When was the last time the league came out this forcefully against a trade? The NBA itself has, in a rather unprecedented manner, come out firmly against Damian Lillard and his agent Aaron Goodwin with a statement making it clear the league will punish Lillard if any more comments about the PG’s unwillingness to play for other teams are made.
You know you’ve really messed up as a player when Adam Silver is coming after you for some disciplinary action.
With all of the rumors and chatter that Damian Lillard, who requested a trade a few months ago, will only play for the Miami Heat in any potential trade, the NBA itself has put out a memo stating that Lillard and his agent Aaron Goodwin will be subject to disciplinary actions if any more statements like this come out. And, to be honest, I’m 100% behind the NBA and Adam Silver on this one.
It’s no secret that the NBA in currently in the midst of a player’s empowerment crisis as a vast growing number of the league’s biggest and most respected stars, such as Kevin Durant, James Harden, Ben Simmons, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, etc., have publicly and loudly demanded trades from their teams in the last ten or so years…even though each and every one of these guys were signed to long-term, lucrative deals.
And now Damian Lillard, who was once the biggest opponent against players using trade demands to get out of less-than-ideal situations, is now the latest NBA superstar to use a trade demand request to pick and choose the new team he wishes to be on, even though he’s under contract for another three years with the Trail Blazers.
Yet, what makes this Damian Lillard situation slightly more egregious than the other trade demand situations is how belligerent and frankly obnoxious he and his agent Aaron Goodwin’s messaging has been behind the trade request.
Despite having NBA contending teams, such as the LA Clippers, Boston Celtics, and the Philadelphia 76ers, more than willing to shell out huge trade hauls to bring the 7X All-NBA and member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team point guard to their, respective, cities, Damian Lillard and his agent have made it clear (or at least in the reports) that he will ONLY play for the Miami Heat.
And, even worse, if any team trades for Lillard not located in Miami (or code for anyone but the Heat), they will be “trading for an unhappy player” and he would be inclined to sit out and/or retire. Now, I bet you can see why this is such a terrible look for the NBA as they not only have yet another star player demanding out of a smaller market, but he also is threatening to sit out/retire if he doesn’t get traded to the one team of his choosing.
It’s one thing to threaten to retire if you’re about to be traded (aka: what Rob Gronkowski actually did during the 2019 NFL season before coming out of retirement and playing two seasons with the Buccaneers) yet have not handed in any trade request, but it’s an entirely different subject when you do so when you DID hand in a trade request.
Trading is nothing like free agency as the player is not given the right to pick and choose which team he wants to play for, but rather he is given the opportunity to leave his unhappy environment to a new one of his current organization’s choosing if he wants out. And that’s where the league has stepped in.
In a memo to all the 30 NBA teams, they have made it perfectly clear that any team CAN and SHOULD make a trade proposal to the Portland Trail Blazers if they want to acquire the services of Lillard as he will not only be obligated to perform his duties per agreed upon under the CBA and his own contract, but he and his agent will be disciplined by the NBA if Lillard or Goodwin continue to make statements about only wanting to play in Miami.
Adam Silver and the NBA must really have had enough of these trade demands as they’re making an example out of Lillard and Goodwin with a statement like this. And I respect them for it.
I really had a lot of respect for Damian Lillard’s stances on super teams and trade demands before he made this trade demand, and I even respected his decision to want out of Portland after 11 years of great service.
It’s not his fault the Trail Blazers front office hasn’t been able to get its head out of its own ass for over a decade, and 11 years of greatness on a team without any meaningful team success is more than enough time to suffer through before wanting a trade.
But I’m losing respect for Lillard the more he stubbornly refuses to play for any other team than the Miami Heat as it both goes against his own principles (which may have been feigned for PR now that this situation has gotten to this stage), and it goes against the very embers of the NBA.
What’s the point of paying hundreds of millions of dollars to players to play basketball for your team when they will demand a trade, hold out of all basketball activities until said trade is granted, and they give you a list of one or two teams to trade them to?
There is no point and I guarantee you that will be one of the major factors the owners will fight to remove in the next CBA agreement.
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