Tristan Thompson to ask for $11 million per year extension

Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal started out his final 23 notes of the summer with eight straight tidbits on Tristan Thompson. The first wave of points involved Thompson seeing more time at center this season, and possibly seeing the court as the starting center in aid of the aging and injury-prone Anderson Varejao. As he went on, he also mentioned the contract situation with Thompson, who will be entering the final year of his four-year rookie contract. The Cavs will not sign Thompson to an extension before the October 31 deadline, and they may not be able to bring him back in the summer of 2015 if Cleveland wants to keep its super team together.

Tristan Thompson did not play up to a level last season that would be deserving of a contract extension. Now, he will likely be seeing less court time as a backup to Kevin Love and Varejao. His usefulness will decrease some, decreasing his value this upcoming off-season.

According to Lloyd, Thompson will be asking for an $11 million per year extension to stay with the Cavs:

"5. He will ask for the type of money previously given to Derrick Favors (four years, $49 million) and Larry Sanders (four years, $44 million). What will hurt Thompson’s case, however, is the Greg Monroe saga. Monroe, by all accounts a better player than Thompson, was forced to sign a one-year qualifying offer with the Pistons after failing to reach agreement on a long-term contract with anyone this summer. He will now be an unrestricted free agent next summer."

Although Tristan Thompson does not match up to the production of the players mentioned in Lloyd’s column, it will be interesting to see how the Cavs approach this situation next off-season.

With three max players already on the Cavaliers roster, the team is going to have a hard time matching what Tristan Thompson’s camp wants from Cleveland. Kyrie Irving is the first of the talented 2011 draft class to sign an extension with his original team, so there is still hope that Thompson could get big money once he finishes off his four-year rookie deal with the Cavs.

But that is very unlikely to happen. With the cap raising in 2016, yes, the Cavaliers will have more money to work with, but LeBron James and Love will both be searching for max contracts to sign with the Cavs. LeBron did only sign on for two years, but that was in direct relationship with the big television deal that the NBA is working out

Zach Lowe of Grantland wrote a piece on the intriguing extension offers that may or (probably) may not be signed this 0ff-season before the October 31 deadline. Here is what Lowe had to say about Tristan Thompson, who he considers one of the most intriguing cases for a contract extension:

"Thompson may not start, but given Varejao’s age and constant health issues, Thompson will spend a ton of time playing alongside Kevin Love — a 3-point-bombing power forward who keeps the lane clear. Thompson will often share the floor with the league’s best passer and four threatening long-range shooters."

Tristan Thompson shares a similar agent with LeBron James, Rich Paul, and that will also likely play into whether or not the Cavs will work something out with Thompson. But for now, it looks like Thompson will have to increase his value this season if he wishes for the Cavaliers to dish him out the type of money he is asking for.