As the clock winds down, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Tristan Thompson still remain far apart in contract negotiations.
With a week to go until the start of training camp, there remains a $14 million gap in contract talks between restricted free agent Tristan Thompson and the Cleveland Cavaliers, sources told ESPN.com.
The Cavs have held firm at an offer of five years and $80 million with Thompson looking for a max contract of $94 million over the same span, sources said. The talks have been at a virtual standstill since early July, and there isn’t much optimism on either side.
Thompson has a lot of leverage. If the Cavaliers lose him, they won’t have cap space to find a suitable replacement. It’s essentially Thompson or a low-level player. Plus, Thompson shares an agent, Rich Paul, with LeBron James. Cleveland obviously wants to keep LeBron happy.
Thompson is also taking a gamble, if the Cavaliers decide to let him walk, there’s a big chance he’ll get way less than the $80 million they’re offering. After all, his on court production doesn’t warrant a max contract.
So who will will blink first?
