Tristan Thompson reportedly rejected a five-year, $80 million contract offer from the Cavaliers. So just how much does he want?
Apparently, $94,343,125 – a max contract – and not a penny less.
via Bleacher Report (h/t ProBasketballTalk):
A league source tells me that his agent, Rich Paul, has already made it clear to the Cleveland Cavaliers that Thompson will not sign a long-term deal unless it is a max deal. And otherwise, he is prepared to sign a one-year qualifying offer with the additional knowledge, according to the source, that Paul believes that he can get a max deal with the Raptors next summer.
Tristan Thompson certainly isn’t worth a max contract but he has two things working in his favor.
1. If the Cavaliers lose Thompson, they won’t have cap space to sign a near-equal outside replacement. They can keep Thompson only because they have his Bird Rights.
2. His relationship with Paul, who also represents LeBron James. The Cavaliers surely want to keep LeBron happy, and LeBron said Thompson should spend the rest of his career in Cleveland.
