Tristan Thompson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Extension Rumors: Thompson, Cavs, Butler

October 31st, 2014 at 10:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Tonight’s 11:00pm Central deadline for rookie scale extensions is fast closing in. Here’s the latest on talks around the league, with any additional updates that come in throughout the evening added to the top:

Final-hour talks are taking place between the Cavs and representatives for Tristan Thompson, reports Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). The team has offered more than $40MM, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (on Twitter). A deal was a 50-50 proposition as of this afternoon, as Amico heard (Twitter link).
Butler struck a somewhat different tone before the Bulls‘ game against the Cavs tonight than his agent did when he indicated that talks were through (below), as Sam Smith of Bulls.com relays. “We still want a deal,” Butler said. “I still want to be here. I still want to have nothing to worry about. So we have until 11:59 [Eastern time] to figure it out. I’m not a personal guy. I don’t take everything to heart. I understand it’s a business. I just have to be a great basketball player. I think this team is really good, championship caliber. I am a part of this team; I am going to produce. I’m going to guard. I will take care of myself. I think there’s not too much I can do right now. I’m done talking about it.”
Still, Bulls GM Gar Forman said that both sides had agreed to end discussions for now and pick back up again in restricted free agency next summer, Smith notes.
Butler also said that he believes he’ll remain with the Bulls whether it entails signing an extension or a new deal next summer, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.

5:40pm updates:

Butler has rejected the Bulls‘ “final offer” and plans to enter restricted free agency next summer, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Butler’s agent, Happy Walters, said, “All the [rookie extension] deals done so far have shown that teams are building around their stars of the future, and they’re compensating those players as such. I was under the impression Jimmy was also viewed as one of those future building blocks with the Bulls. We tried like heck to get something done, but ultimately, the Bulls wanted a ‘hometown’ discount. While understandable, I doubt their GM or coaches give Mr. Reinsdorf a discount when negotiating their own deals.”
Butler had told his teammates that he was willing to play out the season unless the team upped their “final” offer, K.C. Johnson tweets.
The Wolves and Rubio are making progress on a four-year extension, Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link). According to Wojnarowski’s sources, there’s optimism, but no deal in place yet.

3:58pm updates:

The Wolves are now willing to go higher than $52MM in four-year offers to Ricky Rubio and the team is on board with a deal as long as Rubio is, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune believes that a deal would have to be for at least $55MM over four seasons (Twitter link).
The Bucks and Brandon Knight weren’t too far apart in extension talks before ending them today, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com.
Conversely, the gap appears wide between the Bulls and Jimmy Butler, and the chances of a compromise don’t appear to be high, as Goodman also hears (Twitter link). Chicago has been willing to consider a player option in his deal, something the franchise doesn’t ordinarily do, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter), but talks aren’t progressing, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link).

Cavs Sign Anderson Varejao To Extension

October 31st, 2014 at 5:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Cavaliers and Anderson Varejao have officially signed a contract extension, the team announced. The extension is believed to be for three years, and approximately $30MM, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported Thursday (Twitter link). Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group added that the plan was for the sides to sign the extension today, though the October 31st deadline that applies for rookie-scale extensions didn’t matter with Varejao. The 32-year-old becomes just the fifth player to sign a veteran extension under the current collective bargaining agreement, joining Andrew Bogut, Kobe Bryant, Tony Parker and Zach Randolph.

“Anderson represents how this franchise wants to approach the game of basketball, both on the court and off,” Cavs GM David Griffin said in the team’s statement. “He has been a key part of our foundation for years and we are very happy that he will continue to be part of our Cavs family as we work towards our goals at the highest level. Andy is, and has been, a tireless worker, an incredible teammate and a great competitor that plays with a rare combination of energy and intensity that makes him truly special.”

This news doesn’t come as a surprise since it was reported earlier that both sides had a mutual interest in keeping Varejao in Cleveland for the foreseeable future. The Brazilian-born center said recently that he wants to finish his career with the Cavs, and he has a close relationship with LeBron James, with whom he’d been teammates for six years before James took his talents to South Beach.

Varejao nonetheless had some incentive to wait until he became a free agent to sign a new deal with the Cavs. The starting salary in a veteran extension can be no more than 107.5% of the salary in the final season of the existing deal, and in Varejao’s case the extension could only have run through the 2017/18 season. If Varejao were to have waited to become a free agent, he could sign up to a five-year contract for nearly 35% of the salary cap, though he wasn’t a candidate for max money, nor a deal of that length. With his history of injuries and advancing age, signing an extension to stay in Cleveland and gaining some level of financial security was clearly appealing for Varejao, and it comes with the benefit of allowing him to continue to play for a team that’s shaping up to be an annual title contender.

This news also casts some doubt as to the future of Tristan Thompson in wine-and-gold. A report earlier today indicated that there was pessimism surrounding Cleveland’s extension talks with Thompson, who is subject to today’s 11:00pm Central deadline for rookie scale extensions. Thompson is seeking a new deal in the $12MM per year range, which is a bit pricey for a backup center.

The Cavs had only about $21.5MM in commitments for 2015/16 before signing the Varejao deal, but that doesn’t include James’ player option for $21,573,398 or Kevin Love‘s for $16,744,218. Varejao’s extension doesn’t leave the Cavs front office much flexibility to ink Thompson and continue to surround the core of James, Love, and Kyrie Irving with the role players needed to contend.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Extension Rumors: Butler, Rubio, Thompson

October 31st, 2014 at 11:54am CST by Chuck Myron

The 11:00pm Central deadline for rookie-scale extensions is only about half a day away, and there’s sure to be action in the hours ahead as decisions loom for the remaining eligible players. Here’s the latest as of this morning:

The Bulls and Butler were apart by $2.5MM in average annual value as they talked Thursday, Johnson reports. Butler’s camp doesn’t see a deal happening before the deadline, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick (on Twitter), which isn’t surprising considering the gap.
The Wolves are willing to sign Rubio to a four-year extension worth $52MM, and the team would perhaps be on board with going up to $54MM, according to Wolfson (Twitter link). Agent Dan Fegan has reportedly been seeking the maximum salary for his client, which would likely entail at least $66MM over four years, but Rubio would take $58MM, Wolfson says.
There’s “plenty of pessimism” surrounding the talks between Tristan Thompson and the Cavs as a gap remains in their proposals, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (via Twitter).

Earlier updates:

Ricky Rubio is more likely than not to sign an extension with the Wolves as advanced negotiations have taken place between the sides over the past few weeks, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com. That echoes an earlier report from Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, who heard from people outside the organization who believed Rubio and the team would ultimately settle on a four-year, $52MM deal.
Agent Brian Elfus has been in San Antonio negotiating with the Spurs this week, as Stein writes in the same piece, but Kawhi Leonard is nonetheless unlikely to sign an extension, Stein says, seconding a report from ESPN colleague Chris Broussard. Stein hears the Spurs prefer to take Leonard to restricted free agency next summer to maintain maximum financial flexibility. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote earlier this week that the Spurs were reluctant to give Leonard the maximum salary he’s seeking.
Talks are continuing between the Warriors and Klay Thompson and the Cavs and Tristan Thompson, Stein reports.
Brandon Knight and Norris Cole appear unlikely to receive extensions, according to Stein, though talks are still going on between the Bucks and Knight’s agent, Arn Tellem, a source tells Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Stein seconds earlier reports indicating that Jimmy Butler, Reggie Jackson and Iman Shumpert also seem unlikely to sign extensions.
The Bulls are going to have to increase their offer to Butler to entice him to sign, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. It’s unclear what the Bulls have on the table, but as of a week ago the sides were “millions apart,” as Johnson wrote then.

Latest On Cavs, Tristan Thompson

October 30th, 2014 at 8:06am CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 8:06am: A sense of optimism surrounds the talks at this point, sources tell Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. Lloyd hears that Thompson is seeking annual salaries of more than $10MM, though that doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t targeting the roughly $12MM number that Windhorst pegged in his report from earlier (below). Thompson and Anderson Varejao, who’s discussing a veteran extension with the Cavs, are likely to make about the same amount if they’re to sign extensions, and it doesn’t appear as though Varejao is willing to accept much less per year than his current salary of nearly $9.705MM, Lloyd writes.

MONDAY, 10:32am: Negotiations between the Cavs and Tristan Thompson have stalled as the Rich Paul client seeks salaries of around $12MM a year in a rookie scale extension, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Still, both sides maintain hope that they’ll reach a deal by Friday’s deadline, Windhorst adds. The report adds some clarity to a series of conflicting dispatches regarding whether Thompson and Cleveland were in talks, as I laid out earlier in light of the news that the Cavs are discussing an extension with Anderson Varejao.

Executives and agents around the league are keeping an eye on the talks with Thompson to gauge how closely LeBron James is involved with Cleveland’s front office decision-making, as Windhorst details. James and Thompson are both clients of Paul, and James holds a player option for next season that he can decline to hit free agency this summer, which makes the team a “little uncomfortable,” Windhorst writes, even though James has said multiple times he has no intention of leaving. Thompson will start the season as a bench player after Varejao won the starting center job, and it would be difficult for many teams to stomach paying $12MM for a sixth man.

Still, agents are growing bolder with an influx of TV money on the way, and lucrative deals for Eric Bledsoe, Gordon Hayward and Chandler Parsons this summer have left many player representatives optimistic about the prospect of restricted free agency, according to Windhorst. Greg Monroe, who wound up signing a qualifying offer worth just $5.48MM for this season, is a cautionary tale, though he reportedly rejected much more lucrative proposals.

The Cavs have only about $21.5MM in commitments for 2015/16, but that doesn’t include money for James, Love or Varejao, all of whom can become free agents. Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and second-round pick Joe Harris are the only Cavs under fully guaranteed contracts that contain no option clauses for that season.

Cavs Owner On LeBron, Blatt, Luxury Tax

October 29th, 2014 at 2:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs still hope to reach an extension with Tristan Thompson before Friday’s deadline, owner Dan Gilbert told reporters today, including Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, confirming a detail from the latest dispatch on the former No. 4 overall pick. Gilbert also touted GM David Griffin for the Executive of the Year award, talked up the importance of the extension Kyrie Irving signed as soon as he could earlier this summer, and had much more to say about his team, which went from the lottery to a title favorite in mere months. Haynes has the entire transcript of Gilbert’s press conference, so it’s certainly worth checking out, and we’ll pass along Gilbert’s most noteworthy comments here:

On how he perceived his chances of swaying LeBron James to return this summer:

“Of course you never know these things until you’re in front of somebody. But I felt good about it. People have things that happen between them. I certainly don’t keep grudges. He’s not that kind of person, and I don’t think most people are generally, there is a few that are like that, but most people aren’t. There is just too much to do, too much opportunity together that we could work on together, leverage together. So from the second that I went down to Miami I felt like things were going to go on the right path, though we didn’t know until we got the phone call, but it felt pretty good from the second I saw him.”

On hiring David Blatt, after having cited Blatt’s intelligence and coaching track record:

“One of the other major factors was we talked to virtually every single NBA player who was either in the NBA now or was at one point and played for him overseas. And to a man, they raved about him. And that’s really a rare thing when you’re interviewing anybody in business or sports. That every single person you talk to raves about him and says the exact same thing. So that sort of put us over the top.”

On whether he’d shy away from paying the luxury tax:

“That message is unchanged, clearly the cap will be going up in the next couple of years based on the revenues of the league as well, but that message is still there. I think that when you have so much invested, if you want to look at this financially and take away the other stuff, I almost think it’s kind of silly when you invest so much into a franchise and have such high costs already, and then at the margin, I know it’s a lot of raw dollars when you look at it by itself, but relative to everything that’s invested, I was a little bit surprised when our franchise was going to stop right there. To me, it’s like getting to the two‑yard line, and okay, we’re done now. I think it’s not even smart business or maybe not even smart financially, because there is obviously risk involved. But when you’re willing to do that, theoretically, your revenues can offset part of that as well and increase in revenues. Definitely, when the decisions are ours and they’re regarding financial, that should not stop us or be any significant barrier to delivering championship‑caliber basketball here.”

Cavs, Anderson Varejao Discuss Extension

October 27th, 2014 at 8:24am CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavs are engaged in “serious” talks about an extension with Anderson Varejao, one of the few veterans eligible for one, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. There’s mutual interest, and the conversations between the team and the Dan Fegan client have taken place over the past few weeks, though the sides aren’t on the verge of a deal yet, Wojnarowski writes. There’s no deadline looming at the end of the week as there is with rookie scale extension candidates like fellow Cav Tristan Thompson. Varejao and the Cavs have until June 30th to reach a deal on an extension before the Brazilian big man’s contract expires.

The Varejao talks are cast against the backdrop of the deadline regarding Thompson, and there are conflicting reports about whether Thompson and the Cavs are in talks. There is discussion and the Cavs hope to get a deal done, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, but Chris Haynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group wrote this weekend that he heard there had been “zero discussion” about an extension for Thompson. Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote 10 days ago that the Cavs and Thompson were in active negotiations. Varejao beat out Thompson for the a job in the starting lineup for opening night.

The 32-year-old Varejao said recently that he wants to finish his career with the Cavs, and, as Wojnarowski notes, he remains close with LeBron James, with whom he’d been teammates for six years before James bolted for Miami. Those close to Varejao told him when the Cavs were a losing team that he should push for a trade, and the Lakers had interest in a deal that would have taken him to L.A. in exchange for Pau Gasol last year, but Varejao has said he never wavered on his commitment to the Cavs.

The 11th-year veteran nonetheless has financial incentive to wait until he hits free agency to sign a new deal with Cleveland. He can only make 107.5% of this year’s nearly $9.705MM salary in the first season of an extension with the Cavs, with 7.5% raises in subsequent years, and such a deal could only run through 2017/18. He could sign a five-year contract for up to roughly 35% of the salary cap if he became a free agent, though it’s unlikely that he’d command quite so much in salary, and the Cavs would probably have reservations about a deal that long for a player his age. Conversely, Varejao’s salary is only guaranteed for $4MM this year, but Cleveland is highly unlikely to waive him and pocket those savings, short of another in an already long line of injuries to the 30th overall pick from 2004.

Central Rumors: Thompson, Love, Pistons

October 25th, 2014 at 9:04pm CST by Cray Allred

Fearing a potential fine from the league, Bulls coach Tim Thibodeau decided to withhold his opinion when asked by Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com about proposed changes to the NBA’s draft lottery system. “The thing that I don’t like about it is it just seems like…I think it’s bad when…I guess it’s fine,” Thibodeau said, before adding, “I’ll try to save my money.” NBA owners voted down a proposal last week that would have shaken up the lottery, giving the league’s worst teams a smaller chance at the highest picks. Here’s more from around the Central Division:

There has been “zero discussion” on a contract extension for the Cavaliers‘ Tristan Thompson, a source tells Chris Haynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group. Thompson, who like teammate LeBron James is represented by Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, would become a restricted free agent next summer if no deal is reached by Friday. Haynes says Thompson is invaluable to the team’s ongoing championship makeup, an opinion shared by teammate Kyrie Irving. “He’s very important to us,” Irving said. “That motor he has, it’s something that never stops. He’s always on the boards. We’re going to need that. He’s a big part of our team.”
It was a desire to win that brought Kevin Love to Cleveland, the star forward writes in a piece for The Players’ Tribune (H/T Dan Labbe of the Plain Dealer). In the first-person essay, Love explains why he agreed to the summer trade that brought him to the Cavaliers from the Timberwolves. “I’ve never played in a playoff game,” Love writes. “I came to Cleveland because I want to win. I’ll grab a broom and sweep the floors if it gets me an NBA title.” Love also thanked Timberwolves fans and referenced the “crazy summer” of overall No. 1 draft choice Andrew Wiggins, who went to Minnesota in the blockbuster trade.
Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy told David Mayo of MLive.com that he will make his final roster decisions this weekend, well before Monday’s deadline. Mayo cites Aaron Gray, Tony Mitchell, and Luigi Datome as possibile cuts, all of whom are on guaranteed contracts. Unless Detroit can send out a player in a trade, it will have to take the hit on one of its 16 guaranteed deals to get under the roster limit before the season starts.

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

Central Notes: Thompson, Gilbert, Butler

October 25th, 2014 at 3:47pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Cavs and forward Tristan Thompson have until October 31st to come to terms on a contract extension or Thompson becomes a restricted free agent next summer. Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer looks at the options for both the player and the team and compares Thompson’s numbers against other forwards who have recently inked new deals.

Here’s the latest out of the Central Division:

In an interview with Pluto, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert said, “I look at the last four years as a payment for the next four to six years (when the Cavs begin to win again).” The last four seasons sans LeBron James have seen the franchise go a combined 97-215, and Gilbert discussed how difficult those seasons were, how he and James mended fences, as well as his expectations for the future of his franchise.
In his Central Division preview, Adi Joseph of USA Today says the division will come down to a battle between the Cavs and the Bulls. Another interesting storyline, according to Joseph, is how the Pacers will fare without Paul George and Lance Stephenson after capturing the division crown a season ago.
With the deadline quickly approaching, Jimmy Butler remains confident that he can work out a contract extension with the Bulls in time, reports Scott Powers of ESPNChicago.com. First-round picks like Butler who are heading into their fourth season have until Oct. 31 to come to terms. Butler, who missed Chicago’s final two preseason games with sprained ligaments in his thumb, isn’t worried about the deadline. “I think we’re going to figure it out,” he said. “My main focus is now of all time is to get healthy. If you’re healthy, you’ll get paid anyway. That’s all I’m worried about it.”

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

Extension Rumors: Leonard, Thompson, Cole

October 17th, 2014 at 11:24am CST by Chuck Myron

The deadline for teams to sign rookie scale extensions with their eligible players is two weeks from today, and while only six players came to deals last time around, that number has the potential to be much larger this year, notes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein has more on many of those extension hopefuls that adds to the storylines we’ve been following throughout the offseason:

Kawhi Leonard, Tristan Thompson, and Norris Cole are among the players who are in active negotiations with their respective teams about rookie scale extensions, Stein reports. Klay Thompson, Ricky Rubio, Kemba Walker, Jimmy Butler, Reggie Jackson, Brandon Knight, Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris, Enes Kanter and Alec Burks are also in active extension talks, according to Stein, who advances earlier reports that all of them had engaged in talks.
Iman Shumpert and the Knicks are also discussing an extension, Stein writes, countering a report from a few weeks ago that indicated that the sides hadn’t engaged in talks and that New York was content to let the swingman hit restricted free agency next summer.
Klay Thompson’s camp is considering the idea of going after an offer sheet similar to the one the Mavs gave Chandler Parsons if Thompson and the Warriors don’t come to an extension this month, Stein hears. Parsons’ near-max deal runs three years and includes a player option and a 15% trade kicker. Rival GMs have expressed admiration for its structure and Rockets GM Daryl Morey pointed to the difficulty that trading such a contract would entail shortly after he decided against matching it. The player option would allow Thompson to hit unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2017, which is when Stephen Curry‘s deal is set to end, as Stein points out.
The Lakers have attempted to trade for Thompson in the past, Stein notes, though he doesn’t make any suggestion that they’re planning an aggressive push for the shooting guard if he becomes a restricted free agent next summer.

Eastern Notes: Thompson, Rondo, Hornets

October 5th, 2014 at 10:44am CST by Eddie Scarito

The results of the starting center competition in Cleveland might have an impact on the team’s roster next season, Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal writes. Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao are both entering the final year of their contracts as well as competing to tip off games at the pivot. Varejao should come a bit cheaper, but Thompson is nine years younger and has a much higher upside, notes Lloyd, and Thompson needs minutes to put up numbers worthy of a deal in the four-year, $49MM range that Derrick Favors signed with the Jazz, which will be the likely starting point in negotiations with the Cavs.

Here’s more from the east:

Though he doesn’t get a vote in the matter, Celtics legend Bob Cousy is among those who thinks the team should hold onto Rajon Rondo, Bill Doyle of The News Telegram writes. Cousy, who knows a bit about point guard play said, “Guys like Rondo come along only every 20 years. So I would do everything I could to keep him. Obviously you don’t want to lose a talent like that and get nothing for him. I’m a big Ainge fan. I think Danny has done an excellent job since he’s been there. He’s a hard worker, he’s a good guy, he’s smart. If he really thinks he’s [Rondo] going, then sure try to salvage something.”
One item that didn’t factor into LeBron James‘ decision to return to the Cavs was who the head coach was, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. Discussing his new head coach David Blatt, James said, “Him being here, it wasn’t part of my process of coming back. Obviously, I was excited once I made the decision to get to know him, get to know what he’s about and it’s been good so far.” James also added that he feels like he can work with any coach regardless of how impressive or pedestrian their past might be, notes McMenamin.
The Hornets talent level has improved over last season but the team also hopes that the remarkable locker room chemistry last year’s squad had will carry forward to this season, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. “It’s not going to be easy,” said Jannero Pargo. “If you change one player, one aspect of a team, you change the whole dynamic. But we have a good core of guys, so it can be done.”