Tristan Thompson and his agent Rich Paul might have overestimated the impact of LeBron James also being a Paul client. The deadline for Thompson to sign his qualifying offer of one year, $6.8 million has passed, and Thompson is now considered a “holdout.”
Tristan Thompson failed to pick up the Cavs' $6.8 million qualifying offer by the 11:59 p.m. ET deadline per league source.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 2, 2015
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The holdout status doesn’t actually mean much, but it does mean that Cavaliers fans may not see Thompson in uniform for regular season games. He and Paul want the world; even though they’ve come down from a five-year, $94 million max contract, their revised demand is three years and $54 million. The issue Thompson is facing is that his production on the court doesn’t mesh with his demands, and even King James can’t change the stat sheets.
Thompson did play well in the Cavs’ run to the NBA Finals. He averaged 9.6 points and 10 boards in the playoffs, playing increased minutes with Kevin Love gone after Round 1. But Thompson was not particularly impactful in the regular season, averaging 8.5 points and eight rebounds on 54 percent shooting. Thompson’s buckets typically come on dirty-work attempts off rebounds, or lob passes from James. Thompson’s ability to create his own shot is non-existent, and he averaged 0.5 assists.
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Another problem for Thompson is Cleveland’s roster. While he can accurately prove that he is a highly productive offensive rebounder, the Cavs are chock full of big men. All-Star Kevin Love will be back as the starting power forward, and Anderson Varejao and Timofey Mozgov are both better suited to the defensive aspects of playing center than Thompson.
The Cavaliers have options, and Thompson doesn’t, according to CBS. The Cavs can re-offer the one-year deal at $6.8 million if they want, or they can cut it in half. Paul has said that if Thompson signs a qualifying offer then he won’t re-sign with Cleveland in the offseason. Right now, it does not appear that Cleveland wants him badly enough to cave in to an outrageous demand.
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