The Damian Lillard sweepstakes took another turn on Friday when it was revealed that the NBA sent all 30 teams a memo in regards to the conduct of both Lillard and his agent, Aaron Goodwin. The memo points to public comments made by Goodwin “indicating that Lillard would not fully perform the services called for under his player contract if traded” to a team besides the Miami Heat. Goodwin told the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson earlier in July that “truthfully, [Lillard] wants to play in Miami. Period,” while stating explicitly that he had shared that message with other teams.
The league went on to clarify that “Goodwin and Lillard affirmed to us that Lillard would fully perform the services called for under his player contract in any trade scenario,” but that any language publicly or privately suggesting otherwise “will subject Lillard to discipline by the NBA.”
The cost of making public trade demands has always been relatively straightforward: a fine. Anthony Davis was fined $50,000 in 2019 when Rich Paul went public with his desire to be traded away from the Pelicans. The new CBA allows for fines up to $150,000, and suspensions are technically allowable. Notably, however, Paul never publicly indicated that Davis would not fulfill his contractual obligations if traded to an undesirable location, stating only to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Davis “wants to be traded to a team that allows him a chance to win consistently and compete for a championship.”
The league-wide assumption, at that time, was that Davis, like Lillard, only had a single destination in mind. For Lillard, it’s Miami; in Davis’ case, it was the Los Angeles Lakers. He had a bit more leverage in getting his wish as he was only a year removed from free agency when he asked for his trade. Lillard signed a contract extension last offseason is under Portland’s control for three more seasons. But ultimately, we don’t know what Paul needed to say to make Davis a Laker. We have a fairly good idea of what Goodwin is saying behind the scenes because, well, he’s said it publicly…
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