With the NBA trade deadline approaching on Feb. 8, there are players that will soon be on the move as front offices look to move pieces. Some of those players may have already experienced being traded, but others may be moving for the first time.
By the time offseason comes, the narrative changes – players who are up for free agency can decide their own fate. These players, though, get treated differently.
A team’s front office deciding to trade a player is a business decision, one to better a franchise. A player who leaves in free agency, or even requests a trade, is a decision made in the same light.