God, every time stuff like this comes up, it becomes so obvious that most of r/nba (INCLUDING heat fans) has no clue about how corporate transaction negotiation actually happen.

Things arent linear IRL. This not 2k where you put in an offer, they reject, so you put in another offer. Its not flea market or used car haggling.

People read this and imagine that Portland simply said “if you throw in caleb, we’ll give you dame” and Miami just said “nah”. Context and dynamics matter

Words like “worth” and “entitled” and “respect” and “value” get thrown around, but they mean nothing in a live deal. All that matters is the market

People kept complaining that Miami was not offering enough, that how dare they try to get Dame for as little as possible. That is literally THEIR JOB, to try to get as much as you can for as little as you can.

You dont pay what you think something is worth-- you pay a penny more than what the other guy is paying, or than what the seller is willing to give it up for.

If the read is that the market is thin and the counterparty doesnt have leverage, you can make a calculated risk in offering less. If they dont bite, then thats okay-- thats been factored into your expected value calculation.

You make a calculated business decision and it doesn’t go your way. That happens. But it’s not some moral failing or a sign of being an entitled asshole

Not getting Dame isnt a sign that Miami “felt entitled” or is “greedy” or whatever other value judgments people loved to throw around. It’s a sign that either they read the market wrong, they lost a dice roll, there wasnt complete engagement, or all/some of the above

AND conversely, Portland not engaging isnt necessarily a sign of Cronin being a stubborn bitch or being in his feelings or whatever else Miami fans were saying

Zero of it is value and principle. It’s all emotionless STRATEGY, plain and simple

(Few people really get to understand in depth what it means to say “its not personal, its business”. I’ve both received and executed negotiation moves that would be considered “assholish” in regular P2P life. And no one, literally no one, has ever reacted emotionally to them. Theyre all just moves on a board. Its whats expected)