LeBron James Finally Intervening in Tristan Thompson Contract Impasse?

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Tristan Thompson continue to be at a stalemate but if there is one player who could possibly help and make both parties meet, it would have to be Lebron James.

James has been quiet on the issue, that was until he and Thompson crossed paths at a wedding held in Miami recently. There is no word if both players discussed anything about the Canadian’s current contract issues though an Instagram post made by ‘the King’ sends a bit of mixed signals to the Cavs.

The IG post shows James and Thompson posing for a Polaroid but the caption seems to be sending a message to Dan Gilbert and the Cavs: "Get it done!!! Straight up. #MissMyBrother."

Both James and Thompson are under the same agent, Rich Paul, and both are obviously close friends.

To recall, Thompson and Paul batted for a $94 million five-year deal which the Cavaliers weren’t amenable to. The Cavs were only willing to offer Thompson $80 million for five years and apparently Paul and Thompson weren’t biting.

Seeing that the contract talks were not getting anywhere, Paul and Thompson countered with a $53 million deal for three years but the Cavs were not buying it as well.

So the last option unless new contract talks (and figures) come out is that the 24-year-old Canadian would likely end up agreeing to a qualifying offer worth $6.8 million.

However, the thing is that this deal would mean Thompson is as good as gone next season, citing that the Canadian forward could be dangled a contract which could play along the $20 million mark.

James has of course denied that he is twisting the arm of the Cavs and remains firm that the row will be settled soon.

"That is not what I'm saying," says James via Cleveland.com. "Like I said, I believe both sides will get something done. Throughout the negotiation process, it's always both sides. It's not just one sided."

Thompson did step up when the Cavs had to deal with injuries to key players up front like Anderson Varejao and Kevin Love. He put up almost double-double averages and now Thompson and his agent feel that it is time to talk big money.

While the numbers are indeed glaring, the question now is on whether Thompson deserves a max contract. As a big man, Thompson is indeed someone that can be a difference though it remains to be seen how he would fare if he were in a team without big name stars like James, Kyrie Irving or even Kevin Love.