The risk was just too high.
Carter's next team probably wouldn't regard him as the core player anymore.
That's one of the reasons why superstars generally don't switch teams easily.
Even All-Star level players are assumed to take a step back in status on their new teams unless they join a squad that's rebuilding.
Take Vince Carter, for example: after joining the Nets, Jide ranked higher than him; moving to the Cavaliers, LeBron was in front too, and with the Suns, he was behind both Nash and Little Si.
Even "Sky Hook" Jabbar, after moving from the Bucks to the Lakers, gradually became a secondary figure behind "Magic."
As for later players like Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo,
wherever they went, their disputes mainly revolved around their status within the team.
They believed their experience and seniority were enough to lead the young cores of their new team, but their new teams didn't take them seriously. When the squabbles reached management, they were the ones to go.
