Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr
Players don't hold NBA teams hostage. Owners let themselves be held hostage. They take the short term view instead of the long one. If, say NO, had told AD you're playing for us no matter what, no more hostage. Sure the team might have a poisonous locker room and will probably lose. But long term, the message is sent. AD can be mature about it and not hurt his rep for when FA comes. Or he can pout, sabotage the team and destroy his value on the market. If every franchise took that tactic, players forcing trades would end. Instead, they let PG13 put demands on them one year after signing on the line. That is the owners fault.
I understand why owners concede and try to make lemons out of lemonade (Which OKC & NO did very well BTW). But in the long run, ownership is doing themselves a disservice.
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The alternative is playing hardball with these players, letting them ride the bench while inevitably getting booed on a nightly basis at home games, and making your team look like a really bad option to any prospective free agent. Even if every team/owner took that stance, all it does is provide a team/owner that is willing to break the status quo an easy run at players that don't want to play for a team that would do that sort of thing.