This is a HeadGum Podcast.

Welcome to Buckets, episode 6.

I wanted to spend this cold open explaining a recent trend in modern NBA history, partly because I think it'll help

educate the casual fan and partly because it'll help me understand this new practice

by merely explaining it, this measured technique of NBA superstars dictating and deciding their future without even reaching free agency.

Bill Simmons coined the idea, pre-agency. Here's what I'm talking about.

Let's say you have a disgruntled marquee player. We'll call him Jimmy Butler.

Last summer he's traded to Minnesota with three years left on his deal.

To the casual fan you can assume he'll be a timberable until at least 2020 and that used to be the case.

But nowadays that three-year deal can turn into 59 games total very quickly.

Here's how.

The third year is a player option meaning he can opt out and cut that last season off, which he will do.

This leaves it as a two-year deal, one that just happened and one that's upcoming.

Back in the day, any disgruntled player would have sucked it up for at least one more season, then hit free agency.

But the superstar of 2018 is impatient.

You can postmates everything nowadays. Why not a new contract in a new city so butler taking a

cue from his pal kyri erving can not only dictate that he wants a trade he can

also dictate where he wants to be traded but can't the the owner of the wolves Glen Taylor trade him anywhere?

He can, but he won't.

But why?

Because Butler will publicly leak through his agent to a reporter, say, Woj, that he not only wants out of Minnesota, he

only wants to play for Brooklyn, New York, LA, or Miami.

...