NBA FREE AGENCY AND TRADES: POWER AMONGST PLAYERS
In 2022, free agency and trades within the NBA have been the hottest topic to discuss and analyze this summer. This past season we’ve witnessed the Golden State Warriors become champions for the fourth time in eight years and they’ve put the league on notice that they’re back to compete and be the warriors from the past now that their core (Curry, Green and Thompson) are fully healthy. This has made the league realize that strength in numbers indeed matters even if it looks like a superteam is being constructed. The Celtics, who just lost to the warriors in six games of the NBA Finals, recently acquired Malcom Brogdon and Danillo Gallinari, which makes their depth, scoring and playmaking rise to a higher level than what was already seen this past postseason. The Knicks made a move as they recently signed Jalen Brunson and are looking at some trade options to pursue Donovan Mitchell, the Timberwolves traded for Rudy Gobert, the clippers signed John Wall on a two year deal, the lakers signed Thomas Bryant and Lonnie Walker IV, Deandre Ayton is still trying to figure out whether he wants to stay put in Phoenix or head to Indiana and finally you have the duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving getting ready to part from Brooklyn once they find the organization that benefits them and the Nets.
It’s really intriguing to see how far the NBA has gone in terms of the players having a say so in their careers and not letting the organization dictate where they can go, who they play with and how much can be offered to them by a team. The players now hold alot of leverage in today’s NBA and in my opinion they have more freedom and power to do as they please more than any other professional sport in my opinion. The problem with this new power surge is some players are abusing this power to get what they want when they want even if it means sabotaging a team, coach, manager or whoever is in the way of not granting that specific player what he wants. It’s one thing for a player to have as much leverage as he wants as a free agent since he’s only affecting himself and where he thinks would best suit him but a player under contract makes the situation worse because you have to depend on another team to want to trade their current assets for what you can bring to the table and that includes the tangibles off of the court. What I mean is, NBA organizations are looking for more than just talent and chemisrty on the basketball court and that means how you act towards your coaches, teammates, the media and how you hanlde professional issues within the organization. What's happening right now in Brooklyn is making the owners of the NBA double back on giving these players the power that allows them to move as freely as they want. Kyrie not being able to play for majority of the season led to Harden wanting to jump ship for the second year in a row and has also made KD realize that Brooklyn may not be the place or culture that can bring in championships. Coaching has also gone under questioning as Steve Nash looks like a puppet more than a leader and even management is taking flac as the media is letting it be known that they traded away their young and exciting core from 2019 away just to pursue two big stars and also fired their head coach, Kenny Atkison, for a rookie coach in Steve Nash because of his relationship with KD.
The situation in Brooklyn is looking horrific as the days continue but we can’t sit here and put all the blame on Kyrie and Kevin Durant as the players abusing their power when things go wrong. This trend really began in 2007-08 NBA season when Kevin Garnett and Ray allen decided it was time to stop following the blueprint of the 90’s code which was, win with the team that drafted you, but instead take matters into your own hands and join up with some elite level talent and compete with the rest of the league. Ray and Kevin decided it was time to lift their no trade clause and team up with Pierce to form the trio of Allen, Pierce and Garnett. This trade was the start of in my opinion the players no longer being afraid of doing what they want because of the media’s opinions, organizational opinions or peers opinions. After the trade of Allen and Garnett, players knew that their talent meant more than just getting big contracts and large sponsorships but instead it was a voice that should be heard and decisions they felt were needed to be respected by the organization they were playing for. Kobe knew his worth and decided to test it on the Lakers in 2007 when he requested a trade and wanted to be somewhere that was committed to winning. The Lakers fell to his demands and responded by getting Kobe the help he needed to get to the promise land by June so they can raise the trophy. In 2010, LeBron James made free agency what it is today with surprising signings and unexpected decisions being made when he decided he was taking his talents to south beach and then decided to go back to Cleveland four years later in free agency again. KD made bigger headlines when he signed with Golden State in 2016 for free agency and in 2017 Kyrie and Chris Paul demanded trades that landed Kyrie in Boston and CP3 in Houston. It was because of the decision in 2007 with the Celtics that transformed the NBA into a player friendly league and made elite, hall of fame talent want to join together instead of competing against each other because it’s easier to win a championship. This gave players a feeling of respect, knowledge and power now that they can decide how their career pans out and how they choose to have their say so with whatever new organization they go to.
In 2018, this was where we started to see player’s decisions and power reach a new height though as Kawhai Leonard no longer wanted to play for the San Antonio Spurs because he felt they didn’t value his health and didn’t respect the fact that he felt he was not healthy completely. Kawhai decided to not play in games or even show up on the bench for the spurs and was making a statement not only for the league but for the players as well. Leonard was then traded to Toronto in 2019 and ironically Leonard led the Raptors to a championship, the first in their history. Leonard’s decision looked like a genius move and made all the doubters and naysayers look idiotic due to their views on him and within the 2019-2020 season he signed with the Clippers for the max amount of money and was looked at as the new superstar of the league. This blueprint looked genius and smart and benefitted Leonard in a huge way because essentially he bet everything on himself and it paid off tremendously but what he forgot to inform his peers on is that it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity that happens rarely. Apparently his peers didn’t get that memo because the very next year for the 2020-2021 season Harden starts holding out on Houston and requests a trade while he was showing up to camp out of shape and purposely going out to clubs and get togethers with alot of people so that he’d be in the NBA’s COVID-19 player protocol and miss two weeks of games and practice. Harden’s shenanigans surprisngly worked as he was traded away to Brooklyn and joined up with Kyrie and Durant. Harden wasn’t the only player to do what he did as Ben Simmons followed his steps and did almost the exact same thing as Harden did as he decided he wouldn’t play for the 76ers anymore and be absent for everything 76ers related. His wish was granted as he was traded to the Nets in February and Harden was traded to Philly in exchange. Fast forward to now and everything seems to be imploding for the Nets and now the two superstars are ready to get up out of dodge.
Overall, I do feel that today’s NBA player empowerment and decision making should be applauded and respected because they are the model for what NFL and MLB players are chasing. The NBA supports it’s players and they want their players to be more than just a basketball star but there is a thin line between knowing your power and abusing your power and for the past two years, Kyrie, Harden and Simmons have made the league and players rethink certain moves that they may want to make in the future. The first thing that will be affected will be the players' money if they keep deciding they will sit out because they’re not in a situation where they want to win and be happy. The second thing that will be affected are these trades and how deep these players are willing to go to be in a place that satisfies them. Commissioner Silver has already expressed disdain and unlikliness to the trade request of Kevin Durant because he feels as though it hurts the league and team, so to help with this issue he wants to focus on trade clauses within contracts. As I said before I am all in for player empowerment and not letting these organizations take advantage of careers but with great power comes great responsibility and some of these stars need to start taking responsibility and accountability.
