LeBron talks Tristan Thompson’s contract, ‘Space Jam,’ more in Twitter Q&A
After going dark for the duration of a Cleveland Cavaliers playoff run that ended with a mid-June loss in the 2015 NBA Finals, LeBron James ended his annual postseason social media blackout about two weeks ago. Most of his Twitter and Instagram missives since have had a promotional flair — hey, in case you hadn’t heard, LeBron’s in a little movie called “Trainwreck!” — but on Tuesday night, he decided to kill a little bit of his late July downtime by holding a brief question-and-answer session with his 22.7 million Twitter followers.
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Right off the top, the King expressed his interest in taking care of one of the Cavs’ last bits of summertime business: the re-signing of restricted free agent power forward Tristan Thompson, who stepped in admirably after losing starting four-man Kevin Love to a separated shoulder and whose voracious rebounding and defensive acumen helped propel Cleveland to the Finals:
@YrNGiovanni @RealTristan13 Yeah of course he will. Means way too much to our team success!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 28, 2015
Thompson and the Cavaliers were reportedly closing in on a five-year, $80 million deal at the start of free agency, but those discussions reportedly reached an impasse shortly thereafter. It’s been mostly quiet on the Tristan front ever since.
Despite initial reports that James — whose agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, also represents Thompson — would hold off on signing his new deal with the Cavs until Thompson’s was finished, LeBron went ahead and re-upped on a two-year, $47 million deal on July 9. Cleveland’s “still expected to come to terms with Thompson,” and Cavaliers general manager David Griffin remains hopeful a deal will get done, and negotiations are reportedly ongoing.
Even after dropping $110 million to re-sign Love and bringing back James, who also figures to need time at the four spot, a Cavaliers club poised to dominate the Eastern Conference over the next few seasons has plenty of incentive to spend big to retain Thompson as part of what would look like arguably the league’s premier frontcourt rotation.
Given the paucity of quality players still left on the free-agent market at this stage of the summer, and the fact that only the Philadelphia 76ers have enough cap space right now to make Thompson even a sub-max-level offer that would kick in next season, it seems unlikely that there’s a more attractive match of talent and contending situation for either player or team. If Thompson dislikes the Cavs’ offers enough to want to pursue greener pastures, though, he could sign his $6.8 million qualifying offer for next season and enter unrestricted free agency next summer; that’s the route taken this past season by Greg Monroe, who wound up inking a three-year, $50 million deal to move the Detroit Pistons to the Milwaukee Bucks.
It seems unlikely that it’ll come to that, though. James’ public proclamation that the 2011 draft’s No. 4 pick will re-sign is just the latest indication of the level of confidence the NBA’s most influential man has in the deal getting done.
James went on to identify his best friends in the NBA (unsurprisingly, his WineBros), his favorite teammates from throughout his career, and his desire to make next season his best yet and to bring a long-awaited championship to Cleveland.
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James also touched on off-court matters, like how long he expected he’d last in the Octagon against Ronda Rousey, and his favorite part of raising his sons, LeBron Jr. and Bryce:
@keithcombinek Just being able to show them the way every day. You give them the blueprint and let them make their own path.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 28, 2015
… his favorite professional wrestlers:
@Briantelevision Ultimate Warrior, Sting, Ric Flair and Legion of Doom
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 28, 2015
… his preferred superpower:
@Josue_jr2 Teleportation
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 28, 2015
(Bamf.)
… and his favorite hip-hop artists:
@v_garcia9 @Drake today, Jay-Z all time.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 28, 2015
(Neither Drizzy nor Hov has LeBron’s favorite song of the moment, though; that honor belongs to Future.)
All that pales in comparison, though, to the question that’s been on a frankly shocking amount of minds ever since LeBron inked his new multiplatform content-production deal with Warner Bros. Entertainment:
@KingJRob21 Maybe…….Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. #LooneyToonsRock
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 28, 2015
Never let it be said that the King doesn’t grasp that time-honored rule of show business: Always leave them wanting more. (FYI, though, LeBron: It’s “Tunes,” not “Toons.” I know, it’s weird, but hey, can’t argue with generations of branding, right?)
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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