The Cavaliers and restricted free agent power forward Tristan Thompson signed a five-year, $82MM deal, finally ending the power forward’s holdout. Cleveland had held the upper hand in these negotiations since Thompson’s choices were limited to signing a long term deal with the Cavs, signing an offer sheet with another team, or continuing to sit out. March 1st would have been the last day for him to sign an offer sheet this season, if the drama dragged on that long, and if he held out all season, Cleveland would have had the chance to issue another qualifying offer to renew his restricted free agency next July. The 24-year-old becomes the sixth highest paid power forward in the league behind Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap, and David Lee.
Here’s more from the week that was…
Free Agent Signings
Eastern Conference
- The Cavaliers signed Jack Cooley.
- The Heat signed Briante Weber.
- The Thunder signed Michael Cobbins and Mustapha Farrakhan.
- The Pistons signed Ryan Boatright.
Western Conference
- The Jazz signed E.J. Singler.
- The Warriors signed Xavier Henry.
- The Spurs signed Julian Washburn.
Overseas
- Quincy Miller signed with the Serbian team Red Star Belgrade.
You can stay up to date on all of the signings with Hoops Rumors’ free agent tracker.
Waivers
Eastern Conference
- The Cavaliers waived Chris Johnson.
- The Bucks waived Jorge Gutierrez, Marcus Landry and Josh Powell.
- The Celtics waived Coty Clarke, Malcolm Miller and Levi Randolph.
- The Nets waived Ryan Boatright, Quincy Miller and Chris Daniels.
- The Heat waived Corey Hawkins.
- The Pistons waived Cartier Martin, Adonis Thomas and Jordan Bachynski.
- The Magic waived Keith Appling and Jordan Sibert.
- The Cavs waived Nick Minnerath.
- The Hawks waived Terran Petteway.
- The Bulls waived Jordan Crawford and Marcus Simmons.
- The Magic waived Greg Stiemsma.
- The Magic waived Melvin Ejim.
- The Hornets waived Jason Washburn, Damien Wilkins, Sam Thompson, and Elliot Williams.
- The Cavs waived Jack Cooley, Dionte Christmas, Austin Daye and D.J. Stephens.
- The Knicks waived Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Darion Atkins and DaJuan Summers, Travis Trice and Wesley Saunders.
- The Magic waived Nnanna Egwu.
Western Conference
- The Spurs waived Keifer Sykes.
- The Lakers waived Robert Upshaw and Michael Frazier.
- The Spurs waived Jimmer Fredette.
- The Jazz waived Bryce Cotton and Treveon Graham.
- The Spurs waived Deshaun Thomas and Youssou Ndoye.
- The Kings waived David Stockton.
- The Jazz waived E.J. Singler.
- The Thunder waived Michael Qualls, Talib Zanna, Julyan Stone, and Dez Wells.
- The Mavs waived Jarrid Famous.
- The Warriors waived Chris Babb, Jarell Eddie, Xavier Henry and Chris Udofia.
- The Blazers waived Phil Pressey and Omari Johnson.
- The Lakers waived Jonathan Holmes.
- The Rockets waived Jeremy Tyler, Chris Walker, Will Cummings and Denzel Livingston.
Contract Options
- The Jazz exercised third-year options on Dante Exum and Rodney Hood and fourth-year options on Trey Burke and Rudy Gobert.
- The Wolves exercised their options on Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng and Adreian Payne.
- The Magic exercised their options on Aaron Gordon, Victor Oladipo, Shabazz Napier and Elfrid Payton.
- The Thunder exercised the fourth-year options on Steven Adams and Andre Roberson in addition to their third-year option on Mitch McGary.
D-League News
- Combo forward Coty Clarke, who was waived by the Celtics on Tuesday, will play this season for Boston’s D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.
Miscellaneous News
- Pelicans swingman Tyreke Evans underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and he is expected to be out of action for six to eight weeks.
- Al Horford hired BDA Sports founder Bill Duffy as his agent.
- Vanderbilt junior center/forward Damian Jones says he plans to enter the 2016 draft.
- Spurs coach/president Gregg Popovich will succeed Mike Krzyzewski as head coach of Team USA.