No one is saying that kind of shit. The truth is we just haven't had a player on his level that has stayed here... even when we were paying people as much as anyone else. So yeah, those of us that are fans of the team and of Lillard appreciate his loyalty. If you don't think he could get this kind of money elsewhere, you haven't been paying attention.
I don't think they had "max" contracts back then, but no. He wanted 120 and they offered something like 90 I think. ESPN did a 30 for 30 on that Magic team. They go into Shaq leaving.
I giggle when people expect that if A) dame takes less money then B) we magically get another all star because they just think it happens. There still actually has to be people that aren't going to get signed by their teams as an all star, who a player less than Durant that's not going to cost us dame anyway who then we will sign for the most money allowable because dame saved us money. Say dame takes a $10 mil paycut... What all star are we putting next to him for that? What game changer? The best you're hoping for MLE talent and ring chasers. We didn't have the money to do that anyway since we were signing him. The paycut would be foolish. And it's foolish to think trading him today would do anything. "Hey we made all these moves to build around you but before we see how you guys mesh we're gonna trade you" Do you realize how astronomically idiotic that is? Just use common sense. You see it through and then re-evaluate. It's common sense and to argue common sense is... Well...
I just think it’s weird he’s paid the way he is. Normally highest paid player is near the best of players. Just seems odd to see 120/2, for an average that high. Maybe Giannis or Steph or Jokic, Embiid, but Lillard no. And $60m vs $45m vs 35m does make a difference to a teams flexibility whether people like it or not.
Yup. Too much money for a guy who’s never been a top 5 MVP candidate. A deal like this can be franchise crippling. No one seems to care though. Obvious to me we should be going with a full youth movement. Instead of this half assed pay crazy money to a guy who is not even in the window of the rest of the team. Mind boggling. If Lillard is as serious as he says he is about winning he would take less so we can actually afford Star power to put around him. The dude has made a fortune off endorsements alone. So it makes me question his commitment to winning. Wanting to stay in Portland knowing the team can’t put anyone around him also makes me question it as well.
I think it's fun that you're playing word games. The question you're asking is how many teams in the league would give Damian Lillard a supermax contract today? The answer is that only a handful of teams with players like Ja wouldn't. I don't think Golden State would (bad fit with Steph), obviously I just said Memphis because of fit with Ja, the Hawks wouldn't because of Trae, and the Suns because of CP3. Then there's Houston, Orlando, Detroit and San Antonio that are too young and early in their rebuilds. I think every other team would sign him to a five year supermax if they had the means to and then move players necessary to make it work.
Dame is not any one of those players on those teams. And not pissed over in this corner. Just looking at it realistically. What you just said is the same excuse that could be used as to why turner got paid so much. And crabbe and leonards second contract. If the money is spent, its locked up and cant be used to get another player. To me, its that simple.
I would bet most GMs think this is an overpay. And if we are going to consider circumstances, how about the circumstance of a team that has zilch chance at a title, no second star let alone third star, no real means to get them, deciding that their 32 year old should get $120/2? Seems like that type of situation would make it a bad idea for that team too.
There's just no proof to support the theory that a supermax contract keeps teams from building championship rosters. There is however proof that teams with one or more max/supermax players win the championship 9 out of the 12 seasons since max designation became a rule in the NBA. Before that there was an even greater ratio of champions with players making even a larger percentage of the cap than is now allowed that won championships. Basically all of you who think this is a crippling contract have no proof, unless you think Dame is going to fall off like Russ or Wall and that management will put dysfunctional teams around him like those guys. If you have that little faith in management then it doesn't matter anyway because with or without a supermax contract on the books mismanagement would still lead to too many losses whether they be in the regular season or playoffs.
I don’t have a lot of faith that Lillard will be producing at that type level for much longer. CP3 is an outlier because he’s just that smart of a player. But guards fall off and fall off quick. I’ve seen it time and time again. Can we even afford to have another max player next to Lillard now? With his last contract we could. Now we’d have to trade either Simons or Nurk.
Nobody has said a Supermax means you can’t build a title winner. Just that it matters who you give it to. I have a hard time believing that given his age and history, this isn’t the situation for a $60m a year deal.
Damian requires more help in order to win a championship than any of those 9 other max contract players in the last 12 seasons. Them being able to accomplish it in no way proves that Damian can do the same.
So your position is that most GMs in the league don't think that Dame is worth the supermax? I don't think I have to remind you that he's been an all nba first or second team selection for the 5 out of the last 7 seasons. That's the top 10 players in the league and there are a lot more than 10 supermax contracts out there. A lot the guys that are on those contracts are older than Dame and still producing at a level commensurate with their contract. So I disagree with you that any GM in this league would think that giving Dame a supermax is an overpay. I would challenge you to find an article from a reputable source that says that this is an overpay.
