NBA commissioner Adam Silver sounds off on trade requests, new resting policy

The trade requests of the two All-Stars have been major stories throughout the offseason, with Harden publicly calling his general manager Daryl Morey a liar and Lillard stating the only team he will play for is the Miami Heat.

Silver isn’t completely in the wrong about this situation. Star players demanding trades after signing long-term extensions is not a good look for the league. It incentivizes star players to take massive paydays first and then request a trade, as opposed to playing out their contract and signing with their preferred team in free agency.

Teams are put in a bind because of this. Either they acquiesce to the trade request and lose a franchise cornerstone, or run the risk of alienating them and any prospective free agents. Making the trade request and subsequent grievances with the team public can also hurt their ability to get a deal done as interested teams might be deterred from acquiring the player, thinking the drama isn't worth it.

In addition to commenting on the Lillard/Harden trade requests, Silver also spoke about the importance of playing as much as possible, expanding on the new resting rules — now called the "Player Participation Policy" — “we need to return to that principle, that this is an 82-game (league),” per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. 

While the intention of this policy might be in good faith, in practice it could be more difficult to implement. Teams might risk the fines levied on them if it means their best players can stay healthy, or designate "fake" injuries to skirt the rules entirely.

The outcome of the Player Participation Policy and who Harden and Lillard end up playing for in 2023-24 are still up in the air, but the messaging from Silver is clear, the public nature of these trade demands and the increase of resting healthy players is bad for business.