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Tristan Thompson has been an important part of the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ playoff run, averaging 8.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while playing just over 36 minutes per game (13 starts in 18 games). The most notable difference compared to his regular season numbers is playing time (26.8 minutes per game), but the loss of Kevin Love to a shoulder injury in the first round necessitated that boost in minutes and Thompson has largely stepped up.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported back in January that Thompson turned down a four-year, $52 million contract extension before the season, which now looks like a potentially very good decision. Bob Finnan of the News-Herald reported this weekend that Thompson’s agent has “let it be known” his client wants a max contract or something close to it this summer upon hitting free agency.
An interesting side note to Thompson’s situation is he and LeBron James share an agent. At this point James has more power over the franchise he plays for than any player in the league, so his statement from earlier this postseason that Thompson “should probably be a Cavalier for his whole career” holds a lot of weight. But that does not mean Cleveland should break the bank to keep Thompson, and he is absolutely not worthy of a max contract.
Thompson deserves credit for what he has done during the playoffs, but he averaged fewer points and rebounds per game during the regular season (8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game) than he did in either of the previous two seasons (11.7 points per game each season, more than nine rebounds per game each season). His drop in scoring can be chalked up to shooting less (6.0 field goal attempts per game, 9.3 field goal attempts per game in 2013-14), and better efficiency (54.7 percent from the floor) should be noted, but Thompson clearly has limits offensively and he may never become a force in that area.
Through the first four games of the NBA Finals Thompson has been a stalwart on the glass (13.8 rebounds per game), but his field goal percentage to this point in the series is just 44 percent and that has driven his scoring down to 6.5 points per game. Perhaps not coincidentally, even taking two overtime games into account, Thompson has also played over 42 minutes per game during the finals and may simply be running out of gas like many of his teammates.
The major offseason domino for the Cavaliers, at least has it relates to Thompson, is Love’s decision to opt-in or out for next season. If Love decides to leave, giving Thompson the deal he seems to be seeking would be more plausible. But we’ve seen plenty of players parlay a strong playoff showing into what becomes an inflated contract in hindsight, and I see Thompson being the latest in that line if he is able get anything resembling a max deal this offseason.
Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
