Agents are basically people in your employ who are supposed to get you the best contract situation possible. Firing your agent because your unhappy with the contract he got you and hiring a new one to get a better one the next time your up is very different from storming into Ainge's office and saying "I want a new contract, this one is BS! I'm so underpaid!" Assuming I'm reading this story correctly, that's not what happened.
I don't think some of us are seeing that distinction.
Agents do more than negotiate contracts. Like any business relationship you have to weigh many factors before making changes. As I said, this is only a story if Bradley said something to Washburn about the contract. If its Washburn speculating then its total b.s.
Well, if Bradley approached Washburn out of the blue to say "I'm unhappy with my deal", yeah that's a bigger deal. But if he just changed agents and Washburn is either speculating or getting it from one of the old or new agents that he's unhappy with his contract, I don't see what the big deal is?
I said at the time that it was a pretty fair, solid contract and over time it's become even better than that. One of three guys we have (along with Thomas and Crowder) who are on really good deals for their levels of production. He's right that he deserves more. Put him on the Cavs in the finals last year and maybe that series goes to 7 or maybe the even win. He's worth at least 10 in the current market. So, considering some guys agents saw that coming and took shorter deals or set-up options etc, he feels like his agent didn't get him the best possible deal. So he got rid of him and a new one. Wouldn't you if you felt like your agent hadn't done a good enough job for you the last time around?
I mean, it's not like he walked into Danny's office and said "Hey! I'm underpaid and unhappy with my contract! Give me more money or trade me!" And some people are acting like he did something like that. It's not like he's causing problems in the locker room or anything, he's actually one of the most important team leaders. If you were an NBA player, you'd want to maximize your earning potential too, and if your current agent couldn't get that done for you, what's wrong with hiring a new one? To me I guess, I don't see a problem with him being upset about not getting as much money as he could. So I don't see a problem with him hiring a new agent to try and get the best deal the next time around. Unless he starts causing problems in the locker room, it's really a non issue, IMO.