How Much Money Is Tristan Thompson Worth to Cleveland Cavaliers?
Power forward Tristan Thompson figures to be a key part of the Cleveland Cavaliers' championship chase this season.
He'll be chasing a pay raise, as well.
The No. 4 overall pick of the 2011 NBA draft, Thompson is eligible to hit restricted free agency next summer.
While he's been a key piece to the Cavs' rebuilding the past three years, Thompson's role should shrink significantly now with Kevin Love set to take the starting job.
Despite this demotion of sorts, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal still expects Thompson to be asking for starter's money:
"What hasn’t been discussed is a contract extension for him – at least not yet. The two sides haven’t really discussed numbers, one source involved in the process said recently.
He will ask for the type of money previously given to Derrick Favors (four years, $49 million) and Larry Sanders (four years, $44 million).
"
The Cavaliers have a big decision to make.
Already with a skyrocketing payroll, how much are they willing to invest in Thompson?
Role with Team
After starting the past 189 games for Cleveland, Thompson will more than likely come off the bench in favor of Love and Anderson Varejao.
Other than a likely drop in minutes, his role shouldn't change all that much.
While Thompson's offensive game is limited, he's been an outstanding rebounder who always works hard and carries a lot of defensive potential. For his career, he's averaged 10.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 29.4 minutes a game.
On a team now loaded with scorers, the Cavs will once again rely on Thompson to do the gritty work.
Thompson addressed this role with Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group:
"I don't think I have to adjust too much. Ever since I joined the Cavilers, my job has always been the same. I just come out and play hard. Be a hardhat guy, punch in the clock and just play my game. That's not going to change.
Even though we've added LeBron [James], Kyrie [Irving] stepped up a lot this summer and having Kevin, I think my role will be the same. Just come out and play hard, be an asset to this team.
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For the most part, Thompson is right.
Cleveland has enough star power and scoring. They need him to fill the less glorious, but still important, role of rebounder and defender.
Unfortunately for Thompson, his stats will take a hit.
There's just no way Thompson can replicate the 11.7 points and 9.2 rebounds a game he provided last season. We should realistically be expecting somewhere along the lines of six points and seven rebounds as the first big man off the bench.
The problem will come during negotiations.
While Cleveland's extension offer may reflect this season's mediocre stats, Thompson's camp will instead point to the 2013-14 numbers.
His role may be similar, but a decline in minutes and production could hurt his overall value when it comes to negotiations.
LeBron's Influence
How exactly could James affect Thompson's next contract?
Just ask Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe.
James, Thompson and Bledsoe all share agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group.
It was Paul who did much of the work to reunite James and Cleveland, the site of his own company office. That's the thing about Klutch, it's still a relatively small group. With just six clients to date (per RealGM.com), some would question Paul's power.
This is where Bledsoe comes in.
While the Suns offered Bledsoe a four-year, $48 million contract extension this summer, the 24-year-old guard wanted more. Paul played hardball, holding out for months before the two sides ultimately agreed on a five-year, $70 million deal.
Bledsoe, and Paul, had won.
What made the announcement particularly interesting was the Instagram post that James shared soon afterwards:
“Congrats to my brother @ebled2!! Family stand for each other through the good and bad! I guess we still don’t know what we doing yet huh Rich!?! #StriveForGreatness #Klutch #RWTW”
As Brett Pollakoff of NBC Sports points out, James and Paul don't share a typical client-agent relationship.
"It’s clear that James has more than just a rooting interest where his agent is concerned, and while there may not be a formal financial stake for him in place, the level of influence wielded by the game’s best player will only help Paul continue to land clients.
The fact that LeBron used 'we' here also may unintentionally confirm that his involvement with Paul and his recently-formed Klutch Sports Group goes deeper than perhaps is appropriate, and it wouldn’t be difficult to see that as something the league takes a closer look at legislating at some point in the future.
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How does this tie in to Thompson?
First of all, Paul is very high on the Cavaliers' Christmas card list. He landed them the best player in the world, turning the franchise from a lottery team to potential championship contender.
Second, Paul proved he can get his clients what they want.
Both bode extremely well for Thompson when it comes time to talk contract.
Salary-Cap Concerns
Looking ahead to next season, the Cavs could run into some serious salary-cap problems.
We know Irving will be under contract at $15.5 million, per BasketballInsiders.com. Dion Waiters, Mike Miller, Matthew Dellavedova and Joe Harris will take up around $10 million, combined.
James and Love are both expected to opt out of their contracts in hopes of signing new five-year, max extensions that will start north of $20 million each.
That's roughly $65.5 million worth of salary, not including Thompson's expected raise.
The good news for Cleveland, and Thompson, is that the salary cap is expected to rise by a significant amount.
Given the new TV deals between the NBA, ESPN and Turner, Dan Feldman of NBC Sports predicts an increase of $16 million, pushing the soft cap to around $80 million.
While the Cavaliers' main priority will be to lock up James and Love, this increase in possible spending should help Thompson out as well.
Cleveland will certainly be willing to offer more money if the cap gives them more cash to play with.
Final Numbers
In the end, Thompson's contributions to the Cavaliers' success may ultimately decide his value.
Is he worth an $11 million- or $12 million-a-year deal like Sanders or Favors?
On this team with so many other important parts, no.
That certainly doesn't mean he won't get it, however.
The Cavs will likely have to overpay to keep Thompson on board. He is a good, solid player who brings a lot to the table and who's also helped out by the fact he shares an agent with James. Couple this with a big jump in available salary cap, and Thompson could certainly make a case for why Cleveland should pay him.
If we're talking an extension based solely on production, then Thompson is probably worth $6 million to $7 million per season over a four-year deal.
Given his connections, however, Thompson could command a lot more from the Cavs next summer.
Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers for Bleacher Report since 2010. Connect with him on Twitter for more basketball news and conversation.
All stats provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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