Most of us remember the Ben Simmons/PHI standoff from a couple of years ago, but maybe not some of the nuances and how this could play out in a bad way (NOTE: I don't want any of these to happen, but in terms of knowing who can bluff and what they can do, I've put these regulations and agreements here. (much of this from Coon's CBAFAQ, #13; but important nuance from the actual CBA) Dame can stay away for as long as he'd like until the first promotional appearance or first practice of training camp. The CBA calls out fines for missing mandatory events and the like, but some pertinent ones here: - Failure to attend a promotional appearance: $20,000 - Missed practice: $2,500 for first, $5,000 for the second, $7,500 for the third, and greater discipline, including suspension, for subsequent missed practices. - Failure to report following a trade: Penalty (unspecified) from both the league and the player's new team. Nothing here is too massive, and these fines go to charity, so it's not like the Blazers are "saving money" and Dame probably couldn't care less if the Player's Association splits a hundred grand or so with the NBA as they give it to charity, all while making a point. And some are "suspension" offenses. Which are different. In suspension cases, - If Dame just refuses to show up or play: , he would lose $498,254,19 every game, starting with the first preseason game. Because it's If the suspension is for something other than "failure or refusal to render services required" (like in Ja Morant's case) and is less than 20 games, 1/145 of his $45,640,084 base compensation, or $314,759.20 per game. If the suspension is for something other than "failure or refusal to render services required" and 20 or more games, or an indefinite suspension that lasts at least 20 games, 1/110 of his $45,640,084 base compensation, or $414,909.85/game, for a minimum (20 games) of $8.3M. In addition to the suspension amount, teams can also file a grievance for damages in this particular case: And let's just say we trade him to BKN and he doesn't show up. That's one of the only times that both the NBA and the Team can impose discipline:
For the tl;dr crew: If Dame refuses to report to a new team, both the NBA and the new team can impose discipline. If Dame isn't traded but doesn't show up, he'll likely be fined $20,000 for the first media appearance and $15,000 for the first three practices, and then suspended. Once the suspension starts he's in the "fails or refuses to render the services required" part and starts losing 500k per game (including exhibitions). If Dame isn't traded, shows up and "Hardens" it, he can be suspended for conduct detrimental or for being mentally or physically unfit to play skilled basketball. Then he's in either the 314k per game (for short term suspensions) or 415k per game (for ones over 20 games). The league can give back 50% of the suspension money at the end of the year to offset the lux tax. There are some other implications I may go into later, such as "use of the MLE banking on a suspension" or others, but I'm not prepared for those yet.
I don't think we'll ever see a Ben Simmons case again. What we will likely see is a Kawhi with the Spurs, Harden in Houston, Vince Carter in Toronto, etc case where the player sits out with an "injury" or goes through the motions in practices/games/etc. Not really a way to penalize it as it can't be proven but everyone will know what's going on. I don't think Dame would do either of those if a new team acquires him. If he's still a Blazer he'll either play like he previously did or mutually decide with the team to stay home. But the comments from Dame camp are very annoying and making this difficult for the Blazers or fans to move on. It greatly harms Dames legacy in Portland.
