Tristan Thompson turned down a $13 million-a-year extension from the Cleveland Cavaliers, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The deal would have been worth four-years and $52 million in total.
James is the biggest reason Klutch Sports exists, and he’s an active recruiter of high school, college and current NBA players to join the agency. Of course, plenty of players help their agents recruit. So when James committed as a free agent in July, everyone understood there was a tax – spoken or unspoken – that would come with James’ return, that would manifest itself in an above-market deal for Thompson.
Thompson’s a rebounder, a defender, an energy guy. He isn’t a starter on a playoff team, but he has a good attitude, a good motor and could be a role player anywhere in the NBA. Paul isn’t the first agent to leverage one more prominent client’s extension against another, nor the last.
Even so, at what price? Within the NBA, officials expected maybe $10 million a year, perhaps $12 million if Klutch wanted to push it. Well, they kept pushing it. Thompson turned down a $13-million-a-year extension offer – four-year, $52 million, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Most NBA observers expected a contract in the $10 million per season range or as much as $12 million, but Thompson will benefit from who he knows on this one.