Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports is reporting that Tristan Thompson, who lost his starting center spot to recently acquired Timofey Mozogv, turned down a huge extension. Thompson is represented by the same agency as LeBron James, Klutch Sports:
James is the biggest reason Klutch Sports exists, and he’s an active recruiter of high school, college and current NBA players to join the agency. Of course, plenty of players help their agents recruit. So when James committed as a free agent in July, everyone understood there was a tax – spoken or unspoken – that would come with James’ return, that would manifest itself in an above-market deal for Thompson.
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Thompson’s a rebounder, a defender, an energy guy. He isn’t a starter on a playoff team, but he has a good attitude, a good motor and could be a role player anywhere in the NBA. Paul isn’t the first agent to leverage a more prominent client’s extension against another, nor the last.
Even so, at what price? Within the NBA, officials expected maybe $10 million a year, perhaps $12 million if Klutch wanted to push it. Well, they kept pushing it. Thompson turned down a $13 million-a-year extension offer – four-years, $52 million, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Thompson was offered this deal before the Oct. 31st deadline. He is currently averaging 9.7 points and 8 rebounds a game this season. Seems Thompson, who will be a restricted free-agent next summer, is hoping for an even bigger payday once the new TV deal kicks into place.
[Yahoo]
