NBA Free Agent Rumors: Tristan Thompson to Sign Qualifying Offer with the Cavaliers?

Tristan Thompson has remained a free agent for weeks and now, the rumors are claiming that the center will most likely sign a qualifying offer with his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Thompson and his agent, Rich Paul, reportedly declined a four-year, $52 million extension from the Cavilers last year, prior to the Oct. 31 deadline. The Cavaliers then extended a qualifying offer on June 30. At that time, Thompson was expected to sign a lucrative deal once he hit the free agent market.

Once free agency started, Mark Stein of ESPN.com reported that Thompson and the Cavaliers were close to signing a deal worth at least $80 million. However, the deal never came into fruition. Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, reported that since no contract is imminent, Thompson might just accept the Cavaliers' $6.8 million qualifying offer.

LeBron James have voiced his opinions on Thompson.

"We still got to re-sign Tristan," James told reporters. "Hopefully we can bring back J.R. [Smith] as well and see if there's some other free agents out there that'd love to come here and play if we're able to do that. Right now, we've been doing so far, so good."

Thompson would then become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Thompson was selected fourth overall in the 2011 NBA Draft. He averaged 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in 26.8 minutes. Thompson stepped up his game when the Cavaliers lost Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving to injuries during the playoffs. In the postseason, Thompson averaged 9.6 points and 10.8 rebounds in 36.4 minutes.

The Cavaliers have signed contracts with LeBron James, Kevin Love, Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova, James Jones and Mo Williams. They reportedly want to resign Smith as well.