The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Thompson vague on future with Cavs
Center Tristan Thompson was noncommittal when asked if he’s played his last game with the Cavs.
Tristan Thompson, like everyone else connected to the NBA, is waiting to see when and if the season suspended more than two months ago will resume.
The Cavaliers’ 6-foot-9 center will be a free agent at some point this summer — a date that will be determined once NBA Commissioner Adam Silver decides how to proceed in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Thompson, 29, was noncommittal during a Zoom conference call May 14 when asked whether he has thought he might already have played his last game — 697 games, including playoffs — for the Cavs.
“No, it hasn’t crossed my mind at all,” Thompson said. “I don’t like to think too far ahead. I just try to look at just the reality of everything and what’s in front of us and when they told us the season is postponed until further notice. My whole focus was just, ‘How can I make sure that my mom, brother and everyone in my family was safe during this time?’ because that’s the scariest part.
“Basketball has opened a lot of doors for myself and my family and created great opportunities. But at the end of the day, you can’t put a price tag on health. So that was my main focus. That’s really where my head was.”
Back in February, just before the trade deadline, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported “Thompson’s camp wants him traded by Thursday’s deadline. The people close to him are calling it a ‘priority.’ ”
The Cavaliers were 13-38 at the time and obviously did not trade Thompson. They still have the worst record in the Eastern Conference at 19-46, but they won five of their last 11 games and became a noticeably different and better basketball team when J.B. Bickerstaff replaced John Beilein as head coach Feb. 20.
“Basketball has opened a lot of doors for myself and my family and created great opportunities. But at the end of the day, you can’t put a price tag on health. So that was my main focus.” Tristan Thompson
Thompson no longer seems so eager to leave, but in the end it sounds as though he will go to wherever the mountain of money he can receive is the highest.
“Ever since J.B. took over, our whole mentality over the last 20-plus games that we had left, we were just trying to be a spoiler team,” Thompson said. “We were trying to just beat the teams that are fighting for seeding and playoffs and all that stuff. We wanted to beat those teams and burst their bubble that night.
“For us, we were actually trending in the right direction and beating a lot of teams that were fighting for playoff position.”
Thompson, making $18,539,130 for 2019-20, was having the kind of season a pending free agent would like to have. He played in 57 games with 51 starts and was averaging a career-best 12 points a game. His 30.2 minutes per game average was his highest since the 2013-14 season (31.6), and his 2019-20 10.1 rebounds per game was bested only by 10.2 rebounds a season ago.
Complicating the future of all pending NBA free agents is speculation the salary cap will be lower next year because of lost revenue this season caused by COVID-19. Thompson and others in his situation might sign a one-year deal for next season then hope things return to normal so free agents could land huge contracts in the summer of 2021.
“I don’t think anyone is thinking about free agency here,” Thompson said. “Everyone
is thinking about if we’re going to get some games going on. So in terms of the free agency stuff, I just let Rich Paul (Thompson’s agent) handle that. He’s the best in the game, so for me, just keep the main focus on staying healthy and staying ready to play some basketball whenever that may be.
“So in terms of free agency and undertaking one-year deals, because of the cap situation, guys can do what’s best for themselves and their family. But for me, my approach right now is just enjoy the family time and stay basketball right (working out on his own).”
Matthew Dellavedova and Ante Zizic of the Cavaliers will also be unrestricted free agents this summer. Andre Drummond has a player option of $28.75 million for the 2020-21 sea