....except the Pelicans kicked the ever living crap out of us when that current squad had NEVER won so much as a Playoff game.
not many get home court or the 3rd seed or make the Western Conf finals especially during the Golden State ...Lebron era of championships....given the roster we had I think we've been far from mediocre and I've enjoyed the hell out our playoffs....couple teams that beat us in the first round went on the win a championship and beat everybody else too....no shame in that ...it's not a participation trophy in my view..........Beavs won a handful of national baseball championships too....Pat Casey is a HOF Oregon State coach...mad respect for that guy...my son graduated from Oregon State...love that school
WHO FREAKING CARES WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST!!!!!!!! I agree with you. They have given him shitty help... It doesn't matter anymore. The gig is up. The team sucks, and it is time to quit holding on to The Savior for dear life come Hell or High water. How much more boring to you want as long as we keep Damian? Like I said to river, IF we ever have a parade again, it will be through the streets of Portland, not Damian Lillard's driveway. I love Dame, and would hate to ever see him in a different jersey....But, I hate seeing this mess even more.
If you don't care about the past, then you should be willing to wait to see if the team is going to make trades and surround him with talent.
So you'd rather we stay mediocre with zero chance to win? You remember how it felt when we got the #1 pick and drafted Oden right? I remember wanting to consolidate our young assets for another big player to go with Roy, Oden, Aldridge and being yelled at to let the cake bake. We had all that talent and it didn't work out. But it felt like we were on the rise until everything fell apart. That felt better than this right now.
I get what you're saying and appreciate that you think about factoring the trade partner. I'm still missing why people thinking going from one all-NBA player to zero would help us. What are the odds we draft one, let alone two all-NBA players, and then have the ability to keep them into their prime? Seems far less likely than say trading CJ, Ant and the #3 pick for someone who could be a star.
There are two paths. We keep our lotto pick and use it in a trade for immediate help (trade Nurkic and Roco before the deadline for assets we might not lose at year end) while keeping Dame. Or blow it up in the offseason, use our lotto pick and whatever we got for Dame, CJ to start anew. Suck for a few years and draft well. Wouldn't surprise me if GM's are more interested in the blow up option and putting their stamp on the team. Just make sure you hire the right scouts.
Id rather the current GM be given an actual chance to make a trade, since this is a weird situation for the NBA. Covid has changed a lot of things, trades being one of them.
Zing! It is pointless going back and forth on trades. Many posters will be giant homers thinking we can get a star for our garbage. Like i have said. Either trade our lotto pick and whatever for a second star this offseason. Or move on. Look at what Harden got back.
I'm willin to bet that the GM (and ownership) of the team is far less interested in trading Damian, than fans are. Damian gives them a face and a purpose. Being a small market, especially one in Siberia, they know how hard it is to get a player of Damians capability (both on and off the court) to come here and more importantly, want to stay here.
Cool. I've said that is fine. This offseason is where we have two paths to go. Rebuild by trading Lillard. Or use our lotto pick to bring in a star through trade. If we snuck into the playoffs that would be the worst case scenario.
Then he should ask out unless the franchise actually wants to build him a winner. Just keeping him for the face of the franchise but having zero interest in trying their best to win a title is a complete joke.
I am seeing a former All NBA player in Damian Lillard. Could be his injury, (aka his selfishness) could just be an off-year. Amazing athletes have them. Or, he is 31, and has ran his body into the ground. Dame is a warrior, tough as nails, but it is ENTIRELY possible he is on the downside. He is not a large man, and he has had the shit kicked out of him over the years. That can be our little secret. Trade him while everyone else sees him as a top 75 all time player. (again, apologies to Klay)...
I agree... seems like the path with the best chance of success is to tank this year, hope you get a top 3 pick, trade it for a legit player, and take one big swing.
If we can trade him for a top 75 player in his prime, I'm all ears. I'm guessing that's not on the table though.
Absolutely. I want to win with Lillard. I just don't see it happening. Getting a lotto pick and trading it for someone to put next to him is my only hope of a contender with Dame. I just don't want to see us waste Dames last years and continue to be a treadmill type team.
