Cavs news: Tristan Thompson gets $82 million, 5-year guaranteed contract
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Lebron James, the perennial superstar and Cleveland Cavaliers alpha dog, has referred to it as a "distraction." But now, the Ohio-based club from the Central division are moving forward from the beleaguering contract holdout.
Forward Tristan Thompson, who is originally from Toronto, north of the border, has agreed to re-sign on Wednesday with the Cleveland Cavaliers for a hefty sum of $82 million in guaranteed amount. This will ensure that he will be staying for, at least, another five years with the same organization that drafted him in the 2011 NBA draft for their 4th overall pick, his agent Rich Paul confirmed the news to Yahoo Sports.
The deal was not anywhere near the $94 million maximum contract that Thompson and Paul's camp initially had bargained for. But, the Cleveland Cavaliers had to stretch their finances a bit--- to the tune of a couple of million dollars--- to finally reach a compromise.
Back in January, the Cavaliers has made a proposal for a contract extension worth a four-year, $52 million deal. Thompson and his agent did not budge one bit. And during the summer, the team reconstructed the offer and came up with an enticing new deal worth $80 million for five years, as per SB Nation. For some reason, the other camp had to turn down the offer anew.
Thompson made a case for himself last season when he posted improved numbers in terms of his personal statistics after starting forward Kevin Love went down to a season-ending injury during the early stages of the playoffs. He has proven himself as the team's most versatile big man defensively and has helped the cause of the Cavs championship aspiration with his energy and ability to secure the offensive boards.
The Cavs is now poised to shoulder what could go down as the second highest luxury tax in league history, behind only the Brooklyn Nets during 2013-2014 season, according to ESPN. With the amount of money Lebron James would command, and factoring in the long-term contracts of Thompson, Love, and Kyrie Irving, the Cavs will have a $170 million payroll for the upcoming 2015-2016.
Not everyone, though, is sold with the idea of offering that much money for a backup power forward, and someone who has never been named an all-star yet. And most probably, the collective and consensus reaction of most NBA fans and the people around the league on this latest signing is best summed up by Sacramento Kings superstar DeMarcus Cousins' Twitter response. By the way, Cousins, who is an all-star and highly-touted to be one of the frontrunners in the MVP race this season will be coming in to his third year of a four-year, $62 million deal. Now, we could understand where the man is coming from.
How much???
