Why Lillard's move might herald the destruction of Small Market teams

I think this video is well worth watching and spells out exactly why I'm so appalled by what "Dame's camp" is doing. I'm hopeful that Silver will support Cronin is shutting this down and trading Dame wherever we get the best package. What his camp is doing is absolutely atrocious on basically every level and it has VAST consequences for the NBA, more or less turning less favorable markets into a glorified G-League.

 

Well, no on super loyal. He’s refusing to honor 4 years on a contract.

 

No free agents coming to Portland... ever? is more proof than Dame leaving ever could be.

 

It seems to me that a player and his agent who take this hard line approach of only being willing to go to a single team, and who let that be known around the league for the specific purpose of discouraging other teams from making more valuable offers to a team like the Blazers, should be able to be sued for damages. Clearly they are not operating in good faith subject to the terms of their contracts and the CBA. The player is under contract and is deliberately taking steps to get what they want regardless of the damage to their former team. In this country we have legal recourse to resolve things like this in civil court. If Silver doesn’t step in and make Dame have a minimum list of several teams that he would go to, I hope Jody and the Vulcans Sue his ass. I love Dame, but this power move to only go to Miami is BS.

 

Cronin and Lillard’s teammates have been respectful, calm, and reasonable in public, so far. Keep it up.
Everyone gets to choose their own behavior.

 

Agreed. Lillard and his agent knew how the system works and if they wanted to maintain the freedom to pick a team to go to they needed to do it earlier or not sign a long term max deal. they could have just signed a one year deal and waited to see what Cronin could do.. I think the league needs to step in here and let Lillard and his agent and Miami know that this is not acceptable.

 

I just feel like small market teams have always been shit on and especially since the Sonics moved, we've been shit on even more and we've become the Siberia of the NBA.

 

Curious what you consider “small market”?

 

That’s how your wife refers to you. #BAM!

 

I haven't watched the video yet but title seems pretty alarmist.

it's not like Dame asked out from a team that did everything they could and didn't miss any opportunities.

* Portland drafted Meyers Leonard when Draymond Green and Khris Middleton were available
* they drafted CJ when Giannis was available
* they made max offers to Roy Hibbert, Enes Kanter, Greg Monroe and Chandler Parsons
* they traded for Afflalo using a 19th pick in a draft when at 19, Siakam, Dejounte Murray, and Malcolm Brogdon was available
* they refused to include CJ in trade talks for Paul George and Jimmy Butler
* The used a 15 + 20 pick for Zach Collins when they could have had a combo of Adebayo, Donovan Mitchell, John Collins, Jarret Allen, and OG
* they traded cap-space for Anderson Varejao to secure a 1st round pick, spent millions of dollars on the pick, then used it for Swanigan
* They traded Gary Trent for a 6'3 guard who plays bad defense than tried to run a starting unit of 6'2, 6'3, 6'3, and 6'7
* They traded two 1st round picks for Covington, then dumped him to get under the tax
* then they traded a 1st round pick for Nance and locked up all of Portland's 1st's for 7 years
* they have a penny-pinching ownership group that seems to care more about money than fielding a competitive team

so I'd wonder, would Dame have asked out if the Blazers had not made all of those terrible moves or missed all of those great opportunities. Is this situation because Portland is a small market or because Portland had a decade of GM malpractice?

 

Any city with less than 650,000 people. But also distance from other big cities is a part of the deal. Like, I wouldn't call Anaheim a small market cause it's rihht there between LA and San Diego.

 

Why would Silver be opposed to something the NBA has always supported?

 

It’s not the asking out that raises the concern; it’s the mandating a trade to just one team.

 

Would something like this void the contract in other businesses?

 

The point of the video is that this sets a precedent for star players to be able to go anywhere they want anytime they want to. Formerly it was free agency, or players with only a year left on their deal. So they could be like, yeah, you can not trade me, but I'll leave next year via free agency and you'll end up holding an empty sack. Dame has 4 years left on his contract.

 

No idea, but it seems like that would be a reasonable request.

I think there’s zero chance it comes to what I suggested. Eventually, they will rope in a third team to take Herro and add a first round pick for Portland and get to something palatable enough that Cronin will take the deal instead of pissing off the Player’s Union. That said, this needs to be addressed by the league because it’s a bullshit move.

 

This post wasn't to demonize Dame, or criticize his asking to be traded. You missed the point of the video. The point isn't did Portland try and was Dame patient for X years. The point is, now player's contracts and by extension Free Agency are meaningless as players will simply sign the largest contract then can, and then demand a trade to another team.

It isn't even about Dame, its that if Dame, a player known for his loyalty can do this, why wouldn't every other player who is in a less than ideal circumstance not demand the same thing? They can just follow his playbook and use the media and his agent to force the issue thereby screwing over their now former team and making the only part of the contract that matters being the part where the player gets paid "X amount of $.". There is then no guarantee of value at all for the team signing the contract.

This is entirely different from prior times when players with a year or two left pulled this kind of move. This is why there is a no-trade clause. Dame didn't get one and if he is able to pull this off, it could indeed set a nightmare precedent. Other players aren't going to care about all the context you wrote, they will just see Dame being successful (if he indeed is) and say "well fuck, I just sign a fat contract and then force my way out regardless of years and why telegraph that with a no-trade clause when I can just write my own no-trade clause.".

 

How about having players only receive the supermax while they're playing the team that gave them the supermax. So, supermax players would be begging to not be traded.

 

Yeah that's a fair point, it does really highlight that undesirable markets have to draft a Superstar top 5 player in the league and pray they build in time. If this isn't addressed by Silver, in a few years it will just be sign that rookie extension and demand out. I'm not sure why owners who aren't in about 8 or so teams wouldn't be absolutely furious at this precedent. I think everyone is still processing the implications. I predict Dame will be humbled by this strategic error of releasing the hounds via "his camp". Dame is super frustrated and I don't blame him, but I pray he reels this in and does damage control. I also think the League maybe does need to make a statement here or else, contracts are basically one-sided affairs and that has dire implications for the League IMO.