Cleveland Cavaliers summer situation went from working out as well as it could to possibly crumbling some of their future plans in just a few short months.
LeBron James, Kevin Love and most of the Cavaliers who were free agents going into this summer have elected to return. They also found a way to bring in Mo Williams and Sasha Kaun to the roster and all appeared to be going well, except they still haven’t re-signed one big piece of their future. Tristan Thompson.
LeBron James had stated previously that Tristan Thompson should be a member of the Cavaliers for his whole career and that their main goal right now is to bring Thompson back to their team.
Reportedly, the two sides are far apart on a new contract for the restricted free agent. So far apart that Thompson’s agent Rich Paul, who is also LeBron James agent, said if Thompson had to take his one-year, $6.8 million qualifying offer for the 2015-16 season, he will leave Cleveland next summer.
It appears there actually might be an idea floating around the league that Thompson could be following in the footsteps of his fellow Canadian and lifelong friend Cory Joseph. Come back home and play for the Toronto Raptors, something Thompson said is a dream for every Toronto kid.
Following from Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops and AP.
There are rumblings that agent Rich Paul could deliver another client to his hometown team in the near future. Several league executives believe Canadian Tristan Thompson may head north to Toronto in the summer of 2016 if he signs his one-year, $6.8 million qualifying offer with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I always thought he was going to end up (in Toronto) this year,” one Eastern Conference general manager told SheridanHoops. “There’s going to be so much money next year so I think he will get it.”
It’s also worth noting that Joseph and Thompson are friends who have played together during their AAU, high school and college days.
The rumblings I’ve detected are caused in part by the fact that both players are represented by Paul.
“He’s a Toronto kid and I’m sure he has a strong following at home,” one Eastern Conference executive told SheridanHoops.
“(The) Raptors will always have to overpay to keep or gather free agents,” one Western Conference executive told SheridanHoops.
“I think he’s a $15 million player even with the new cap,” another Eastern Conference general manager told SheridanHoops.
“He might be a good fit with Jonas Valanciunas,” a rival Eastern Conference general manager told SheridanHoops.
“Toronto would have to move around pieces to get him,” an Eastern Conference general manager told SheridanHoops. “They won’t have enough room right now.”
The Raptors being a possibly landing spot for Tristan Thompson could be a plan that requires some interesting movement which could include their star guard, DeMar DeRozan.
But it’s a move that might not make sense in the grand scheme of things. One can imagine that a masterplan by Masai Ujiri and Toronto would be to bring these fellow Canadians back to Toronto to chase after Andrew Wiggins but how good are these players that the Raptors are thinking about putting around Wiggins. Joseph and Thomspon are both limited as players on the offensive end but their defense is above average. Jonas Valenciunas on the otherhand is a rock-handed big man who can finish on the interior but he is slow. He can defend the rim but that’s about it.
By time Wiggins would possibly come back to T.Dot, DeMarre Carroll and Kyle Lowry could be way past their prime and Terrence Ross and DeMar DeRozan would be gone.
A dream scenario of bringing these players back together could work for Toronto but what happens if Thompson takes the qualifying offer and a healthy Kevin Love comes back and steals the minutes Thompson made the most out of while Love was out? What about Sasha Kaun? Two of the Cavs big men, Timofey Mozgov and Kaun, have a history together playing on the Russian national team coached by David Blatt, current Cavs coach, so there might be some inclination to play the two big men together. Thompson’s value could vanish in an instant.
Thompson needs to take the money now and stop trying to think of a dream scenario because unfortunately for him, not every scenario turns out to be a dream come true, they end up being nightmares. Take the guaranteed money while your stock is high and possibly couldn’t get any higher.
