Tristan Thompson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavs Exercise Options On Irving, Thompson

October 19th, 2012 at 1:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have officially picked up their 2013/14 options on Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson, the team announced today in a press release. Both Irving and Thompson are currently heading into their sophomore seasons, so the Cavs will have an additional team option on both players in 2014/15.

Considering both Irving and Thompson were top-five picks in 2011, with Irving earning Rookie of the Year honors last season, exercising their third-year options was a formality for the Cavs. Irving is now slated to make a guaranteed $5.61MM in 2013/14, while Thompson will earn about $4.06MM.

Be sure to check out Hoops Rumors' option tracker to follow which rookie-scale players have had their 2013/14 options picked up so far this offseason.

Cavs Notes: Thompson, Leuer, Roster Cuts

October 11th, 2012 at 3:15pm CST by Luke Adams

As we heard earlier today, the NCAA is investigating agent Rich Paul and Myck Kabongo regarding a trip the Texas guard took to Cleveland this summer. Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson, who is represented by Paul, was involved in Kabongo's trip, but doesn't think any NCAA rules were violated, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal writes (on Sulia).

"I had to pay for it, but then his brother reimbursed me, which is totally fine with the NCAA," Thompson said. "I think everything will work out. I don't see no eligibility issues, but that's for the NCAA to figure out."

Here are a few more Thursday notes related to the Cavs:

Jon Leuer doesn't appear to be in jeopardy of not making Cleveland's regular season roster, though he may face an uphill battle for minutes, says Bob Finnan of the News Herald.
Leuer was traded by the Bucks this summer, waived by the Rockets, and eventually claimed by the Cavs on waivers, and says he was caught off guard by all the movement: "I didn't see that coming at all. Milwaukee needed a center and Houston had a million things going on. It was a pretty crazy offseason, kind of a welcome to the free-agency frenzy for a young player."
The Cavs have 18 players on their roster and will need to cut three more before the season begins. Finnan expects the team to cut one of Donald Sloan or Jeremy Pargo, and one of Luke Harangody, Luke Walton, and Kevin Jones. It's unclear who the last cut could be — perhaps Kelenna Azubuike or Micheal Eric. Finnan suggests that Cleveland may also be willing to move Daniel Gibson for a second-round pick.
As our list of non-guaranteed deals shows, Sloan, who appears to have a leg up on Pargo, is the only Cav under contract without any sort of guarantee. So Cleveland may end up releasing three players who are all owed guaranteed money.

Ty Lawson, Others Leaving CAA

October 2nd, 2012 at 2:54pm CST by Luke Adams

On the heels of LeBron James' decision to leave Creative Artists Agency to join Rich Paul's newly-formed Klutch Sports Group, a number of other CAA clients appear to be leaving the agency, according to ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst. Windhorst reports that Ty Lawson, Tristan Thompson, Eric Bledsoe, and Cory Joseph are among the players filing paperwork to leave CAA.

Thompson, Bledsoe, and Joseph were clients of Paul's at CAA, so it's not a surprise that they'll follow him to Klutch Sports, as Windhorst writes. However, Lawson wasn't a Paul client, and is expected to hire Happy Walters, according to Windhorst. We heard last week that Walters and Dan Fegan were forming a new agency called Relativity Sports.

While many of these players are a ways off from signing new deals, Lawson's representation could play a major part in contract negotiations this month. Lawson is eligible for an extension of up to five years if he re-ups with Denver before October 31st, and both he and Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri have expressed optimism that an agreement will be reached.

Latest On LeBron’s Agency Change

September 13th, 2012 at 8:35am CST by Luke Adams

As we passed along last night, LeBron James has decided to leave the Creative Artists Agency and join a newly-formed agency led by childhood friend Rich Paul. Eric Freeman of Yahoo! Sports' Ball Don't Lie blog rightly points out that the move won't have a huge effect on LeBron's next contract — he'll get maximum-salary offers no matter who is representing him. However, as Freeman notes, James had been CAA's most prominent NBA client, and if other players follow him away from the agency, the agency's considerable power in the Association could begin to dwindle.

A handful of reporters have added a few more details to the story, so let's round up a few notes from Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com….

Paul's new agency will be called the Klutch Sports Group, and he is expected to take some of his clients with him to the new Cleveland-based firm. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Tristan Thompson, Eric Bledsoe, and Cory Joseph are among Paul's clients.
LeBron leaves CAA on good terms, with no hard feelings — the move isn't seen as a breakup, but more as a partnership with Paul, who is already involved in LeBron's marketing through the LRMR marketing group.
Chris Paul is a CAA client, but is good friends with LeBron and Rich Paul. It's not clear whether he'll consider joining the Klutch group with his free agency a year away.
LeBron's change of agents wasn't influenced by his 2014 opt-out clause, and shouldn't be interpreted as an indication that he plans to opt out.

Odds & Ends: Team Canada, Harrellson, Magic

August 23rd, 2012 at 2:17pm CST by Chuck Myron

A handful of players with NBA ties have been invited to a weekend training camp that will take place soon to give Team Canada officials a first glimpse at candidates for their national team, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reports (Sulia link). Tristan Thompson of the Cavs, Joel Anthony of the Heat, Cory Joseph of the Spurs, Andrew Nicholson of the Magic and Kris Joseph of the Celtics are on the list. Robert Sacre, the 60th pick in this year's draft by the Lakers, remains unsigned, but he's been invited as well. The team has officially named former Raptors head coach and current Blazers assistant Jay Triano as head coach, Wolstat also writes, and Rockets assistant coach Kelvin Sampson will also be an assistant with Team Canada. Lakers guard Steve Nash, serving as Team Canada's GM, said he wouldn't have accepted the position if Triano wasn't coming aboard, too, Wolstat notes. Here's more from around the Association this afternoon:

The Heat conducted a workout with Josh Harrellson today, as we heard earlier, but the Timberwolves have no interest in the 6'10" University of Kentucky product, as they prefer a center with more length, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News in Minneapolis. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel notes that Harrellson is just one of several big men the Heat are considering (Sulia link).
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel looks at the options the Magic have at power forward to replace Ryan Anderson.
The Bulls, Lakers, Clippers, Timberwolves and Warriors all have some significant injury issues with training camp about a month away, and Sam Amick of SI.com checks in on the status of Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard and others.
Robin Lopez is recovering from left knee surgery that took place a week after the Hornets acquired him in a sign-and-trade, but he's expected to be ready for training camp, as John Reid of The Times-Picayune reports. Lopez expressed his enthusiasm about coming to New Orleans, saying, "I’m excited to be here. We’ve got a young, energetic group. The good thing is we’ve got some youth that has a little bit of experience as well. Hopefully we can parlay that into something special.’’
Joe Dumars, Pistons president of basketball operations, traveled overseas with assistant GM George David to watch Jonas Jerebko and Slava Kravtsov in FIBA Eurobasket qualifying, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes.