The era of player empowerment, has survived into its 13th season – now starring Damien Lillard as Jean Valjean!
Lillard’s commercial order from Portland, Finally out in the open as of Saturday, follows what the SuperFriends first did in Miami in 2010 – the best players in the game decide where they want to go next. It seems bizarre now that LeBron James and Chris Bosh just slipped into my room straight into Miami to get to the Heat, instead of claiming deals with the Cavs and Raptors a year ahead of schedule. (Yes, technically James and Bosh both ended up signing and trading deals to acquire some assets for their former teams, but they basically took advantage of the cap space Miami created in the summer of 2010 to force Cleveland and Toronto to the trade table, lest they lose their players. Franchising for nothing.)
And even though we’re less than 72 hours in free agency, Lillard fell behind on the “Get me outta here” train, which has been running behind the annual Harden Trade order by two days. And Lillard didn’t beat Bradley Bell — who didn’t ask the Wizards for a trade, but made it clear, when the new Washington said it was willing to make a deal, on the condition that no trade was at hand: Get me to the Sun. Only the sun. Similarly, Lillard said his first choice is to go to Miami. The Blazers are holding tight that they will make a deal with the team making the most lucrative bid, and they will not be beholden to his request.
we will see. Modern History at Lillard’s Side.
Anthony Davis wanted to go to the Lakers. He went to the Lakers.
Kevin Durant wanted to go to The Sun. He went to the sun.
Bill wanted to go to The Sun. He went to the sun.
Harden… Well, where’s Harden no Want to be traded? That might be easier to sign up for.
(It’s true that Jimmy Butler, at Minnesota in 2018, didn’t make it to the Clippers or the Knicks, his preferred trade destination. He ended up going to the 76ers.)
Kyrie Irving, of course, could not get to the Lakers. But he’s swayed, at least, every time he’s been asked since 2017, when he asked to be traded from the Cavaliers, a year after he was knocked out in the final game against the Warriors. Irving was traded from Cleveland to Boston, where he played two seasons before walking away from his public announcement to re-sign with the Celtics, joining KD in Brooklyn as a free agent. Then, after things fell apart there, he asked to be put into circulation again.
But Irving is still behind Harden (three trades, from Houston, Brooklyn and now Philly, since 2020). Durant has asked, twice in the past year, to be traded from the Nets.
This makes some feel nauseous, others nauseous. Get used to Dramamine.
The new collective bargaining agreement, designed to make star hoarding too painful for most teams, still can’t stop the game’s bright lights from tinkering with the system in their favour. And while most teams are absolutely intimidated by the restrictions that will be placed on them if they outgrow the dreaded “second apron” in the next couple of years, and act accordingly in the early days of free agency, this is not the same. everyone the difference.
The Suns didn’t just drop the Big 3 from KD, Devin Booker, and Chris Paul to Durant and Booker; They replaced the CP3 with the much more expensive Beal. And it’s possible that Phoenix will explode into the second luxury tax apron, seemingly cautiously, other than letting Jock Landale bounce back. (Review Clippers a a little Financially, allowing Eric Gordon to walk to… Phoenix! …and saved more than $100 million in tax payments by waiving Gordon last week instead of picking the 2023-24 option for $20.9 million. But they still wear an apron too, Whether or not they end up with Harden remains to be seen.)
Here is where the caveats are important.
1. GREAT PLAYERS ASKED TO BE DEALED BEFORE 2010, SOME SUCCESSFUL (KAREEM Abdul-Jabbar, in 1975, from Milwaukee to the Lakers), some didn’t (Kobe Bryant, at rock bottom Lakers, in 2007).
2. Why are players condemned for asking for a fresh start when teams have trade discussions about their players, every day, year after year? You just don’t hear about most of them. (Irving noted that in ’17, the Cavs were having extensive discussions about trading him, too, including a famous three-team suggestion where he’d end up with the Bulls — along with Butler — before Irving has formally asked for a deal.) Teams don’t shed a tear about uprooting players or their families if it helps the team achieve whatever goal they set as their top priority at a given moment. Why are players expected to be more emotional?
3. Like Kevin Garnett, or Bell, how long was Lillard supposed to wait to put a championship-level team around him? I wanted him to stay in Portland, But those were for my reasons, not his. Portland clearly prioritized its future by picking Scoot Henderson third overall in last month’s draft, rather than dealing with (veteran) favorite Lillard. And the Blazers have every right to do what’s best for them in the long run. But, so does Lillard.
4. Again: the players are the show. more than ever. The next TV deal will not send rights fees toward The Sun because ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery and whoever’s from Google or Amazon buying a game night just watching Mat Ishbia write the checks. That’s because the transition of the next NBA star has been happening, more or less smoothly, right before our eyes.
If LeBron, KD, Steph, CP3, and Lillard are nearing the end of their careers, there’s a wall of greatness behind them already in prime time: Joki, Giannis, Embiid, Tatum, Luka, Jamal Murray, Book, Jimmy Buckets, ja (yes, still ), Brandon Ingram, Ice Tra. In the next couple of years, Gilgeous-Alexander, De’Aaron Fox, and Anthony Edwards would be in more random matches; Like Evan Mobley, Galen Bronson, Mr. Wimpanyama and Scott. (Zion Williamson is always a healthy off season by going straight back to the first set of SportsCenter highlights.)
And the pre-2010 trade requests/requests came at a different time, when players didn’t have the massive space on social media to pressure their teams to make it clear they wanted out. I am sure this It was just a huge misunderstanding, like every episode of “Three’s Company”. Players can express their feelings with a single click or bypass their teams or cities.
Add to this the Agent-Reporter Industrial Complex, where wishes can be spread all over the world with a single well-placed leak, and high-profile players have never had more control over their messages. (Here’s where one has to mention, again: it’s a job From correspondents to obtain information. I get it. That was my primary job too, once upon a time.)
And if you thought the NBA hated this for a second, you didn’t get the memo about “reality shows” not really being real. The infamous league docking of the Knicks and their 76ers’ second-round picks in last month’s draft to mess with Bronson and P.J. Tucker, respectively, put New York and Philly in their place, right? Likewise, oh my gosh, a lot of trades have been done between 6:00:01 and 6:00:30 this year! Wow, the diligence of the teams and agents to cancel these agreements so quickly is amazing.
But here on earth, I love this stuff. He loves the way the league dominates the sports talks for several weeks in June and July, from the Finals to the Draft to free agency to the Summer League in Vegas. He likes to yawn almost incessantly about who’s going where, who’s improved, who’s in trouble, who “won” the draft, who “lost” the first weekend of free agency. Lillard, who has held on for so long, is the last friend in the water, as we all wait to see which shark jumps into the Blazers’ boat to swallow it whole.
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Damian Lillard’s trade order has been coming in for a long time and marks the end of an era
(Photo by Damian Lillard: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)