The contract impasse between the Cavaliers and restricted free agent power forward Tristan Thompson has ended with the two sides signing a five-year, $82MM deal earlier today. This new pact will make Thompson the sixth highest paid power forward in the league behind Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap, and David Lee. It’s certainly debatable whether or not Thompson is worthy of being compensated at this level, especially given the luxury tax hit that will be tacked on. Thompson’s numbers through 306 career NBA contests are 10.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks to accompany a slash line of .488/.000/.633.
Which brings me to the topic for today: Is Tristan Thompson worth the amount of his new five-year, $82MM deal?
While Thompson is certainly a talented player whose full potential has yet to be tapped, he hasn’t demonstrated the ability to be more than an upper-tier role-player thus far in his career, which makes this deal a bit difficult to swallow from my perspective. But Cleveland does receive a secondary benefit beyond keeping Thompson in its rotation for the next five years, seeing as how LeBron James, who shares the same agent with Thompson, wanted the young power forward back with the team. Since LeBron can hit free agency after this season, keeping the superstar happy certainly is in the team’s best interests.
But what say you? Is Thompson worth Cleveland making this deal, and absorbing an even higher luxury tax penalty as a result? What numbers would Thompson need to produce to give the team its money’s worth? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
As far as the tax goes, Gilbert is indifferent, and will spend what it presumably takes to win the title. Value-wise, the contract will appear less and less onerous as the cap and salary floor rise. If it keeps LBJ happy, then it’s the cost of doing business.
While he doesn’t put up big numbers, Thompson is one of the strongest players in the league. That’s important come playoff time.
Indeed. But is he worth $15MM-$17MM per season (plus the luxury tax hit)? That’s difficult to determine. Based on numbers…I’d say no. But if it keeps LeBron happy that’s certainly a benefit.
So Sim Bhullar should be a max player for sure then, forgot this is weightlifting and not basketball. Definitely makes perfect sense Thompson is making more money than that weakling Steph Curry then….
Supply and demand. If he were in the open market and the Cavs weren’t the team holding his Bird rights, Thompson probably wouldn’t have come away with this amount of money. If the opposite were true, he’d probably have signed an offer sheet months ago. But Cleveland had no real means to replace him with a comparable talent if he didn’t re-sign. Ultimately, the Cavs had leverage, too, since they could match all other offers and have plenty of other talented players. But Thompson had some power here, and he sure made the most of it.
To any other team… no he isnt worth the money but with LBJ kinda involved and to keep him happy then yes its worth it if they win a championship in the end.Thats really what its all about…if they win then it was worth it and if they dont…what were they thinking lol
Oh my god……Lebron James is not going to leave his home town team again. It just isn’t going to happen. That would be career suicide and he knows how bad he would look leaving again. He only came back after they lucked out on 3 out of the 4 last 1st overall picks. Two of which he asked management to ship away for Love. Then asking to trade another two 1st rounders for Mozgov effectively mortgaging the teams future and getting rid of the reigning Rookie of the Year to make the team competitive right away. He will not be leaving again because they refused to overpay a player that shares the same agent even though they will already be paying one of the steepest luxury tax bills in league history. Just get that idea out of your head because it won’t happen.
I, personally, don’t think he’s worth that contract & I especially don’t think he is when you factor in the added luxury tax expense the Cavs will be paying on the deal
Nowhere close. I could see 4 years/$42 million. He doesnt protect the rim, and he cant defend the pick and roll. He cant really shoot from outside 15 feet. He played like 25 minutes a game last year, and thats only b/c of the injuries to the res of the front court allotting him more playing time. He is relentless on the offensive boards, but that also is a negative when he fails to get back on defense to crash the glass. Its very rare that I’m taken so aback by a contract, but from the first time it was reported that he was close to $80 million, I have been dumbfounded by this. I really just cant understand how this happened.
O and he never even received an offer sheet from anyone else
Finally somebody with some sense. If I see somebody else say “oh well keep lebron happy” I’m going to lose it. You don’t pay garbage players max money to keep somebody else happy…….
completely agree with you guys. it’s deals like these that are going to ruin the league. everyone will now expect to be paid like superstars, so you’ll start seeing MLB-type deals for the actual superstars. then you’ll have a league full of lazy bums who got paid and become nothing more than albatrosses. i guess if TT is getting superstar money, the sixers might as well lock up Nerlens to a “team friendly” 150 mil deal now.
i don’t know why, but there’s always fanboys who applaud every single deal the players get. if tony wroten got a 60 mil deal today, there’d be 10 commenters saying how great a deal it is. sheesh
anyway, Happy Halloween!
we’ll see how happy lebron is when TT averages less than the little he already does
It definitely sets a dangerous precedent. I’m all for players getting paid, but I’m sorry…Tristan Thompson needs to be on his knees thanking LeBron right now, b/c there is no way he is worth anything close to what he got…Mozgov is a free agent next year. He has to be loving this lol, as are pretty much everyone else.
John Henson got $11M a year, and several thought that was an overpay. At least he has an elite skill in rim protection. Thompson’s elite skill is his strength, which I’m not sure is worth more than Henson’s shot blocking.
I’ve said that Henson is a better player
How much is a guy worth that is willing to bang with the bigs, and might I add one of the best in the business who has NEVER missed a game. His #s are far better than what people are discussing. Unless of course you want a BIG to make all your points. However, this is Cleveland where they have plenty of shooters and slashers. James, JR Smith, Irving, Love and now add MoFlo and Richard Jefferson to the mix with role players James Jones, Delly and Shump.
They have a rim protector in Mozgov. What they need is a big body to move people around in the paint and can also guard wing players.
Oh… and btw this is not a MAX contract you bunch of drama queens.
He can’t guard wing players
oh it wasn’t a max? only 82 million? ok that’s MUCH better. not an overpay in the slightest! worth every dime
Tristan Thompson is 24 years old, and has already shown the strength to be the best offensive rebounder on the floor on any given night. You can’t teach that, you have to be born with it. You can teach free throw shooting, so get busy on that Cavs and you’ll see the PPG pick up too. Very good for both to put this behind and finish the unfinished championship. Last time the Cavs lost a guy named Carlos Boozer, and the price was a lot more than the money involved.