Zombie Damian Lillard to request trade in coming days (nope, he's not.)

this is exactly what i said months ago, the ownership is happy with being just a playoff team, arena is packed, merchandise etc and thats why they never made an all-in move

now theyre forced to make an all-in move or dame is gone (maybe not, but you cant rule it out, you just cant risk calling a bluff)

 

This is the day when you need Trader Bob

 

Part of me seriously wonders if Olshey or someone with the Vulcans is actually in favor of doing a full rebuild or taking Dame through another soft rebuild. The lights are still on as long as you have Dame on the roster.

 

nah...he wouldn't know what to do with a salary cap...he didn't have that problem back in the day

 

LOL

Fuck this post

 

i dont get the premise that the vulcans or neil think that way. they've paid out the nose the past few years for underachieving teams.

 

Dame is tired of Neil

 

I actually mused that, if Dame was about to ask for a trade, you could fire Olshey and hire Trader Bob as interim GM.

 

"Where there's smoke..." -- There's an arsonist?

 

We had Pau Gasol. Pau Gasol is no Pau Gasol.

 

Haven't watched it at all (work is a 4 letter word sometimes). I just think the common theme throughout this saga is that Dame has the levelest head of anyone, and everytime someone makes an assumption or snap judgement, they've been shown to be wrong.

Dame knows what he's asking for isn't easy, and he knows putting a 1-month shot clock on it is going to shoot his own interests in the foot. To quote the greatest movie of all time: "You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles". Urgency is fine, but the move needs to be the right move, guarantee you Dame knows and appreciates that.

Just feels like "by the time he gets back" is a gross overreaction.

 

He said that's his intension stay Blazers but he also said he wasn't sure. To me there was a lot mix massage what he was saying. I still think that's he waiting to see what the roster looks like this year.

 

Quick..... let's trade Dame while his value is even higher because he said he isn't asking for a trade!

 

Might be the conclusion that Neil comes to.

His press conference after the trade, "Look, for the first time Dame wasn't 100% committed to his future in Portland and before he hurt his trade value we had to get the best we could for him."

 

I think Dame hinted at it (about how the team always shows up during his Team USA camps) but I believe this CB-NO-DL meeting was happening regardless of the noise from this morning. It's not all about damage control.

He's leaving for Tokyo on Monday. By the time he returns, the NBA calendar will have moved past both the draft and well into free agency. It makes sense that they hash out the plan and targets in person now. Having worked remotely from overseas, I can attest to the time zone difference to being an absolute pain in getting on the same page in meetings and with the ~12+ hr difference between the US and Japan, it's best to get synced now before he leaves.

Also, recall how Dame couldn't meet with Chauncey on the day of his presser due to prior engagements with sponsors, it all falls into place about why they're meeting today in Vegas.

 

Not sure what drugs you're on... but they must be strong!

I have NO faith that Neil will be able to deliver.

 

it's partially his doing but he's definitely handcuffed as to what he can do to improve.

 

Good thing Portland only has $6M to spend on FA this summer.

 

He did. The fences were called Evan Turner. He was (rightfully) fried for it. But, he did try.

 

I don't have much faith in NO either. But it's the only chance the team has.

On the other hand it's not easy to get a second superstar-caliber player in Portland. I do think plenty of players want to hitch their wagon to the Lillard train. I put him in the top 5 MVP in the league because of what he brings to a team. Not just numbers, it's more than that, much more.

The only chance I can see, the simplest plan forward perhaps, is to resign NP and trade CJ for a guy on the brink of stardom, much like CJ himself.

Dame has to realize this is the most likely path. If he is really honest about being urgent, then he has to sign of on a CJ trade. If he won't trade CJ then Neil is fucked because Powell with walk (?) and you got nothing from the Toronto trade. The other paths would be to trade Roco, Ant, or Nurk who have value, especially Roco and Ant.