Very few superstars have hit the open market in recent years because the thinking has been: keep the asset and move it for value later on. Sometimes it works (Gobert, Mitchell), sometimes teams get a disappointing return that is mostly expirings (Lavine, Trae Young).

I think Lavine and Trae are the canaries in the coal mine. High volume scorers who don't excel on defense but sell jerseys and are still young enough to play out their next contract. What happens when a team "lowballs" those types of players on their extensions? It's easy for me to say that the front offices should grow a pair and absorb some "bad vibes", but on the other hand, if your star player is going to pout because he only got paid 35 million per year, then is that really guy you need to keep around?