Heat playing defense on personnel market under NBA’s Lillard lens? No Silver lining assured.

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MIAMI — The Miami Heat have proven willing to bang their head against walls when it comes to bids for elite talent, even pursuits that ultimately have seen elite talent head elsewhere.

But with the Damian Lillard pursuit now having the full attention of the NBA, the question becomes whether league veto power could step into the mix.

Such unfettered power is in place for Commissioner Adam Silver under Article 24 of the National Basketball Association Constitution and By-Laws.

In the article denoting “Authorities and Duties of the Commissioner”, section (i) (i) reads, “The Commissioner shall have the power to declare null and void any Player transaction made by and between Members of the Association or by and between Members of the Association and any organization outside of the Association.”

That is worth noting in the wake of the league issuing a memo last week regarding Lillard’s preference not only to be dealt with four years remaining on his contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, but also to be dealt solely to the Heat.

In that memo to all teams, regarding the handling of the issue by agent Aaron Goodwin, the league said, “Goodwin denied stating or indicating to any team that Lillard would refuse to play for them. Goodwin and Lillard affirmed to us that Lillard would fully perform the services called for under his player contract in any trade scenario. The relevant teams provided descriptions of their communications with Goodwin that were mostly, though not entirely, consistent with Goodwin’s statements to us.”

Neither the Heat, nor any other teams, were named in the memo.

For the Heat, this is not necessarily new, nor are rescinded transactions.

But it is a scenario that is extremely rare, with commissioner involvement neither anticipated or perhaps germane.

The notable exception for the Heat came on July 31, 1996, when the league voided the Heat’s signing of Washington Wizards forward Juwan Howard. The league cited bonuses in the contracts of Tim Hardaway and P.J. Brown putting the Heat over the salary cap with the Howard signing. The Heat staunchly then and for years after claimed the NBA…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/heat-playing-defense-personnel-market-004800128.html?src=rss

Author : South Florida Sun Sentinel

Publish date : 2023-08-04 00:48:00

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