Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James said that power forward Tristan Thompson's ongoing contract negotiations with the team are causing a distraction, ESPN's Dave McMenamin reports.
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"It's kind of like the elephant in the room all over, for everybody," James said. "Hopefully some resolve can happen sooner than later. You know, obviously, we continue to say, I continue to say how his value to us is extreme, as we saw last year in the postseason, throughout the season.
"I'm not here to talk about numbers, things of that nature, because that's for them, for both sides to figure out. The last thing you need is a distraction when you try to make a championship run. And we have that right now. And it's unfortunate for both sides that we're going through it right now as a team. It's not an excuse, we will be ready to go but hopefully something happens in the near future.
"I know he wants to be here, I believe this franchise wants him to be here, and so on and so on. So, like I said, hopefully something gets done soon so we can really get down to it."
Thompson refused to sign the one-year tender Cleveland offered him as a restricted free agent in hopes of reaching a long-term deal. He is seeking a five-year, $94 million contract, but the most Cleveland has offered is a five-year, $80 million contract.
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