Cavs: Tristan Thompson will reportedly not be bought out if not traded

The clock is ticking on the Cleveland Cavaliers being able to move Tristan Thompson. As a side note, it was recently reported that if he is not traded, Thompson will not be bought out.

The Cleveland Cavaliers‘ biggest expiring trade chip at this point is undoubtedly Tristan Thompson. Thompson is having career-bests in points (11.9), rebounds (10.4) and assists (2.1) per game, as noted by Basketball Reference, thus far in the 2019-20 season, but with Cleveland struggling mightily this season, Thompson should be moved.

Of course, the clock is ticking on Cleveland general manager Koby Altman and the front office to move Thompson, along with potentially the expiring contracts of John Henson, Matthew Dellavedova and Brandon Knight.

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Ante Zizic is on an expiring deal, too, but with him reportedly sidelined indefinitely with a vestibular condition, I wouldn’t expect him to be moved.

Anyway, the key currently, is that Altman and the Cavs need to do their absolute best to move Thompson by Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, which is closing in at 3 p.m. ET.

We recently hit on reported potential trade suitors for Thompson’s services, but it appears that one of those is no longer in the running, and that Altman is running out of time.

The Houston Rockets, who recently traded center Clint Capela to the Atlanta Hawks in a four-team deal involving the Minnesota Timberwolves and also Denver Nuggets, which was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, with contributions from ESPN’s Bobby Marks and Tim MacMahon, too, are likely no longer a Thompson suitor.

It was recently reported by Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes that Houston did its “due diligence” on TT, but won’t be able to make a deal work financially. Thompson is set to make $18.5 million in 2019-20, and Haynes also reported that Thompson will not be bought out if he’s not traded.

Houston did not have the salary numbers to match, but anyway, a buyout is not an option for the Cleveland Cavaliers involving Thompson, huh?

Jeez hopefully it doesn’t get to that point, and the Cavaliers can get something for Thompson, even if that means two second-round picks and feasibly two players back that have near salary matching.

While Thompson has been terrific for the Cavs this season, and has given his all for the franchise for nearly nine years, with Thompson’s camp reportedly believing it is a “priority” that he is moved by the deadline, according to The Athletic‘s Joe Vardon (subscription required) earlier this week, Altman and company better move Thompson soon.

If TT is not moved, even though he did clearly show he was engaged and fully in it in Wednesday’s game at the Oklahoma City Thunder, as Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor detailed, of which TT missed due to reported right quad soreness, this could create a distraction for the Cavs the rest of this season.

Thompson’s camp reportedly wants Thompson moved, especially given that a new team would have his Bird rights, which would allow them to go over the salary cap to re-sign him.

That being said, given that the Cavs reportedly would do an extension, but would seemingly not do a big contract such as his prior five-year, $82 million deal, per Fedor, even though TT’s camp hasn’t yet demanded a buyout, I still believe this could be a big issue with the team’s dynamic the rest of this season if TT isn’t moved.

Hopefully Thompson is traded by 3 p.m., anyhow.

As far as Thursday updated logical suitors, Fedor on 92.3 The Fan’s “The Ken Carmen Show with Anthony Lima” said that sees Houston, which obviously is no longer, and the Dallas Mavericks as possible landing spots for TT (and h/t Cavaliers Nation’s Twitter).

Sports Illustrated‘s Sam Amico noted that Thompson has “been linked” to the Washington Wizards and LA Clippers, and Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reported some in the Clips’ front office have some interest in Thompson, and have “kicked the tires” on Kevin Love, but it seems given recent reports, Love’s not being moved by the deadline.

Unfortunately, the Associated Press‘ Tom Withers essentially said that he doesn’t expect the Cavs to move Thompson.

We’ll see what happens, though, and perhaps the Cavs will move maybe Henson, who leads the team in blocks with 1.1 per game this season, per NBA.com, too. Amico reported that teams are interested in Henson, and specifically, the New York Knicks, a squad that actually was in talks about acquiring Henson as part of a trade on Tuesday, per Haynes, but then the deal “cooled.”

Anyway, if a buyout’s not going to happen if Thompson isn’t moved, there could be some locker room strife I would think. TT doesn’t seem to be the type to raise problems, and it was more so his camp that wants him moved it seems, but again, Altman and company should do all they can to move Thompson soon.