The Problem with Contracts and Trades in the NBA

The problem with contracts and trades in the NBA is that with the power that players have to ask for trades, long-term contracts are meaningless, as other teams can pick up the financial burden in exchange for players to join a team they want to play for more.

Two players that are in stark contrast of each other are Portland Trailblazers’ Damian Lillard and Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant. Lillard signed a two-year contract extension with the Trailblazers and is genuine about performing well with that team for years to come, something that NBA fans have come to both respect and criticize. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant is only entering the first year of his four-year contract extension and is looking to get traded after the Net’s abysmal performance this postseason, when they were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round.

The latest trend in the NBA is that superstars are signing long-term contracts just to ask for trades to another team. Other examples include Kyrie Irving (asking for trade), James Harden (left Houston and Brooklyn), and Ben Simmons (asked for trade while refusing to play). While there’s players like Lillard and Bradley Beal who have decided to resign with teams not considered contending for a championship, they can easily ask for trades and have their wishes fulfilled if they wanted to go to a team that had more standing in their conference within the next few years.

Some teams and league officials expressed their distaste for this during the Summer League. NBA commissioner Adam Silver expressed his opinions, saying that he doesn’t really like to see players requesting trades in these types of situations. They cited the Philadelphia Sixer’s handling of Ben Simmon’s request as a model. When he refused to play for them, they fined him and kept him on the team until they got James Harden in exchange, something that would be more beneficial to them.

Durant’s situation is the biggest one to look out for. Some teams have already delivered trade offers, just for them to be refused because Brooklyn’s asking price is high. If they can’t manage to find a trade for him, they have to keep him in Brooklyn and try for a championship again. Many people already have negative ideas about this, as it’s reminiscent of when Durant went to the Warriors after they beat his Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs the year prior.

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