The Cleveland Cavaliers are trying to fix their short-term problems in order to return to being contenders in the Eastern Conference, but their long-term problems are also pilling up in unexpected fashion. The Cavaliers have made a lot of trades this season to try and put together a championship caliber roster and it is sometimes working, but a lot of times is not. While the 2014-15 roster appears complete for the time being, more questions are being raised about who will be on this team for the long-term.
Of all the talent on the Cavaliers' roster, only Kyrie Irving has his future set for years to come after signing a max contract early in the offseason. Kevin Love and LeBron James both have options to opt out after this season while other players are working on expiring deals. One of those is the young Tristan Thompson who has had his moments and feels he is a max contract player.
Thompson and the Cavaliers are in a standoff at the moment regarding the power forward's contract. Thompson will be a restricted agent in the summer and Cleveland has attempted to make strides in retaining for years to come, something that is not going well. According to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, Thompson rejected a four-year, $52 million extension that would pay him $13 million a season. Considering Thompson is not a starter right now, that is fair money.
However, Thompson wants more, but he simply lacks the leverage as his limits on the court continue to show. Thompson has good size and is a strong defender, but his shot is inconsistent and he struggles to create offensive opportunities every game. $13 million a season is a generous offer from the Cavaliers and it likely will not get any bigger. However, is this move strategic? ProBasketballTalk.com suspects that Thompson is looking to take a one-year qualifying offer from the Cavaliers potentially in the range of $6 million and then wait to sign a new deal when the salary cap spikes in 2016.
The issue in waiting is that Thompson falls further down on the priority list. The Cavaliers will do all they can to retain Love to a contract of his liking while also giving James the right amount of money. Both of those players are also looking to wait until 2016 to sign contracts which means Thompson might not be the priority any longer for Cleveland.