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Over the weekend, the Phoenix Suns made another blockbuster trade to upgrade their roster by agreeing to terms with the Washington Wizards to acquire veteran guard Bradley Beal.
Although Beal has been reluctant to leave the Wizards over the years, much like Damian Lillard with the Portland Trail Blazers, both sides wanted to get something done and were able to do so.
However, one part of the equation may have made things difficult for the Wizards, as Beal had a no-trade clause, meaning he could nix any trade to a team he did not want to go to or play for.
This forces the Wizards to make a difficult move and likely impacted the Suns’ trade package, which many believe is very weak, as they sent Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, and draft picks and swaps to Washington.
That trade package likely made teams around the league never want to deal with a situation like that, and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith came up with his list of the only five players in the NBA, in his opinion, that deserve a no-trade clause in their contract.
Only five NBA players deserve to have no-trade clauses.
5. Jayson Tatum
4. Nikola Jokic
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo
2. LeBron James
1. Steph Curry
Explanation: https://t.co/3SjjCJEP14
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) June 19, 2023
The majority of this list makes sense, with Stephen Curry being as loyal as they come, as well as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum, but LeBron James might be a stretch as he tends to dictate his fate bouncing from team to team with little loyalty shown.
Although James has put together an incredible career in the league, he always does what he wants to do and forces the hand of front offices to follow his lead until he gets fed up and leaves.
It seems a little silly to give someone a no-trade clause when they’ve already got so much power and leave when times get tough, but the four others on this list have stayed put through good times and bad and have rewarded the team with wins and titles (outside of Tatum) as a result.
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