How much will Tristan Thompson get and does he deserve it?

With his fourth season coming up, many would have expected Tristan Thompson to shown improvement year after year, but has yet to do so. Thompson is on the last year of his rookie contract and is due to for an extension sometime during this year. Although extension talks have stalled recently, many believe he will eventually sign a contract extension with the Cavs. This leads us to what we are hear to talk about: how much will Thompson get, and has he deserved it?

Let us start out with his game.

Thompson has shown his ability rebound over this first three seasons in the league, specifically on the offensive end. Last year, he was ninth in the league in offensive rebounds and 17th in offensive rebounding percentage. Overall, his 9.2 rebounds per game was 22nd in the league, which is impressive when you consider he is a mere 6'8", which is short for an NBA power forward. Thompson ranked first in rebounds per game for forwards listed 6'8" or below, ahead of well-known rebounders such as Kenneth Faried and Paul Millsap.

Durability has also been a big part of Thompson's game, as he has played in 224 of the possible 230 games in his career. Contrary to his 2011 draft mate, staying on the court has never been a problem for him, and has helped him put up the numbers he has attained. It also makes it easier to give someone a contract if you know exactly what you are going to get out of them, which should help his case in contract talks over the season.

However, rebounding and durability is relatively the only strengths that Thompson possess. He does not score anywhere close to an elite level (11.4 points per game last year) and struggles to be the rim protector that the Cavs desperately need.

For someone who takes over half of his shots (54.7 percent to be exact) from inside of five feet, his 50.7 shooting percentage from that area is just at the league average. As you can see from the shot chart below, there is no where he excels at above league average. You may notice the green at the top of the key, but that is more small sample size than an actual conclusion that he can hit that shot at better than a league average rate.

As far as defense goes, Thompson has never been known as a shot-blocker or as an effective inside presence. He can rebound at an excellent rate on defense, but that is about the only thing that he does well on that end of the court. Last year, according to 82games.com, the Cavs gave up almost seven points per 100 possessions fewer when he was off the court (104.6), compared to when he was on the court (111.4). To put this in context, last year the Cavaliers ranked 17th in defensive rating, right at league average; however, when Thompson is on the court, their rating drops to dead last in the league.

After looking at these pros and cons of Thompson, a crucial thing to consider is his age. Although this going to be his fourth year in the league, he's only 23 years old. With the flaws we talked above, he still has time to improve his game on offense and defense.

Three other power forwards from the 2011 draft have signed extensions: Kenneth Faried (four years, $50 million), Nikola Vucevic (four year, $53 million) and Markieff Morris (four years, $32 millions). Of those three, only Faried has more win shares than Thompson over the course of their careers. However, Thompson has played over 1100 more minutes than each of those players, which the equivalent of almost 23 games. Based on this, Thompson is behind all three of them in terms of win shares per 48 minutes.

The biggest factor for how big his extension will be, is the return of LeBron James. James and Thompson both are represented by Rich Paul of Klutch Sports. Paul will make sure that Thompson gets paid, and will use the "since I got LeBron back, here is how you should reward me" method to get Thompson the best possible extension he can get.

When it comes down to it, I think he *deserves* get somewhere in the range of four years, $40 million. Anything over this will be an overpayment, which in the end, probably will be. Look for him to get Faried-like deal of four years, $48-50 million extension.