Cleveland Cavaliers Will Allow Tristan Thompson To Hit Free Agency This Summer

By Josh Hill | Nov 1, 2014

The Cleveland Cavaliers are optimistic they can extend big man Tristan Thompson before the NBA's deadline Friday. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson had a monster game in a 114-108 win over the Chicago Bulls, but he will be hitting restricted free agency in 2015 after failing to secure a contract extension.

Tristan Thompson went from a guy who was being pushed out by LeBron James to a bench player who could lead the Cavaliers to an NBA title. No one is confusing Thompson for LeBron James or anything, but his performance against the Chicago Bulls has turned heads, which is bad news for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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Cleveland failed to lock Thompson up with an extension before the deadline on Friday which means he’s going to become a restricted free agent this summer. The bad news based off his wonderful game against the Bulls is, it appears his price will only go up over the course of this season.

According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Cleveland Cavaliers tried but failed to get a contract extension settled upon with Tristan Thompson before the deadline to do so.

Tristan Thompson had 13 rebs & big dunk in overtime tonight but won't be getting contract extension. To be restricted free agent in July
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) November 1, 2014

The Cavaliers handed a three-year extension to Anderson Varejao on Friday night which will pay him $20 million guaranteed. They also picked up the fourth-year option on Dion Waiter and need to figure out how to pay Kevin Love this offseason as well. All of this suggests that the Cavaliers may end up losing Thompson, as they can only match offers that the market sets.

Who knows how much Thompson will command on the open market, but the likelihood that he comes cheap isn’t very high.

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