National Basketball Association 2015 News: Tristan Thompson and Cleveland Cavaliers End Impasse

During the Cavs’ NBA Finals run in the 2015 playoffs, Thompson played in all 20 games (15 starts), averaging 9.6 points on. After over five months of back-and-forth among the two sides, word broke Thompson and Cleveland have agreed on a five-year, $82 million contract.

The long contract saga between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Tristan Thompson is over, with the player and team signing a deal that’s a lot closer to what was initially proposed by the Cavs.

This is what makes him perfect for the Cleveland Cavaliers and why his new five-year deal worth a cool $82 million is a fair amount for him.

Thompson’s contract issues with the Cavs persisted since July as the Club wants a $80 million deal while Thompson didn’t budge from $94 million, or a three year and $53 million, contract offer.

James Jones admits that it is a relief to know Tristan Thompson can re-join practice after finally signing a new five-year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. And now that Thompson has returned, the Cavs and their fans can rest easy that the core of last year’s Eastern Conference champions has returned.

Thompson’s contract means the Cavs are on the hook for about $170 million in payroll and luxury taxes, the second-highest in league history. The only Cavaliers who aren’t locked into multi-year deals are LeBron and Timofey Mozgov, who each have one year remaining.

Last season, Thompson had an average of 8.5 points and 8 rebounds. Thompson plays roughly 23-25 minutes per game and although he rebounds well, he doesn’t add much else defensively or offensively. It was reminiscent of the blinding optimism that ensued when LeBron helped coalesce the Miami Heat’s Big Three, except that Love is considerably more versatile offensively than Chris Bosh, and Kyrie Irving was just entering his prime, instead of sliding out of it as Dwyane Wade had been. It led to a contract stalemate, which forced the former Texas standout to skip training camp and their seven preseason games heading into the 2015-16 NBA season.

The numbers might throw you off, but there was a very good and sensible reason Cleveland offered nearly this money to Thompson at the beginning of the offseason. The report also pointed out that Thompson has plenty of room to improve on offense with his athleticism and versatility. The Denver Nuggets could be worse than last year’s 30-win season, and may find themselves looking to trade a few of their best players at the deadline.

Thompson comes in at the right time when the Cavs are trying to hold up with most of its players coming off sick bay.

The Cavaliers’ season will tip off October 27 against the Chicago Bulls.