The arrival of Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers will surely be a hindrance to Tristan Thompson's development. Already a walking double-double machine at 23 years of age, Thompson has a very high upside and will need every bit of playing time to keep his development on the fast track.
Last season, he struggled in a crowded Cavaliers front court after Anderson Varejao returned from a back injury and now with Love set to start at Power Forward and Varejao as the starting center, Thompson may find himself in an even more crowded front court with an even lesser opportunity for playing time. With that being said, Thompson could soon be on the trade block especially if the Cavs can get great value in return for the young big man according to Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors:
I think you're probably Cleveland's most valuable trade asset, Tristan. If I were David Griffin, I'd be shopping you around just to see what I can get at this point. I wouldn't necessarily make a deal, but if someone hits me with a really nice offer, I'd pull the trigger. If Kevin Love's a power forward, and LeBron James plays a fair amount of power forward, where are you going to end up? There's talk that Love will play some center, but would there still be enough minutes to go around for you? If the Cavs sign you to an extension, it'll be tougher for them to trade you because of the Poison Pill Provision. Yes, you share an agent with LeBron, but LeBron wants to win, and I think he'll understand if we hold off on an extension for the good of the team.
Thompson is also heading in the final year of his rookie-scale contract and the Cavaliers and Thompson can agree on a new contract extension before the October 31 deadline or he will become a restricted free agent next summer where he will surely have no shortage of suitors because of his tremendous upside and high character. The problem, however, is that Thompson may just be asking more than what the Cavaliers can afford which is somewhere in the range of $11 million per season on his next contract according to Jason Lloyd of Akron Beacon Journal:
He will ask for the type of money previously given to Derrick Favors (four years, $49 million) and Larry Sanders (four years, $44 million). What will hurt Thompson's case, however, is the Greg Monroe saga. Monroe, by all accounts a better player than Thompson, was forced to sign a one-year qualifying offer with the Pistons after failing to reach agreement on a long-term contract with anyone this summer. He will now be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
The Power Forward position is quite stacked in the NBA and unless Thompson develops into a shooter or rim protector, the Cavs would probably not grant him the huge contract extension that he is looking for with plenty of cheap alternatives available. He might just land that contract though, in a rebuilding team and not a team with title aspirations like the Cavaliers which is why he could be set to leave Cleveland this coming season or in free agency.
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