Tristan Thompson has been a Cavalier for a long time. This is his ninth year with the team. He’s seen them be bad, then good, then bad again. He’s experienced the euphoria of winning a championship. He’s experienced the agony of winning just nineteen games in a season. He’s played with superstars like Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. He’s played with nobodies like Samardo Samuels and Luke Walton. He’s had large roles and small roles. He’s experienced it all.
But the big payday that LeBron James helped him get all those years ago is coming to an end after this season, and there’s little chance that he gets another one nearly as big. Will the Cavs re-sign him just for nostalgia’s sake, as a hook-shot-shooting, offensive-rebounding link to the past? Will they just let him walk off into the horizon for nothing? Or will they trade him before the trade deadline to a team that needs his (specific, limited) skillset for whatever they can get?
The thing is, keeping Thompson around out of some notion of “loyalty” only makes sense if his contract makes sense. Paying him a bunch of money for five years will only make the team worse, and nobody in Cleveland is going to Cavs games just to see Thompson. If they were doing that, my Tristan Thompson videos would get way more views. The Cavs have to make sure they can get Thompson back on a fair deal, and with Rich Paul in the picture (and LeBron exerting pressure from faraway Los Angeles), that’s not likely to happen.
My recommendation for the Cavs front office? It’s simple. Hire me for 100k a year as a “consultant” and I’ll be the shadowy puppet master behind the scenes calling all the shots but taking none of the blame.