Tristan Thomspon Stats, Salary News: Most Wanted Player in NBA? 3 Teams Offer Max Conracts?
Tristan Thompson's agent, who happens to work with LeBron James as well, Rich Paul, reportedly has three teams ready to offer Thompson a max contract. It looks like this basketball star's stats will help him see a salary increase this season!
According to CBS Sports, Cleveland is offering Thompson a 5-year, $80 million deal, but Thompson wants a 5-year, $94 million max contract. Last summer, Rich Paul had a restricted free agent, Eric Bledsoe, who was all but guaranteed a max contract, but hadn't received that deal with the Phoenix Suns until right before training camp. It seems like he's taking the same route with Tristan Thompson.
Thompson also reportedly has a potential deal with his hometown team, the Toronto Raptors (the other team has not been explicity stated yet). The Raptors would be a great fit for Thompson considering the fact that he was born in Toronto and will be able to play alongside his friend and potential teammate, Cory Joseph.
According to Cavs Nation, it was assumed that Thompson was going to get a max deal from the Cavs this summer because he shares the same agent as LeBron James, who happens to be a big fan of Thompson's game, especially because of the way he stepped up in the playoffs after Kevin Love went down with a shoulder injury. But the reason Thompson even had the chance to play in in the playoffs was because of the injuries the Cavs' players sustained. If it weren't for those injuries, Thompson would've remained a bench player and rebounder.
Regardless of the situation, it seems as though Thompson is leaning towards signing a one-year $6.9 million deal with the Cavs, which would then allow him to become an unrestricted free agent next summer (and potentially play for the Raptors). But this $6.9 million deal would mean that Thompson's time with the Cavs would be coming to an end: "A Tristan Thompson qualifying offer will be his last year with Cavs," Paul told Northeast Ohio Media Group.