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Amid the Jimmy Butler-Minnesota Timberwolves trade drama, NBA commissioner Adam Silver stressed that teams and players should honor their respective contracts.
As reported by Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Silver reflected on the trend which sees players — with at least one full year in their contracts — suddenly requesting for a trade. He said:
“As a commissioner, you like to see players and teams fully honor their contracts,” Silver said Thursday. “It’s not something that we would like to see, and to the extent those discussions are going to take place we’d always hope they take place behind closed doors.”
At present, Butler's trade situation would immediately ring a bell. This year is his final year under contract with the Timberwolves, putting the Wolves in a dire spot to scour for trade packages that would compensate for his loss.
But apart from Jimmy Butler, it should be noted that Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard, too, requested a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers and the San Antonio Spurs, respectively. Like Butler, the two stars were nearing the end of their contracts. And it subsequently created a stir with regard to the player's relationship with their franchise. For Silver, once such discussions become public, it can affect both parties' reputation:
“For the most part, the kind of demands we are seeing are coming at the tail ends of contracts, where often the player understands too that he can’t win if he doesn’t tell the team in advance of the expiration of his contract that he’s unlikely to re-sign,” Silver said. “He also puts the team in a situation where they can’t get value for him if they do trade him. And to the extent those discussions become public, nobody likes to see that.”
So far, the Timberwolves have yet to find a deal that they like. Perhaps, handing the reigns over the general manager Scott Layden could do the trick.
