We’ve now seen, for the second straight year, a well-run, small-market team in the NBA devastated by the loss of a star player it drafted, groomed and boosted through his youth. Last year, it was Kevin Durant leaving Oklahoma City. Now, NBA Live Mobile Coins’s Gordon Hayward leaving Utah.But the perception that the NBA has not been able to conquer its issue with stars ditching small markets is just that: perception. The reality is much different, especially with the changes in the NBA’s free-agent system that came into effect after the 2011 lockout. To show just what we mean here, we offer a list of the players who have, since the ratification of the collective-bargaining agreement in 2011 (which was reconfigured with a new CBA last year), signed as free agents with a new team, one that did not hold their rights at the end of the previous season.
 
We’ve tagged each NBA city with its market-size number, as measured by Nielsen’s TV ratings.The chart below shows player movement among major free agents, and below that, the four things that fans so often get wrong about markets and NBA free agency, the things fans in places like Utah and OKC are still getting wronglayer YearOld team (market rank)New team (market rank)Tyson Chandler2011Dallas (5)New York (1)David West2011New Orleans (53)Indiana (25)Steve Nash2012Phoenix (12)Los Angeles (2)Dwight Howard2013Los Angeles (2)Houston (10)Andre Iguodala2013Denver (18) Bay Area (6)Tyreke Evans2013Sacramento (20)New Orlean[td][/td]s (53)Paul Millsap2013Utah (33)Atlanta (8)LeBron James2014Miami (16)Cleveland (17)Chandler Parsons2014Houston (10)Dallas (5)LaMarcus Aldridge2015Portland (22)San Antonio (37)Kevin Durant2016Oklahoma City (45)Bay Area (6)Al Horford2016Atlanta (8)Boston (7)Dwyane Wade2016Miami (16)Chicago (3)Dwight Howard2016Houston (10)Atlanta (8)Harrison Barnes2016Bay Area (6)Dallas (5)J.J. Redick2017Los Angeles (2)Philadelphia (4)Gordon Hayward2017Utah (33)Boston (7)Paul Millsap2017Atlanta (8)Denver (18)Danilo Gallinari2017Denver (18)Los Angeles (2)George Hill2017Utah (33)Sacramento (20)Jeff Teague2017Indiana (25)Minnesota (15)OK, now here's what is so often misunderstood about NBA free agency, especially as it relates to market size and the changes that have taken place in league rules since 2011.
 
1. The overwhelming majority of major free agents do not change teams.Defining a “major” free agent is a subjective exercise, but there have been in the range of 66 such signings since the 2011 CBA went into effect. That ranges from NBA Live Coins, say, Marc Gasol re-signing with the Grizzlies in 2011, through Kevin Garnett staying with the Celtics in 2012, to point guards Mike Conley, Jrue Holiday and Kyle Lowry signing mega-deals to stay put in the last two summers.