To me, trading Dame/CJ/Nurk is starting from scratch. That's the foundation of the team. Even in a firesale, teams don't clear out every single player off the roster.
Whatever you want to call it is up to you. I'd be willing to bet that trading Dame is going to net some pretty good players in return. Even if it's an OKC total teardown, you have to admit that Presti has the larder pretty well stocked with draft picks and goodies that are going to result in the Thunder looking pretty good in a year or two. Personally, I don't think that it would be that complete of a total makeover. I think that there are some keepers here and that the Blazers would be likely to get an additional star-quality player in the deal. This isn't the case of a guy at the end of his contract forcing his way out early. This is a top-10 player on a max contract with three years left on it. That would bring a huge package in return.
And that's the problem. I don't trust our front office and ownership to handle trading Dame and setting this franchise up for success in the future.
I am not defending NeO I am just trying NOT to overreact to the situation like 90% of this forum is cause I will admit a few things about NeO right now. 1) He prolly should have tried to trade CJ One to 2 Offseason's ago or at least explored it and it is possible he did but my guess not very likely. 2) The pick of what FA's he goes after are very hit and miss ... see Evan Turner and even failed attempts like Chandler Parsons 3) I think he falls in love with draft prospects and makes promises that have hamstrings the team -- Collins ( trading 2 - 1sts ) -- Swanigan and i am sure i have missed at least one more Let's take out the whole Dame ready to leave thing out of the picture and I will say this about Neo and his future. I think very much like Stotts I do believe it's put up or shut up time and at some point it is time to move on IF you have not succeeded similar to Stotts. I do think if the Blazers do not make it past the 1st maybe even 2nd round then I believe the Blazers will FIRE Neo within a week or 2 of being eliminated and I would support that decision 100%. - One more thing i am sorry for being so combative at times but sometimes i let my passion for this team out and it can come off the wrong way just wanted to clear the air with a couple of you who I think i have come off a little heavy handed with in the past week or so.
It's all good bruh. Just don't tell Neil he is the prettiest princess in all of GM land. He might make you put the lotion on his skin if you do.
The only thing we can do is tune out. Which was the point of my post. If we trade Dame, I'm probably going to check out until we have new people leading this team.
https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/...d-will-be-with-trail-blazers-next-season.html But none move the needle in the direction Lillard had hoped. The Blazers for decades have struggled to land marquee free agents or major stars in trades. Portland made efforts to seek a major trade this summer, but to no avail. Lillard has talked to players about coming to Portland, but those efforts have not produced results.
The question is and obviously we don't have the answer for it, what efforts were made? Have we figured out that we're probably going to need to overpay a little in a trade to get an all star level player? That we'll probably have to trade CJ and a package of draft assets like Milwaukee was willing to. Is Olshey really going all in to try and get this team to the next level or is he worried about making sure no one gets over on him? Just a hunch but I would bet the "efforts to seek a major trade" were on the conservative side, since Olshey has never done anything remotely splashy in his ten fucking years here. Maybe I'll be eating my words and obviously this article was written with a limited perspective. If Morey realizes Dame is off the table and he still has to trade Ben maybe Olshey has been waiting this thing out and he'll get a deal done. We'll have to wait and see. For right now I'm extremely frustrated that we're still having to trust a guy in Olshey that has never really done anything besides shuffle the deck and has also proven himself to be a condescending liar.
Neil is where he is because of things he has or has not done. So if there is no deal now because he refused to move CJ back when he had more potential and a much lower contract and now his hands are tied, that is on him. If his player he handed out so much money to for max year deals back in 2016 were basically worthless and he couldn't use them as assets, that is also on him.
So Olshey was trying to get Oubre or Batum but they both declined… lol what a poverty organization we have. smh
Fast forward to next offseason: patience. It's only been a year since he said those things. Just because Dame has said he wants out cause Neil didn't do anything all year doesn't mean that tomorrow he isn't. It's not about having patience... its about knowing that Neil is a fucking idiot and knowing he isn't gonna do shit because if he was smart he'd of done it already. Anyone defending Neil hasn't been awake in 9 years. Learn the pattern.