Is Petteri Koponen being ‘held hostage?’

Petteri Koponen (pictured above, left), a native of Finland, is a well-regarded guard who was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2007. He has yet to sign with the team, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to play for Portland. He'd like to play for whatever other NBA team would take him, actually, but because Portland holds his rights, his NBA options are limited. Actually, "options" adds too many options to his lone option. It's Portland, or broke, and he feels (through a translator) as if he's being "held hostage." It's not something you hear about that often. An NBA team drafts a player, holds its "rights" for years, and basically just decides on its own whims whether or not that player is going to play in the NBA. Because if the team has a need for whatever that particular player brings, then they'll negotiate a deal with him and bring him over. But until that need is established, that player can't negotiate w...