You seen it with almost every major FA recently that wanted to "test the market" instead of automatically signing an extension, it becomes a circus no matter what and unless a deal gets done, the FA is under a media microscope and gets bashed by the fans. --------------------------------------------------------------- Don't say anything and leaving: "He screwed his team over by not letting them know. At least give some indication." Say that he might stay and leaving: "He screwed his team over by leading them on." Telling his team he will definitely leave at the end of the season: "He screwed his team over by removing all leverage in a potential deal." Say that he wants to be traded but not listing teams: "He screwed his team over, other teams wouldn't pay heavily for a rental." Saying that he wants to be traded but listing teams: "What a prima-donna, he took all the leverage from his own team in a trade." ------------------------------------------------------------- It seems that there is almost no way a player who is a big time FA can leave his team as FA without back-lash from the fans. Never mind the fact that these guys are signing over 40% of their careers with each decision. If I was making those decisions, I'd be damn sure I explore every option. However, unless the FA signs with his current team, he'd be demonized for truly becoming a "free agent". That said, I'll propose a solution, you know the Rookie salary scale? How about after the first year, and only after the first year in the NBA, a team can waive the rookie scale and offer their player a 10 years guaranteed max contract (and you can only offer the max). Fair to the players -you sign over freedom for the next decade, but you get more money earlier, and the team gets to take a peak to see if you can make it in the NBA. You also know that the teams are absolutely committed to building around you. Fair to the teams - If you truly like a player, want to make him the focus of your Franchise, then you show that commitment early. In return, he can't leave. As an added bonus, if a player played all 10 years of that decade max in the same city, then that team is the only team that can offer the player a 8 year max contract. We all know Lebron is worth more than the Max but teams can't pay it. But is Lebron at 38 still worth the max? This is another way of paying the truly elite while showing commitment, allowing both team and the players to give-up something for each other.
