It's been exactly a week since Kevin Durant opted to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors, and the conversation about the decision is still running hot. Debates have commenced with numerous hot takes about KD's choice, what it means for the competitive balance of the NBA, and if it's actually a good thing for the league.
Regardless of your personal opinion on the matter, Durant's move was clearly within his rights as an unrestricted free agent. According to a former NFL general manager, that should not be the case any longer.
Jeff Diamond, former GM of the Green Bay Packers, writes regularly for the Sporting News, and his take on Durant's choice was made very evident.
In his latest piece, Diamond expressed anger with the NBA's collective bargaining agreement allowing star players to form super teams, like KD this past week and LeBron James previously.
His solution? Instituting the NFL's franchise tag into the NBA. The tag allows teams to keep their stars by tendering one player each at the average price of the five highest paid guys at their position.
Diamond admits that the NBA attempts to persuade stars to remain with their incumbent franchises by allowing them to offer longer contracts for more money, but given the insane sponsorship figures they already receive as well as their accumulated wealth from years past, it doesn't end up playing a big enough factor.
Diamond ended up using Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers as an example of why the NBA needs the franchise tag:
As a comparison, what if Aaron Rodgers decided he wanted to play with the best offensive line, best receiver and best running back and leave small market Green Bay when his contract expires in 2020? With no franchise tag protecting the Packers, what's to stop Jerry Jones from convincing Rodgers to come to a marquise franchise with fantastic marketing outreach and play behind a great Cowboys O-line and have Dez Bryant and Ezekiel Elliott (if he pans out) in a super offensive machine?
As Evan “Tex” Western of SB Nation's Acme Packing Company points out, this example has more than its fair share of flaws, but we can at least take away the idea that a franchise tag would've prevented Durant from being able to leave Oklahoma City.
The question of whether or not it's morally correct to force guys to play for a team against their will is a completely different discussion, but certainly one worth having.
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