Michael Jordan's agent peeved by Damian Lillard and other modern NBA trade sagas: "I think it's terrible"
Damian Lillard became the latest superstar to request a trade after spending all 11 seasons of his career with the Portland Trail Blazers. The seven-time All-Star signed an extension with Portland last summer that keeps him under contract through the 2026-2027 season when he will have a $63.2 million player option. Despite the extension, Lillard was not thrilled with the direction of the franchise.
Michael Jordan's agent, David Falk, weighed in on the current state of the NBA, which has seen several star players request trades with several years remaining on their contracts, only for teams to comply and send them to their top destination. Speaking to Howard Beck of GQ Sports, Falk stated:
"You don't need free agency because these teams, the minute the guy says 'I don't want to be on the team', they accommodate him. I think it's terrible."
Falk added that the state of modern free agency is one of the reasons he stopped enjoying his role as an agent and no longer focuses on the business. He claimed that being an agent no longer requires skills while estimating that 70 percent of contracts do not have negotiations.
After criticizing the system, Falk, who also represented Patrick Ewing, disputed the notion that the trade requests are driven by player empowerment, stating:
"You don't think Michael Jordan and Patrick had power? Of course, they had power, but they were smart enough to know that they would never do those kinds of things publicly, because it was inimical to the game that they love."
While there is plenty of backlash whenever a star player requests a trade and has his demands met, that is unlikely to change anytime soon. With players incentivized to remain with their current team, it makes far more financial sense to sign an extension and request a trade than to leave in free agency.
Will Damian Lillard wind up with the Miami Heat?
Damian Lillard has made it clear that the Miami Heat are his top destination after requesting a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland, however, has no interest in Heat shooting guard Tyler Herro as most of their building blocks are backcourt players.
Their lack of interest in the 2022 NBA Sixth Man of the Year severely limits the potential package that Miami can put together. In order to land the seven-time All-Star, the Heat will have to get a third team involved. Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin has indicated that he is willing to wait months before trading Damian Lillard, if necessary.
Check out Joe Cronin's comments on trading Damian Lillard below:
