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[Saba Sports News] Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob recently appeared on The Athletic’s NBA Show, where he discussed why NBA trades are so complicated. He pointed out that GMs want to prove their intelligence and show they are doing a good job, which makes finalizing deals a lengthy process.
“There are three ways to get better in this league: One is building through the draft; another is free agency; and the final one is trades. And trades are the hardest. It’s very, very hard to pull off trades because these GMs want to prove how smart they are. It’s true. They want to impress their owners; sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. But here’s the problem — if I could share anything with the fans out there… They don’t understand how hard it is and how illogical some of the parties on the other side are sometimes. Maybe we’re illogical too, to some extent, but my point is it’s just really, really hard to pull these things off. And everyone writes all this stuff, and they have no idea what the other side’s asking for in some of these things.”
Lacob’s comments offer unique insight from an NBA team owner’s perspective. Fans often realize that trades are complex, involving extensive negotiation between multiple parties. Given the competitive nature of the league, each side aims to secure the best deal for themselves while weakening their trade partners.