Dak’s well within his rights here, and it’s the right business decision.
If it goes down like this, for the second year in a row, it’s going to make it harder for me personally to root for this group of players to win the big one. Zeke’s holdout-in what should have been a contending season-was bad enough. This one, in the first year with a new HC, would be worse. Don’t get me wrong: I’ll still root for the laundry. But it’s more fun when you also really want the players to get the championship because you like them and respect their commitment. When they take actions that affect the outcomes of seasons for their teammates in order to get as much money as possible, it’s harder to respect their commitment to winning.