to match any offers scared away competitors. The Cavaliers initially offered $80 million over five years, but Paul wasn’t impressed. What followed was a quiet period in which the two sides seldom communicated. […] But six weeks into the free-agency period, the tension was elevated when Paul made it known that Thompson might sign the $6.8 qualifying offer and then bolt Cleveland when he became an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2016. A short time later, Thompson did not show up for the pre-training camp sessions James organized in Miami.
