The NBA sent out a memo on Friday to all of the league’s 30 teams regarding Damian Lillard‘s trade request, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter video link via The Rally).
According to Charania, the NBA interviewed the Trail Blazers star and his agent, Aaron Goodwin, about the narrow scope of his trade request and said Lillard may face punishment if further public comments are made about only wanting to end up with the Heat.
Goodwin told two different reporters earlier this month that he had been telling rival teams it would be “futile” to engage in trade talks about his client, given Lillard’s singular focus on playing for Miami.
Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report has a full copy of the league’s memo (Twitter link). The two most noteworthy sections are as follows:
“Goodwin denied stating or indicating to any team that Lillard would refuse to play for them. Goodwin and Lillard affirmed to us that Lillard would fully perform the services called for under his player contract in any trade scenario. The relevant teams provided descriptions of their communications with Goodwin that were mostly, though not entirely, consistent with Goodwin’s statements to us.
“We have advised Goodwin and Lillard that any future comments, made privately to teams or publicly, suggesting Lillard will not fully perform the services called for under his player contract in the event of a trade will subject Lillard to discipline by the NBA. We also have advised the Players Association that any similar comments by players or their agents will be subject to discipline going forward.”
As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald notes (via Twitter), it’s a little odd that the NBA has taken a harder stance on Lillard’s request given that plenty of other stars have desired to be traded to specific teams over the past handful of years, including Anthony Davis (Lakers), Paul George (Clippers) and Kevin Durant (Suns), among others. Though in fairness, I don’t recall any of those players’ agents discussing the matter publicly.
The NBA could fine Lillard up to $150K if he were to publicly say he wants to be traded to the Heat, tweets Jackson — obviously the veteran has done no such thing to this point.
John Hollinger of The Athletic believes the league is attempting to address its “oversight” of a player requesting a trade to one specific team (Twitter link). The NBA could have negotiated something about it in the new CBA, Hollinger notes, but did not.
Lillard, 33, has spent his entire 11-year career with Portland, the franchise that drafted him sixth overall in 2012. The star guard is coming off arguably his best individual season, averaging a career-high 32.2 points per game on a career-best .645 true shooting percentage.
However, the Blazers went into tank mode down the stretch of 2022/23, going 2-15 over their final 17 games to finish 33-49. Lillard had called upon the front office to build out the roster around him this offseason, but the team was unable to find any suitable deals with the third overall pick (or its young players), ultimately selecting G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson.
The Portland blazers and the nba are a bunch of female dogs. The guy does everything for Portland and all Portland does is poop on him. Portland shouldn’t have offered that bad contract when they had a hint he was going to dip if they didn’t make a good enough team to chase a championship. Now Portland wants an unreasonable trade for a guy that has a lot of mileage and is going to be getting paid 60mil plus at 36. Gtfo
Miami needs to make a better offer giving up trash for Lillard is crazy, Suns gave up garbage for Beal too. Portland should send him where they can get a better offer period
“The NBA could fine Lillard up to $150K if he were to publicly say he wants to be traded to the Heat”
If that’s the only teeth behind this memo (I assume it is a CBA capped fine), then he may as well just say it publicly. $150k is nothing considering he’s making $50+ million a year.
Rich people are basically untouchable when it comes to never getting in any serious trouble for what they say.
Or do.
@rct
That was exactly my take.
I get tired of the national articles, talk shows, and the masses, wanting punishment for something. The process takes weeks-months. Wailing and knashing of teeth from everyone in hopes of the punishment. For it ultimqtely only to be a trifle.
I think that’s what draws many to sports: the grandstanding, morality plays, the drama.
I digress.
In this case, what a trifling amount!
Players who are in contract, who demand to be sent to only one specific team, are already in a great position. This has no bite to prevent this or any further attempts. Why even bother.
This neechie here, Shakespearing it up in a bloody comment section lol
He’s already said it ….. move on
Be careful with that logic. It is never really capped in the nba as they have the one nuclear clause that says any conduct detrimental to the league can lead to suspension. Maybe the league just suspend him without pay. Ouch
The fact that the agent said it is what let this slip for so long.
Also no doubt portland is complaining. Other teams also mad.
Also why Harden has toned it down too. He says I see both sides or points of view. Acting all neutral and nice about it because the league knows this is a problem.
I’ve always said that portland and Dame created this mess and they can fix it.
Will see what happens when enough time passes to trade more players.
Not a memo!
Strongly worded letter written in red ink. Oooooooooooooo
It’s happened a fair bit from star players recently – but this memo sounds a lot like his agent has taken it too far. Always one who ruins it for everyone
talk about a day late
How ridiculous a 150K fines sounds, it’s like pocket change to Lillard! Since he’s been saying this publicly now for a month or better “where’s the slap on the wrist”? I am surprised the league is talking about a fine now, where was this when Lillard demanded it? Or Harden’s talking to the Clippers? I guess the stars get preferential treatment when it comes to demands and not just fantom foul calls?
This is absurd. Lillard and his agent have the right to say whatever they want to best represent himself/his client and their desires.
Ben Simmons gets to sit outs season, get paid and get a season service credit. Kawhi screws high ticket price paying fans on a weekly basis. James Harden ruins 2, possibly 3 now teams with limited trade requests. Crickets from Silver and NBA.
The most loyal player of past decade voice his opinion on what he wants and could be fined 150k? Adam Silver is the worst commissioner in history and a weak spineless tyrant.
If I’m Lillard, I’d say what I want and write the 150k check tomorrow. It’s pretty sad the league is going to take a strong stance on this, but lacks a spine when it comes to Morant and Bridges.
Shows were their prioritys are
I agree with almost everything you said but I believe the memo was published to stop the agent’s attitude. I don’t think the league gets upset if Lillard says I want to go to Miami (currently Harden is claiming a trade to LAC specifically) the point is that the agent went too far and cocky, and he’s not as smart as Rich Paul.
So Silver didn’t like that and now covers himself with a low punishment if that narrative continues
Do you watch other sports? All commissioners are equally spineless. It comes with the territory of big business entertainment.
Moreover, none of them were blatant enough to say the quiet part out loud. That’s the problem here.
Is it a little silly when the end result would more or less be the same? Yes. But it also isn’t hard for Lillard’s agent to not draw the league’s ire. It’s no different from tampering in that way; just don’t be too conspicuous and you’ll be fine.
On what grounds is the league making these threats, and why wouldn’t the PA fight any such fine?
“suggesting Lillard will not fully perform the services called for under his player contract in the event of a trade will subject Lillard to discipline by the NBA.”
Lillard’s agent is running his mouth too much. All he has to do it let the implication do the talking rather than being explicitly transparent. It’s not hard.
Or say trade me to the heat or I retire if I wind up anywhere else. Pretty much eliminates other teams interests if he’s just gonna retire.
Come on, he ain’t Larry Sanders. Dame wants to play, he just figures he deserves a run on a well built team after staying loyal to a mid organization.
When was the last time Harden performed up to his full ability on a multi million dollar contract ?
I agree in spirit, but there’s no way the PA would ever allow the NBA to to subjectively assess whether individual players would be living up to their contracts from an effort/performance perspective. That would be an incredibly slippery slope. The difference here is Lillard’s agent literally came out and said my client won’t play for you.
-“The NBA could fine Lillard up to $150K if he were to publicly say he wants to be traded to the Heat, tweets Jackson, though obviously the veteran has done no such thing to this point.”
No, he’s done exactly that. It doesn’t matter whether the words come from him directly, or through his agent on his behalf, they’re his. That’s why the two of them are trying to walk it back. And no, it has absolutely nothing to do with the 150K fine.
The NBA needs to lay down the law. Public trade requests need to be ended. There is no way for a team to get equal value in such a situation. It is made worse by players having the option of sitting out their team’s games to force a trade or a buy out. That’s a legal equivalent to blackmail and highway robbery. It needs to stop. If an NFL player sits out camp, practice or a game they face mandatory fines that keep adding up. In addition to losing salary for games missed. The NFL contract in general is brutal to players but that part is fair. NBA players should not be able to hold franchises hostage because they want more money or think they are too cool to play in Salt Lake or Cleveland. Andre Drummond sat out because he lost the starting job to Jarrett Allen. Cleveland traded good players to get him and then picked up a 29 million dollar option to keep him. He then didn’t play forcing a buy out and Cleveland got nothing for him after he stopped playing around game 30. They won just 4 games after the half way point that year. I’m tired of watching James Harden, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons and others become defective GM’s for teams because some whim of theirs wasn’t met. What happened to honoring the contract you signed? I’m usually pro union but some balance is needed here.
I think the biggest issue is allowing players to steer themselves to particular teams. If they want that capability, then they should be required to have a full or partial no-trade clause built in their contract.
Asking for a trade is one thing. Personally, I have no issues with that. Moreover, in such cases, the player is likely to end up on a contender, as those tend to be the teams most willing to give up the farm in order to get that piece to put them over the top.
It’s not like they would be at risk of ending up in Siberia. It may not be the team they envisioned, but it’s hard to complain about getting shipped off to a contender. That, to me, is doing right by the player. And it should be more than enough. If a team and player have the history that the Blazers and Lillard do, maybe you allow him to whittle down that list to a handful of teams out of courtesy. But one team specifically? Screw that. That is selfish, entitled, spoiled behavior.
Of course, combating this issue is easier said than done since no team wants to acquire a player not exactly thrilled to be there. Even if not explicitly stated, one can read between the lines. The league can make all the little threats it wants but a player only half-heartedly committed is a real risk, especially in the early years of a long-term agreement. Who is to say they won’t coast the first few years before turning it on in the contract year?
If I was Drummond I would have stopped playing as well if my team chose to play a clearly lesser player like Allen instead of me, right?
Drummond is not a superior player to Jarrett Allen. Allen is better as a shooter and scorer. Drummond has a small advantage as a rebounder but not enough to make up for his being a poor finisher. Allen is much like Drummond 2.0 with some of the bugs removed. Drummond wanted the offense run through him. A problem for a bad finisher who turns the ball over a lot . Allen gets his points in the flow of the game. Drummond can be devastating off the bench in a c high usage role. He’d have been the perfect backup to Allen and Mobley to keep the defense potent when either must sit. He could be getting regular minutes for the Cavaliers instead of backing someone new every season and playing 10 minutes a game. He blew it. That said the Cavaliers could have used him in New York.
First off how many teams can actually trade for him. 2-3 maybe. Which of them wants to. One probably. So what’s the noise about.
I get the league wants this to be a fair process. But we are beyond that. Let’s get it done already ……. just wasting time here.
I got a memo ………
This is boring ……
The real issue is .. why isn’t anyone stepping up to take Herro. That’s the real question here.
All teams are broke, that’s why. When you pay 300mm 5 year contracts there’s so much you can absorb after that. Not enough left for Herros contract.
Herro isn’t so special that teams have to have him. He has a 30mm 4 yr contract that most teams says is too high for their taste. Bottom line is other teams get the same productivity for less money
No way the heat getting a single pick for him either. Sounds harsh but trams value their picks with the new cba.
The heats best shot is a pick swap with the jazz. Unlock three picks and hope that is enough to satisfy the blazers.
Heat can walk away with ko and tht. Still less money and get two players for one.
There is lots of great value in Dame ko tht compared to say herro and Lowry.
Move Robinson if portland will take him and be happy with nurkic.
Word
Mia knows they don’t need him
And it seems like No one else does either
About time the league wakes !
Dame should fire his agent for all the non sense. Problem is the league has let agents say whatever and the players and news let it be like it is ok. Portland really could t and should t trade Dame after the heat refused to go all in. That’s all in by the heats standard.
Not Portland’s desires but the heats capabilities for a super.
The odds of the heat going all in if the agent shut his pie hole would have been high.
At this point, some teams might be Leary to make an offer just because they know the truth about where Dame wants to be. It’s why you handle these things privately.
Rigged NBA says you are making us look bad. How dare you
A lot of people here who don’t understand how damaging it is to the league when a player (via their agent) says they’ll be unhappy playing for another franchise. When obviously a player should be ecstatic to get paid 60 million per season to play basketball anywhere in the world.
It invites a ton of bad publicity once the player does get traded somewhere else (which is ultimately what SHOULD happen, because Miami doesn’t have the best offer).
So lebron can say whatever he wants. Why a double standard
Somebody (Oshey) snitched.
Good, this needed to be done by the NBA. It’s not that he wanted to play for the Heat, it’s that his agent said any other team trying to make a deal for him is “futile”, suggesting that he would not report if it wasn’t Miami.
That type of stuff can’t happen.
javik01, MagicFan69 and Appalachian_Outlaw are the only people that know anything in this chat
While this does hurt the Heat’s situation in trying to get Lillard, I do commend the league for another move in which they are trying to fix the wrongs that existed under the David Stern Era (no disrespect intended to the deceased, but speaking a truth about the league).
Here’s an excerpt from 1975 trade request from Kareem Abdul Jabbar: Last March, he conceded he had asked the Bucks to trade him, either to the New York Knicks or the Lakers. Yesterday, at a news conference in Los Angeles, he said his first choice was New York.
“I had a strong desire to return home,” said AbdulJabbar, who as Lew Alcindor led Power Memorial Academy of Manhattan to 71 straight victories. “But the Lakers made a sincere effort to get me, and that wasn’t the case with New York. I don’t think it’s smart to go around people who don’t really want you.”
A spokesman for the Knicks said New York had tried hard to get Abdul‐Jabbar but it “couldn’t compensate” the Bucks with the kind of National Basketball Association talent provided by Los Angeles.
“If it had involved money,” the spokesman said, “we’d have been in better shape. But we didn’t have a 7‐foot center, or two young draft picks like Meyers and Bridgeman. We’re disappointed.”