Tristan Thompson's situation with the Cleveland Cavaliers is still not resolved with about a week until training camp begins and that's all that's on the minds of Cavs fans right now. LeBron James was adamant earlier this offseason that the Cavaliers needed to re-sign Thompson to a big deal and keep him there for life but has since remained quiet and that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon. It is being reported that James is unlikely to get involved in the negotiations with Thompson and the Cavaliers, according to Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group.
James and Thompson share the same agent, Rich Paul, and have an extremely close relationship so James has some motivation to possibly want to get involved. The likely end game here for both sides is that Thompson will sign his one year qualifying offer and then leave next summer in free agency. James is one of the most powerful athletes in the country and can change the Cavaliers' minds on that in a heartbeat if he chose to apply pressure.
The way James has been structuring his contracts he is set up to become an unrestricted free agent every year so that he could maximize his money. James reportedly might not sign a long-term deal until the summer of 2017 so if he wanted to he could put the heat on the Cavs by threatening to leave in free agency if they don't give Thompson a long-term deal. The reports though say that James has no plan to put pressure on the Cavaliers in this situation.
Thompson's contract has been described as a "non-discussion right now" as it relates to James' personal future. Also it is being said that LeBron's goals won't change whether Thompson is around or not and that goes for everyone else too, he is just focused on taking his team to the championship.
Basically what all this means is that James reportedly has no intentions of forcing the Cavaliers hand in this situation. If LeBron were to send out one simple tweet or make a comment in an interview the pressure would be applied immediately but as of right now that doesn't seem like it is an option for him.
Thompson has until October 1st to either reach a long-term agreement or accept the qualifying offer. Paul has already said that if Thompson is forced to accept the qualifying offer that he will not re-sign with the Cavaliers next summer so maybe as the deadline draws closer LeBron will feel more compelled to say something but for now he just doesn't seem to want to get involved.
