[Antonin]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

Ironically I’d say the major sports leagues that holds best to the “players are loyal to their team” thing is the NBA, where there’s a max contract and so players don’t just go to the highest bidder. Instead... they move where they have a good shot at winning, they move where they want to live (Minnesota has specifically been cited as a place a lot of players avoid signing big deals in going back to Stephon Marbury because of the cold winters and lack of a culture that NBA players enjoy), they move to be nearer to their hometown (that was a prominent reason why Lebron went back to Cleveland for instance), and many times the bigger stars move to where they can market themselves the best.

As a result, you see as much movement now as ever before, and there might even now be a soft ceiling for some markets (Minnesota as noted, possibly Utah, even Milwaukee may have issues retaining Giannis) because at the end of the day, why would a guy who was born and raised in Los Angeles and who went to college in San Diego have any “loyalty” whatsoever to a team in San Antonio or Toronto just because those teams drafted him or traded for him? Or for that matter, I don’t see why a guy who grew up in DC, went to college in Texas, and then was drafted by a team in Seattle ought to have any sense of “loyalty” to a franchise that moved to Oklahoma City after the fact.

When you ask for “loyalty”, be careful what you wish for...

Good points, but Toronto is one of the coolest cities in the world, in my humble opinion. And I've been to some cool cities. I'd love to live in Toronto.