Throughout July, the desires to leave James Harden And Damian Lillard animated the “free agency”, with, in each of the soap operas, strong moments, like when the NBA called the leader of the Blazers and his agent to order, or when Harden publicly attacked Daryl Morey, the calling him a “liar”. An insult that cost him $100,000, the largest fine allowed by the new collective agreement.
For Lillard, no fine, but a real call to order in case he considers snubbing his future team if it does not suit him. “We have informed Goodwin and Lillard that any future comments, whether made privately to teams or publicly, suggesting that Lillard will not fully provide the services required by his player contract in the event of a trade, will subject Lillard to disciplinary action from the NBA’s part » could we read in the league press release.
“Things seem to have calmed down, at least in terms of public outings”
Three weeks before the resumption of training, Adam Silver repeats that he does not like this way of doing things on the part of the players.
“About transfer requests, obviously, I don’t like that”, Silver said.. “As a league, we want players and teams to honor their contracts. I am monitoring the situations in Portland and Philadelphia and hope they will be resolved for everyone’s benefit before the season starts. I’m pleased that things seem to have calmed down, at least in terms of public outings. »
Privately, Harden and Lillard assure that they will be present when training resumes in Philadelphia and Portland if they are not transferred. The most complex situation concerns Harden since he asked for the head of Daryl Morey, and he no longer wishes to play for the Sixers as long as the president of the franchise is in place.
