The standoff between the Cavaliers and Tristan Thompson is getting ugly, and it could last months
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Thompson and the Cavaliers have been engaged in a standoff over contract negotiations since July. Thompson has been demanding a max. contract of $94 million over five years (he also offered to go to three years, $54 million) while the Cavs have been standing firm with their five-year, $80 million offer.
Despite training camp beginning last week and the two sides passing a rare deadline that eliminated the chance for Thompson to take a one-year, $6.9 million deal, there's been no progress, and it seems like things are starting to get ugly.
LeBron James, who had publicly backed Thompson and said he should be a Cav for life, said he would stay out of it when training camp began, saying he thinks both sides will get something done.
However, last week James began putting pressure on both sides to come to an agreement. James called the negotiations a distraction, and he also posted an Instagram with Thompson, with the caption "Get it done!!!! Straight up. #MissMyBrother" trying to sway both sides:
Regardless, it doesn't appear a resolution is near.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst went on "The Lowe Post" with Grantland's Zach Lowe, and discussed the holdout (although it's not technically a holdout, since Thompson is a free agent, and doesn't have an obligation to show up to camp while unsigned) and delivered a bleak message:
Windhorst did note that there's an unpredictable nature to negotiations, and something could happen out of the blue in the next few weeks, but he believes, as things currently stand, it could take a long time.
The Cavs faced a similar situation with Anderson Varejao in 2007, when he didn't like the Cavs' contract offer. He missed the first 21 games of the Cavs' season before receiving an offer from the Charlotte Hornets, which the Cavs matched.
As Windhorst says, it may take a key injury somewhere for this to get done. Whether an outside team loses a big man and needs Thompson, or the Cavs lose somebody and need Thompson, it appears both sides are unwilling to blink as this standoff becomes increasingly legitimate.
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