Looking at the late 80s/early 90s, it seems like players rarely switched teams in free agency. When did that start to become a more normal occurence?
Looking at the late 80s/early 90s, it seems like players rarely switched teams in free agency. When did that start to become a more normal occurence?
In 2012 players were able to keep their Bird rights when switching teams so that took away one reason not to leave. Also around then Owners got the contract structure changed to short cookie cutter contracts. This allowed players to be free agents more often. Also because contracts are standardized made negotiations easier.