What’s the Deal with Tristan Thompson?

By: Faisal Quyyumi, contributing intern (@_faisalquyyumi)

After a tumultuous season, Tristan Thompson seemed to be the answer for the Cleveland Cavaliers in terms of hustle, consistency, and rebounding. Once Kevin Love went down with a season-ending injury in the first round of the playoffs, Thompson went onto average 9.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, respectively. He came in fifth during the regular season in most offensive rebounds, trailing Andre Drummond, DeAndre Jordan, Tyson Chandler, and Enes Kanter, and led the league during the playoffs. Almost half of Tristan’s rebounds (4.4), were on the offensive glass.

At the beginning of July, 2-time NBA Champion LeBron James stated that he would not discuss signing with the Cavaliers until Thompson has officially reached agreement on a deal. About a week later, without any signs of Thompson being resigned to the Cavaliers, James inked a contract with the team worth $46.9 million over the next two years.

If the Cavs weren’t in enough of a monetary conflict right now, the team also resigned Kevin Love on a max contract worth $110 million and Imam Shumpert on a $40 million deal. Although LeBron and Tristan share the same agent, there seems to be no sign anytime soon of Thompson staying in Cleveland. Per reports, he has asked for a contract such as Draymon Green’s (five-year, $82 million). However, the only other teams that are able too offer him the lucrative contract that he wants are, Philadelphia, Utah, and Portland. And it doesn’t look like he would want too play for any of those teams so his best option would be too take a cut in pay in high hopes of returning to the NBA Finals next season.