Steve Kerr Claims Anthony Davis Forcing Trade From Pelicans is Bad for NBA

Anthony Davis successfully forced his way to the Lakers in June after first requesting to be traded by the New Orleans Pelicans prior to the February NBA trade deadline. And if you ask Steve Kerr, the whole episode was a bad thing for the league.

The Warriors head coach criticized Davis' move, not because of where he went, but because of how he did it. In an interview on the Warriors Insider Podcast, Kerr emphasized the importance of staying true to the terms of a signed contract.

Perhaps the perspective would be a bit different if Davis was entering free agency this summer, but instead, AD had a whole year and a half left on his current contract when he requested a trade.

Kerr used LeBron James and Kevin Durant as examples of what should be done in his eyes: sign a contract, play through that contract, and leave at the end of it if you wish. Instead, the league has seemingly entered a period in which anyone could effectively a free agent at any time through pointed trade demands.

Just ask Paul George, who re-signed with OKC for a four-year, $137 million deal only to force an escape to the LA Clippers one year later.

The assets the Thunder received in the George trade are historically great, but nobody in the rank-and-file even knew that PG was available. In a league that could see essentially superstar get moved at any given time, how can there be any continuity or loyalty anymore? Why even have contracts?

Of course, you can look at DeMar DeRozan as someone who wanted to stay put but was traded anyway. You could see where Kerr is coming from: if you sign a contract, you should be bound to it. But it's a different league now. Teams rarely get knocked for showing insufficient loyalty to their players; this summer, the players are reclaiming agency for themselves.

In today's player empowerment era, teams may never be certain of what their franchise guys really want. In AD's case, rinky-dink playoff runs weren't enough to keep him around. And if he was planning on leaving anyway, might as well let him go ASAP.