This has been quite an exciting time in the sports world over the past few weeks. The NBA trade deadline just passed. Not to mention, we’re fresh off the heels of a Super Bowl molly whopping of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. With NBA All-Star Weekend on the horizon, we look ahead to seeing how players on new teams will begin to gel. After all, we may have just witnessed the most consequential NBA trade deadline ever. That’s because I believe that the trade the Mavericks made, sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers effectively ended the “player empowerment era.” I can’t say that I saw this coming, but I do think you can blame the players for such shrewd movement by front offices.
Back in 2010, LeBron James changed the way players would leverage their free agency opportunities. In 1976 Oscar Robertson advocated for free agency for players in the NBA. He won his case, which allowed players to have freedom of choice as to what team they would play for once their contract was up. What James did was use that opportunity to put a spotlight on joining other superstar level players. His signing with the Miami Heat, joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, showed other players how they could go about becoming their own General Manager.
With that example, we began to see teams seek to create their own “super teams” with three superstar players on one roster. It resulted in Carmelo Anthony joining Amare Stoudemire in New York. It eventually led to Kevin Durant Choosing to sign with the Golden State Warriors, who eliminated him from the playoffs in the previous season. Stockpiling superstar talent for almost a decade seemed to be the recipe for success in the NBA. That’s until players wanted to get paid to their max again. But for a time, sacrificing money for the opportunity to tangibly compete for a championship was appealing.
The latitude this era since 2010 gave players sort of held organizations (teams) at bay. Players understanding that it’s their talents that have led to the NBA product being what it grew to be is at the foundation of all of this. Loyalty to one team or another began to wane, as teams also made decisions with players that were best for their business. The transactional nature of this business can be seen in cases like John Wall, Kyrie Irving, or more recently, Jimmy Butler. Players forcing their way out of contracts were becoming all too normal. That’s until the Dallas Mavericks put the kibosh on all that.
The trade of Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis is the biggest trade in NBA history. And it has the potential to spark another dynasty level of success for the Lakers franchise. What has made this such a special transaction? For starters, Doncic hasn’t reached his prime, yet has exhibited superstar production in his young career. The city of Dallas is in an uproar because they believe they got the short end of the stick.
The truth of the matter is that Doncic was traded for Davis, a superstar, and champion in his own right. However, he is several years Doncic’s senior and has mostly been injury prone his whole career. Those worst fears were realized earlier this week when Davis went down again with an abductor strain.
The bottom line is that the Dallas Mavericks felt convicted in trading Doncic because they felt that he wasn’t dedicated enough to the team. He wasn’t dedicated enough to be in top condition every season. And when you add his looming super max extension that was to come this summer, the team questioned whether or not it was the right investment. So without the counsel of the superstar, the team made the move to trade him. This exhibited a team no longer cowering to the demands of a player. At the very least it showed that a team is not above moving a superstar while they still had high value if they believed they no longer fit the team’s concept.
To me, this doesn’t mean that players won’t have anymore leverage in the NBA. But this can lead to are more fair negotiations, and fairer conflict resolutions league wide. Because with these two entities at odds, the growth of the game as a whole can certainly be stunted. We’ve come along way too far to have to end up taking money out of the players’ hands anymore.
