Nick Morgan, Sports Editor
In recent years, many professional athletes across most major sports have seemingly grown tired of their situations, and within a few days or weeks, they are conveniently traded to a new team. Kyrie Irving, a guard selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2011 Draft, demanded a trade out of Cleveland during the summer following his team’s 2017 NBA Finals run because he wanted to get out of LeBron James’s shadow. He was subsequently traded to Boston in return for all-star guard Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and a 2018 first round pick.
Anthony Davis is an example of a star player requesting to be traded from a losing franchise. The New Orleans Pelicans center made it known through his agent, Rich Paul, that he would not be re-signing with the team in free agency after next season and that he wanted to be moved before the Feb. 7 trade deadline. However, despite the team’s attempts, Davis was not dealt.
The similarity between these two situations is that both of these players still had more than a year on their contracts. Davis has one more year on his contract, plus a one-year player option in 2020-2021. Irving also had two more years on his deal and a player option for the 2019-2020 season. When you look at it at face value, these players shouldn’t have any leverage to demand trades in the ways they did. The front office could just as easily say, “No chance,” and keep them on the books, but in this age of the NBA, it seems that the players have all the power.
Now, I’m not suggesting that the NBA higher-ups and general managers/owners should act like they own the players, but I am suggesting that players shouldn’t have as much power to move teams as they please, especially with multiple years left on their contracts. I feel that the NBA should make a stand and not allow players to request trades without genuine reasoning — similar to transferring in the NCAA. In college football or basketball, players can only transfer schools if they have significant reasoning for transfer — such as mistreatment, a coaching change, etc., — or else they have to sit out a season at their new school.
So here’s my proposition: Players can only sign max-contract deals for up to three seasons or two years and a player/team option. This will allow players who would normally sign long-term deals and find themselves stuck in a “bad” situation, i.e., Anthony Davis, to move teams more freely as their contracts are over sooner. Owners would also benefit due to the fact that money comes off the books more quickly if players don’t perform to their potential. Furthermore, if players wish to hand in a formal trade request, they may do so but only for legitimate reasons deemed fit by the Players Association and the league executives.
The league is nowhere close to this idea, but it is always helpful to kick ideas like this one around and hope that one day the NBA will find a way to restore parity and keep its players happy — all while retaining an entertaining, competitive atmosphere.
