The Ultimate Trap of Sports
Today I wanted to talk about an issue that isn’t brought up nearly as often as it should be. The Ultimate Trap of Sports, a.k.a. long term contracts. Big time players get big time deals, right? Yes, but there are major consequences that I will discuss here.
The most recent news that inspired me to write this article was James Harden trying to make his way to the Brooklyn Nets from the Houston Rockets. The Rockets seemed unwilling and very hesitant to trade Harden and his counterpart Russell Westbrook, who was in a similar situation to Harden. Harden has two years left on his four year extension signed in 2017. Westbrook, on the other hand, also has two years left on a five year player option extension he signed with the Thunder in 2017. These players are just two prime examples of long term deals gone awry. These players were essentially being held hostage in a place where they clearly didn’t want to play.
The Rockets are clearly not going to be in title contention for the next couple of years, so why were they doing this to these players? There is a reason without logic, in a sense. Both of those players that I mentioned are former league MVP’s, so any trade would have to of been of equal value or made up of potential value such as draft picks, young talent, etc. The Rockets have no future after the trade for Westbrook a year ago. The Rockets had one pick this year in the NBA draft. This is the first time the Rockets had a pick in the past 5 years. They currently own their 1st round picks in 2022 and 2023 but after that they do not own an outright first round pick through 2026. It was in their best interest to trade these two players for a treasure trove of draft picks. Although it seemed like the Rockets were trying to juice the last remaining shot at a title and have completely sold their future for players who wanted out. They didn’t receive nearly what they should have.
After the James Harden trade, the Rockets are going towards a youth movement, The Brooklyn Nets are on a fast track to a championship with Harden. Westbrook was traded to the Wizards who are playing for a high pick at this moment. The Rockets circumstantially made out okay with picks. The trades don’t set them up right now. Nobody is a big fan of leaving a team's future in the hands of another team's failure. They still have a large contract in John Wall who will be earning $40 million for the next 1-2 years. They have put themselves in another trap, nobody wants John Wall and his contract. The move contradicts their whole youth movement. Post Harden era the Rockets upper management needs to decide whether or not they want to fall into another trap, or decide on a definite movement of their culture. Demarcus Cousins and John Wall don’t sound like youth movements to me. In the grand scheme of it all the winner of a Nets-Rockets trade were the Indiana Pacers. For two MVP caliber players the Rockets made out with pennies and a check that may bounce.
Recently, situations have players opting for three year deals with a fourth year player option. The simple fact is that players do not want to stay in one place for a potential five years of their career to potentially only compete for two. Another recent incident of a player wanting a shorter amount of years and suffering because of it, is Dak Prescott. Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys wanted a major extension and Jerry Jones wanted to lock him down in Dallas for five years and a reported 110 million. Dak was smart and wanted a shorter term deal for the same amount of money per year, which he deserved. Cowboy fans know what happened next, going into the season talks stalled and Dak has suffered a potentially career altering injury, all because he valued himself and his future.
Another big news topic is the Houston Texans and Deshaun Watson, Deshaun signed a mega extension worth $156 million and now he wants out because of frequent betrayal by the front office. Houston doesn’t wanna give him up, and Watson is packing his bags. Another Long term trap for both sides. Watson is most likely going to go on strike and not play, and Houston is in another James Harden situation, an unlucky year for Houston in the sports world. These very contracts are why players are opting for shorter term deals with player options. Because they do not want to end up trapped and hopeless.
One huge recent event that has shocked the sports world is Robinson Cano being suspended for the 2021 MLB season after testing positive for a PED(performance enhancing drug). He signed a ten year deal in 2013 with the Seattle Mariners for $240 million. Since 2018 when he was acquired, his play has consistently been on a downward spiral. The New York Mets now avoid 24 million on his deal but still owe him 48 million. Another potential trap is Fernando Tatis Jr., he just signed a 14 year extension worth $340 million, he is a great player with limitless potential but the Padres need to keep themselves competitive or they could end up like both Houston teams, In a trap with no escape or hope.This is another glaring example of why long term deals seem to never work in any sport and many times one of the sides of the bargain get effectively swindled.
If the sports world would take a second and look over these blatant instances of long term failures, the sports landscape would be changed forever. There would be a sort of changing of the guard every three years rather than every five. This would generally make sports a lot more competitive and interesting.
Stone signing out.