Following superstar trade demands away from Nets, debate reignited about player movement in NBA

When the Nets traded away two of the biggest stars in the NBA out of Brooklyn, it reignited an ongoing debate around player movement and whether or not it is good for the league. Irving demanded his way out of Brooklyn after contract negotiations weren’t going his way with the Nets and Durant decided he wanted to leave shortly after.

The Nets were at the center of another high-profile trade demand last deadline when James Harden forced their hand and ended up in Philadelphia. Naturally the players and the league are on two different sides of the coin on this debate, with commissioner Adam Silver calling trade demands a “bad thing” for the league.

Though he wasn’t against player movement.

“In the week leading up to the trade deadline, something like 12% of the league changed teams,” Silver said during NBA All-Star Weekend in Utah. “And that’s something that we were intentional about because we shorten contracts. We recognize the ability for teams to rebuild, now it’s not just about players, but for teams to make changes in direction, and that’s healthy around the league.

“So again, it’s about finding the right balance around player movement. But trade demands are a bad thing. We don’t want them to happen, and we got to focus on that and make sure that everyone is honoring their agreements.”

Silver was similarly against them last year after the very public split between Harden and the Nets. His biggest issue, at the time, seemed to be the public nature in which the whole thing played out.

He seemed to echo that again over the weekend when he call the public demands “corrosive to the system.”

Naturally, Durant and Irving both defended their respective decisions to demand a trade and put themselves in better situations than they had been in before.

“I don’t think it’s bad for the league,” Durant said Saturday. “It’s bringing more eyes to the league, more people are more excited. The tweets that I get; the news hits that we got from me being traded, Kyrie being traded; it just brings more attention to the league and that’s really what rakes the money in, when you get more attention. So, I think it’s great for the league, to be honest.”

“When you work as hard as I do or anyone else in a specific profession, I feel like you should have the liberty and the freedom to go where you’re wanted, where you’re celebrated and where you feel comfortable,” Irving said over the weekend.

The interesting thing is there is likely a bit of truth on both sides of the argument when it comes to player movement and trade demands. On the one hand, the number of eyeballs that follow trade news, especially at the deadline, certainly helps the NBA take center stage.

Other leagues would kill for the buzz that the NBA generated once Irving’s trade request became public and the questions about Durant’s future in Brooklyn arose. The NHL, which has its trade deadline in 12 days, could certainly stand to use some of that juice and The Athletic even wrote a piece on how the NHL could be a bit more like the NBA in that regard.

At the same, the drama can certainly turn away some fans of the game or make it harder for them to fully embrace players, even stars, because they could be on the move as quickly as they got there.

Whether there is a change in how these matters are handled going forward is unknown, but its clear where each side is standing.