The Cleveland Cavaliers continue their preseason schedule tonight at Value City Arena at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus on the Ohio State University campus taking on the Memphis Grizzlies.
It should be noted that there still is no progress in the contract holdout of power forward Tristan Thompson, a player many feel is critical in the Cavaliers title push.
It has been said and many agree that the Cavaliers front office and G.M. David Griffin are prepared to wait this thing out to the very end. The possibility that they might cave into the max contract demands of Thompson and his agent Rich Paul, depends most likely on how the team performs without him.
Thompson has become known as an offensive rebound specialist who plays decent defense (many overstate his defense) and has the capability to switch off to smaller, faster players on defense.
The key for the Cavaliers is to see if another player (or two) can pick up where he left off and do the dirty work on the offensive glass.
Thompson’s offensive game is fairly pedestrian, not having the a consistent shot from outside of 5 feet from the basket. Is it possible that the Cavaliers can find one of the bigs to take on the role of “see ball, get ball?” Possibly Sasha Kaun or Anderson Varejao?
It has become apparent that the most valuable big on the roster is Timofey Mozgov, who plays good defense and blocks shots. Not only can Mozgov play low post sets and the pick & roll, but also has a shot extending out to 12-15 feet.
The other unknown is Varejao’s health and ability to stay healthy. He has shown in the first few preseason games that he still has some bounce and pep in his game, and his offensive game has improved almost every year. He has the ability to hit the hook shots from 10 feet, so he is not offensively challenged, as is Thompson.
Look for the Cavaliers to stay away from the negotiating table if the Cavaliers (with a healthy, more active Kevin Love) are able to match the activity of Thompson and are successful without Kyrie Irving (maybe) and Iman Shumpert (for sure) in the first few months of the season.
Does it seem like Thompson has banked on LeBron James to help get him his max contract? Maybe so, as he passed on the one year qualifying offer of 6.8 million and obviously knows his game was magnified by what James has brought to the team… scoring, and lots of it!
With the qualifying offer off the table, Thompson and Rich Paul have lost significant leverage. The only leverage they have left is if the Cavaliers play poorly.
We will see more and more of Sasha Kaun and Anderson Varejao on the floor at the same time when the second team is in. If one of them gets the point and embraces the idea of being there and positioning themselves for the offensive rebound, Thompson’s leverage evaporates.
And remember that the Cavaliers also hold a wild card (or two). When the trade deadline approaches in January and February, they have two TPE (traded player exceptions) that they could use to obtain a decent player from a team that isn’t playing well and needs to off-load salary.
With the 10.5 million and 2.8 million dollar TPE’s the Cavaliers could obtain a starting quality big like Markeef Morris of the Phoenix Suns.
Watch for a move to be made at some point early this season, and an above average big to come into the fold. That would make Thompson expendable.
All of us Cavaliers fans over the last four years have come to appreciate Tristan and his “iron man” dependability and his genuine enthusiasm for the game. But the last few months has tempered our love for this player as his agent has convinced him that he can take advantage of his relationship with LeBron and the owner Dan Gilbert’s deep pockets.
The one thing that Rich Paul has overlooked is that G.M. David Griffin realizes to be consistently in title contention the team must spend wisely with not only a “win now” mentality, but a look towards next year and the year after that always trying to make the team better.
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Griffin has done just that this year, bringing in Mo Williams and Richard Jefferson on very team friendly contracts.
We will watch the preseason and see how it plays out with the new talent brought in to secure the last roster spot. The Cavaliers have thought beyond that though – realizing Thompson could hold out for many months – a fact that points to another roster spot that could open for a rising young player or a trade that brings in new talent.
Tonight’s game against the Grizzlies will be a good test for the Cavaliers bigs. Memphis is notorious for playing big, with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph in the low post. We will see if our bigs can play with a big-centric team – one of the few quality big teams left – like the Grizzlies.
Tip-off is at 7pm. You can bet that Tristan Thompson will be watching this game!
Do the Cavaliers NEED Tristan Thompson for an NBA title run?
Next: Injuries, Age and Tristan Could Impact Roster Decisions