Tristan Thompson is threatening to turn down $80 million and leave the Cavs if he doesn't get a maximum contract
Gregory Shamus/Getty
Tristan Thompson and the Cleveland Cavaliers are in one of the strangest stalemates of the NBA offseason.
After Thompson was reportedly nearing an $80 million deal with the Cavaliers, things suddenly turned quiet between the two sides for weeks and nobody knew why.
Michael Grange of Sportsnet reported on Monday afternoon that Thompson will take the one-year, $6.8 million qualifying offer to become an unrestricted free agent next summer:
Breaking: agent Rich Paul tells @Sportsnet Tristan Thompson will sign 1yr Qualifying offer with Cavs and be a free agent in 2016 /1.
- Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) August 10, 2015
Tristan Thompson signing QO w/ #Cavs hasn't been decided yet, I'm told. But if he signs it, told it would be last season he plays as a Cav.
- Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) August 10, 2015
Thompson entered the summer a restricted free agent, meaning the Cavaliers could match any offer he received from another team. Under normal circumstances, restricted free agents have almost no bargaining power since their they can sign an offer sheet from other teams, but still be retained by their original teams.
Windhorst reported that Thompson was seeking a max contract of $94 million this summer while the Cavs were offering "significantly less." With the salary cap expected to jump from $70 million to $88 million next summer, there's never been a better time in the NBA to be a free agent. Thompson's has two viable options: 1) get a max contract this summer before it becomes much more expensive next summer (max salaries are tied to a percentage of the salary cap), and 2) take the one-year qualifying offer this summer, become an unrestricted free agent next summer, and start a bidding war when at least 20 teams will have cap space to offer a max contract.
It's not such an easy decision for the Cavaliers. As Windhorst notes, with five players - LeBron James, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert, and Anderson Varejao - making over $10 million next season, the Cavs are already $4 million over the tax line. Signing Thompson to a contract that averages $15 million per year could cost them over $35 million in taxes - virtually unprecedented territory.
We'll update this post when more details emerge.
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