The National Basketball Association (NBA) sent a memo to all 30 teams on Friday, stating that any player, or his agent, who makes public or private comments indicating he won’t “fully perform the services called for under his player contract in the event of a trade” will be subject to discipline. This comes in the wake of posturing about Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard’s desire to play only for the Miami Heat by his agent, Aaron Goodwin.
The letter, which NBA Online Betting PH obtained, stated that the league had interviewed Lillard and Goodwin in the aftermath of Adrian Wojnarowski’s story earlier this month that Goodwin called other teams and warned them against moving for Lillard because he would be unhappy anyplace other than Miami. Wojnarowski’s report stated that Goodwin called other teams and warned them against trading for Lillard because he would be unhappy anywhere other than Miami.
Additionally, Goodwin disclosed to many media sources that his client desired to play exclusively with the Heat.
According to the document released by the NBA, Goodwin “denied stating or indicating to any team that Lillard would refuse to play for them.” The report continued by stating that the “relevant teams” had supplied accounts of their interactions with Goodwin that were “mostly, although not entirely, consistent with Goodwin’s statements to us.”
Both Lillard and Goodwin assured the NBA that he would remain committed to his obligations under the terms of his contract no matter where he was dealt.
The National Basketball Association stated that it has informed the National Basketball Players Association that any private or public comments similar to this will be subject to disciplinary action. Although the league currently has laws regarding the public dissemination of trade requests, such activities may still take place behind closed doors.
After the Blazers spent the third choice in the NBA draft on star point guard prospect Scoot Henderson, Lillard notified the Blazers on July 1 that he would prefer to be traded. This came after the Blazers used the third pick to select Henderson. Earlier this month, while participating in the Las Vegas Summer League, the general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers, Joe Cronin, stated that it could take “months” to execute a trade involving Damian Lillard.
Lillard has spent his eleven-year career in the NBA with the Trail Blazers.
“I think what I’ve learned more than anything else is that patience is critical,” Cronin remarked. “Resist the urge to overreact. Avoid making hasty decisions just because they might appear to solve an issue. The clubs that have ended up in the most positive situations post-trade are the ones who have been extremely meticulous in taking their time and not being impetuous or the teams that have kept their urgency under control. These are the teams that have ended up in the most positive situations.
“So, that is how I have approached this and will continue to approach this. We are going to exercise patience, and we are going to make decisions based on what is in the best interest of our team. We are going to observe the results of this experiment. And if it takes months, then it takes months. “
