Training camp has already started, and while many of the folks over at Cleveland had hopes that the Tristan Thompson would have been settled, sadly such is not the case.
A prior report did mention Thompson softening his stand and pitching a three-year max contract deal worth $53 million; apparently, general manager David Griffin and the Cavs are not biting the bait.
Recall that Thompson and agent Rich Paul wanted a $94 million five-year deal which would see the Canadian forward earning about $18.8 million annually. The Cavs were willing to shell out only $16 million annually for five years ($80 million in total) and the new deal was somewhat in the middle at $17.7 million in a year.
While it seems that the slightly lowered annual price was more reasonable, the thing is that the Cavs are standing pat on their original offer.
If Thompson and Paul continue to hold out, the only alternative for Thompson is to accept the one-year qualifying offer of $6.9 million and then test free agency next year.
Thompson will have until Thursday to decide on whether to take that or not but the fine print of it all is that Thompson's camp have threatened that this would be his last year as a Cav.
"We love Tristan Thompson and we want him to be part of our future," general manager David Griffin said via ABC News. "I think everything in our actions and our offer indicate that. ... We're excited about moving forward with him into the future in whatever form that may take," he added.
The holdout will not mean any fines for missing practices or media day events since he is technically still under contract.
Practically the entire team is back for the Cavs next season, with Thompson the only one left to get on board. A final verdict on his true state will most likely be known on Thursday.
