Seibutis has been dragged into the NBA trade merry-go-round for a second time; the rights to the Lithuanian now belong to the Cleveland “Cavaliers”

The name of 33-year old Lithuanian guard, Renaldas Seibutis has been brought in for a second time in the context of NBA trade talks this summer. It was officially announced that the 33-year old Lithuanian has been included in the Sam Dekker trade, the player who was just sent by the Los Angeles Clippers to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Clippers in return received the rights to 34-year old, Vladamir Veremejenka.

The first time Renaldas Seibutis got drafted by an NBA team was back in 2007, when he was selected by the Dallas "Mavericks". The next time was in the middle of July of this year, more than 11 years later. The Lithuanian team member's rights were then transferred by the Los Angeles "Clippers" in this most recent trade to the "Cavaliers". He actually becomes the second Lithuanian that the Cleveland "Cavaliers" own the rights of– Last summer, the NBA finalists picked up the rights
to Artūras Gudaitis in a three-team trade. This does not however, mean that next year Renaldas Seibutis will be donning a Cavalier's jersey and joining their team.

This begs the question, why do teams need to exchange the rights to little known players in the NBA league? Why can't they just make agreements simpler, such as Dekker to the Cavaliers for financial
compensation?

This answer to this question really goes off into the weeds of the NBA's "collective bargaining agreement", or just the CBA for short. There are thousands of complicated rules and even more exceptions to these rules in this document. You really have to read the fine print about financial compensation regulations governing trades to truly understand.

After a successful season in Klaipėda with the Neptūnas, R. Seibutis has since moved on to the next chapter of his playing career, joining the Saragossa "Tecnyconta" club.

Translated by Neal Maloney.