As a lifelong Trailblazer fan, this summer of trades has been bittersweet. Not seeing Damian Lillard in the red and black is weird. But what is weirder are the trade demands being made.
I love Lillard but telling Portland that he wanted ONLY to go to Miami felt a little hostage-y. And I wasn’t the only one to think so as the NBA head office fined him and his agent over it. But Lillard was an absolute angel in comparison to James Harden who is toxic enough that the 76ers didn’t even want him on a team flight and had security bar him from the plane before pawning him to his third team in three years, the Clippers.
I am way more pro player than pro ownership but a player can’t point and expect to go. Unless. The preferred team is willing to actually negotiate in good faith. Now that we have both had a good laugh, here is what should be done by the player. Let the team you want to leave know that you have a preferred destination but also give them other less liked but OK landing spots. My guess is that the reception will be a lot better when not demanding with a capital D. And the fact that there is a list will incentivize team 1 to deal since other teams are in the running.
Trades can be good or bad. Try to make them better people.
For beer, I would suggest a fun game. Bring three separate beers from your ‘fridge and see what you can trade for from a beer loving friends stash. You can even ask for a beer to be named later. See who ends up with what and who thinks they won. See if being super extra demanding works to your benefit.
