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On this date in 2007, Kevin Garnett was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Boston Celtics. KG had to be convinced to be traded from Minnesota, and it wasn’t until the Celtics secured Ray Allen in a deal that KG finally agreed. The Wolves received Al Jefferson, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff and two first-round picks that became Jonny Flynn and Wayne Ellington. (This is actually a perfect trade for a future edition of Tradeback Tuesday later this summer. Maybe even next week …)
End of an Era
Gone are the days of player empowerment
When LeBron James held a television special with ESPN in 2010 to announce he was taking his talents to South Beach, a good portion of the NBA-watching collective seemed to be very angry.
I will always vividly remember that night: I was working for ESPN, running a chat on the website. It was called Daily Dime Live, and we were essentially live-watching “The Decision” together.
The buildup was obviously massive, but I’ll never forget the surge of people who joined the chat after LeBron publicly chose Miami. At one point, there were over 300,000 people in the chat, which is an unreal number of users to have in one spot. The software could barely hold it together. But what I saw was a lot of vitriol.
A year later, the NBA was in a lockout, which is usually what happens when there’s a major labor-dynamic shift amid the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement.
For the next 13 years, NBA players were incredibly empowered to steer their own ship. Athletes from other sports marveled at how much power NBA players held over their own careers while also making more guaranteed money than most.
There are seemingly countless examples of players from 2010 to 2023 finding their way to wherever they wanted, whilst also getting that big-time pay. Carmelo Anthony found his way to New York in a trade. Kevin Durant has taken his talents to multiple teams via free agency. Jimmy Butler ended up on the Heat when the team had no cap space and not much to deal for him. Anthony Davis managed to get traded to the Lakers when he wanted to.
Fast forward to this current CBA with the second apron acting as an unofficial hard cap, and while players are still getting paid (they’re entitled to half of the Basketball Related Income, per the CBA), we’re seeing less and less control over where they end up.
Jaylen Brown was not looking to be moved from the Boston Celtics at all. Damian Lillard never wanted to get traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. Anthony Davis never tried to get himself moved to the Washington Wizards. LaMelo Ball had no control over being moved to the Minnesota Timberwolves, nor did he ever truly request out of Charlotte (especially not after things were turned around midseason).
Even with Giannis Antetokounmpo making it to Miami, player empowerment doesn’t feel like a thing anymore. The players union is lamenting the deal it took with the owners. There is a mutual opt-out date in October 2028, and from there, things could get pretty gnarly. Owners love the way the current CBA is working. We know because Adam Silver has stated as much.
The owners will want to grab even more power in the next CBA negotiations. We know that because that’s how ownership and management works. While player empowerment was being celebrated by so many parts of the sports world, the owners were patiently chipping away at the hold star players had over the NBA. Eventually, they seemed to cut down on the majority of leverage players had in choosing where they’ll be.
In today’s NBA, it’s above finding a spot that will give you that next contract extension (Butler with the Warriors, KD with the Rockets and maybe Kawhi Leonard with Toronto). And you don’t fully get to figure out if that’s where you want to be next. You still get your money if you’re a star, but you’re trying to be happy with the destination, rather than pick the perfect setup.
I don’t know if the players union can ever find that power again. It’ll be up to the agents to help figure out how to exploit the next system for their clients. That’s usually the case anyway. But for now, players are at the mercy of a lot of these teams. That’s probably fine, as long as they’re getting paid.
The Last 24
💰 He returns. Draymond Green just re-signed with the Warriors after they missed out on LeBron. He’s back on a one-year, $27.7 million deal.
🎥 Last(est) Dance? ESPN and LeBron are nearing a deal on a docuseries. He could have his own “The Last Dance.”
🏀 Keep hooping. The key to happiness at 81 years old is pretty simple: keep playing pickup ball.
🚫 Owner suspended. The Seattle Storm owner was suspended by the WNBA, for cursing at fans.
Disputes
Blazers arena negotiations, not going great
The city of Portland was finally able to meet with the Portland Trail Blazers organization to try to work out a new lease agreement, which would provide funding to the existing Moda Center and help keep the Blazers in Portland for a couple of decades, at least.
But as Jason Quick wrote about yesterday’s meeting, the two sides were still very far apart:
“The bad news: Both sides remain divided — deeply divided — on whether the city will give the team $573 million in public funding for arena improvements in exchange for a 20-year lease that keeps the team in Portland.”
New Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon has been quick to talk about not wanting to put any money into the arena and have it just be publicly funded. Of course, there are plenty of people wondering whether or not Dundon even wants to keep the Blazers in Portland. His recent comments about doing the city a favor by staying put rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, and worried Blazers fans that the team will eventually move.
On top of that, president of business operations Dewayne Hankins had this to say to the city council:
“Portland’s current stagnant business climate, high income taxes and divisive political environment makes this a tough city to invest in,’’ Hankins said. “It makes it harder to sell tickets, secure corporate sponsorships and recruit players.’’
This comment comes with apparent fear that the city of Portland will want to know what repairs the arena needs, which the Blazers claim will then allow the city to sue the franchise for not upkeeping a certain standard. Hankins claimed this “threat” (read that word in quotations with about as dramatic an eye roll as you can muster without losing your equilibrium and falling over) has chilled their negotiations.
The ill will from Dundon doesn’t appear to exemplify the good faith he claims to have in negotiating. Adam Silver, as a commissioner who works for the owners, pretty much has to back whatever Dundon’s saying and doing. At the same time, it’s a ridiculous business practice that is spitting in the face of a great basketball city and a fervent fan base.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure progress is actually happening, but at least the city finally got the Blazers to come to the table. I assume Dundon will want some kind of appearance fee for just doing that.
Poster Child
Pick the best vintage NBA poster
Nostalgia can often be a cheat code when it comes to having a lively sports discussion. With the NBA, nostalgia can carry you through the dullest of times in the calendar year, or through the most hyped moments of the season. People love looking at how things were in yesteryear.
Does the NBA poster wall still exist today? Because that’s quite nostalgic to me.
Are basketball fans still buying posters? Are they still putting posters on their walls? Are they pulling the mini-insert posters out of SLAM Magazine? Did all of these get replaced by NFTs? Are NFTs still a thing?
So, let’s do a poster battle. For the first installment, we’re going with two of the greatest posters to ever grace a basketball fan’s wall: The Rifleman poster of Chuck Person and The Silent Assassin poster of Dale Ellis.
These are two beautiful works of art.
Person was nicknamed “The Rifleman” and was one of the best trash talkers in the NBA. He could put up 30 in the blink of an eye. Having him in some pseudo-hunting/cowboy gear was a brilliant touch for the Indiana Pacers legend.
As for Ellis’ poster, he looks like a home invader ready to attack. But he wants you to remain quiet as he does it. Also it looks like some representation of a Utah Jazz player reading a paper with the headline, “Ellis Strikes Again.”
So what do we say, Bouncers? If you’re choosing between the two posters, are you taking The Silent Assassin or The Rifleman? Vote in the comments below, and the winner will face a new challenger next week!
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