Adam Silver also surprised with the player movement during NBA Trade Deadline

FILE PHOTO: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver from February 2019 / Paul Mata

The recent end to the NBA trade deadline created some headline-grabbing moves, most especially with the move of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Some of the major questions raised during NBA Commissioner Adam Silver media availability at the Chase Center in San Francisco concerned about the teams trading some of their major superstars.

On the Dallas Mavericks-Los Angeles Lakers Trade

Silver was as surprised like anyone else that the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers.

“I’ve said before, that’s the kind of confidential information that’s generally not shared with the league in advance unless a team is publicly shopping a player, and to the best of my knowledge, that’s not what happened in the case of Dallas and Los Angeles

Silver brought up that he had met Luka before he was drafted into the league. He saw that how completely stunned and disappointed the 25-year old forward was about the trade.

“You could see it in his body language,” Silver emphasized.

He understood the disenchantment of the Mavericks fan base, especially for a team that had just reached the NBA Finals. Ultimately, he said, they should put their belief in the team. 

“Time will tell whether it was a smart trade, but I think they should believe in their organization. 

“Their organization truly made a trade that they believed was in the best interest of the organization, and in many cases, again, it doesn’t mean they were right or wrong, but it’s very difficult to put yourself in their shoes. 

“They are living with the situation. They have a philosophical belief on what’s necessary ultimately to win championships, and I’m not in a position to second-guess that.

On the failed Lakers-Hornets trade

Another highlight of the recent player movement in the league was the rescinded trade between the Lakers and the Charlotte Hornets which happened after the deadline.

The players had to be sent back to their old teams leading to some uncomfortable situations for the respective teams.

“That for players who are involved in trades how disruptive it can be. I am sure it’s equally disruptive to think you have been traded, then not to have been traded. It’s disruptive for the player, and disruptive for their teammates.

He is hoping to review the standards for the league especially how sports science has played an influential role with how player health and safety has been managed these past few years.

Silver posited, “is there a different standard of sort we should be applying in terms of players passing physicals in trades, and it’s something we should look at as a league.

On the new Collective Bargaining Agreement affecting player movement

When the new season started in July last year, teams were made to confront certain salary cap limits and restrictions that involved limits to building a contender.

Initially, he thought that the new CBA will not be bringing any player movement at all especially since it had been quiet leading to the trade deadline a couple of weeks ago.

This was disproven when teams moved some of their All-Star caliber players to other teams like Golden State Warriors acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Heat. Another was De’Aaron Fox moving to the San Antonio Spurs.

“I think we just saw more players moved before the trade deadline than anytime in the history of the league.

He pointed out the two facets of what teams trading mean for the league.

“The best aspect of trades is that it potentially creates a sense of renewal in some markets, a sense of excitement in others.”

The other side concerns the players and how disruptive it could be for their families.

“Many players are of the age where they have young children and kids potentially get dislocated mid-year from school. 

“I think it’s part of the grand bargain of playing in the NBA, in return for guaranteed contracts and strong union representation and a lot of money, honestly. 

“It’s all in the back and forth, sort of, that is part of playing professional sports. Certainly, that’s not unique to the NBA.

The new CBA has been forcing all 30 teams to make difficult decisions, he noted.

“For us, it’s no secret that part of the design of that CBA and pushing down high-end spending was to create more parity in the league and to do a better job distributing our best players around the 30 teams. I think you’re seeing that to a certain extent already.