Loyalty vs. Championship Royalty

Let’s discuss loyalty vs. royalty. In recent memory, Isaiah Thomas, DeMar DeRozan, and Kawhi Leonard comes to mind most prevalently. Isaiah Thomas averaged 28 PPG in 16-17’ and poured his soul out on the court after the death of his sister. He grew in the eyes of Boston, and Boston came to love him. DeMar opened up about his ongoing battles of depression as he entered the prime of his career in Toronto, which came with another All-Star selection and an All-NBA bid. Kawhi Leonard, who looked destined to be a Spur forever – humble, low-maintenance, and quiet. Fully Kawhi. This pivoted 180 degrees when Kawhi injured his quad, and you know the rest of the story by now.

On one hand, the NBA is a business. It will always be a business. The league’s elite, top five signs one year deals often and negotiates on their terms. Biggest example – LeBron James and his recent tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The roster is built and no one is safe, and everyone knows it. Look now – the Cavs went from the Eastern Conference representatives to now a fringe playoff team in a weaker conference. Consider last year when Gordon Hayward, who grew into an elite level wing in Utah, who left the place where it all started to join Kyrie Irving in Boston. Generally, this is a player’s league and this is the player’s choice. Paul George circa summer 2017 – player’s choice. From super teams to more literally player options, these all value one thing - player’s choice. Teams around the league are forced to bend and break around players that have the opportunity to break down their franchise and force rebuild after an investment of picks and good faith.

Now, it’s important to note that the franchise’s are not without blame. In a league where jobs are based on winning at the highest level (…ain’t that right, Dwayne Casey?), it’s about pointing the finger. If things go awry, upper management is quickest to point the finger at the people in the trenches. Likewise, players occasionally point back for lack of assistance or poor locker room choices. For example, DeMarcus Cousins was always brutally critical of Sacramento for trades and draft picks. When you have a platform, you’re much more apt to use. In the case of DeRozan, he was asked to be the franchise’s Kobe. He remained loyal, he pushed to a higher all-NBA level and in return was dished for another all-NBA guy when healthy. While verbal intentions carry value, everyone has a price. If anything, it should breed the same loyalty in San Antonio, who are reported to be enamored with his skillset and believe it was well worth the price.

What does it boil down to? Loyalty goes two ways. Superstars aren’t promised, even and especially for NBA franchises. With the trajectory of the league towards super teams over a healthy mix, this is not the time or the place to expect loyalty to be maintained. With job stability, LBJ free agentless conferences, and only so much time before an imminent rebuild (except for you Spurs…), these risks must be taken. With a documented history of utter failure – recall that Toronto was swept by a Cavs team that had the best player on the worst roster – no one is safe. When you can’t be trusted to win when it matters, all issues of loyalty go out the door. You must leverage loyalty for championship royalty. With teams emerging from rebuilds, acquiring different players, and making more moves to shuffle deck, it doesn’t help to stay stagnant. I’d argue the same with relationships with players. It doesn’t help to stay stagnant. Feelings will always matter, and the more time you have to plant roots, the harder it is to remove them from the planted ground.

Let’s consider one last thing: no trade clause. Could this be a future bargaining tactic with the recent backlash from players - Isaiah, DeMar, Lou Williams, PG on Lance, etc. - that helped to build the franchise? Unpopular with teams, maybe the push for more no trade clauses will shift the power dynamic more in favor of the players again insurmountably, at least for the time being. Is staying in one place worth taking less money? How does this affect the implementation of the super max to keep players in town? Does it at all? Or is all this just a fancy way to give players more control to make their own choices? Will that help anything? Only time will tell. When it comes to the league though, business is business and championships reign supreme – for both players and franchises alike.

- RF