How can you say that definitively when Dame hasn't had close to the help all of those guys have when they won their championships? I mean good grief the Lakers had two supermax players, the Warriors did for two of theirs and one of the best systems and supporting casts in the history of the game when they won without Durant, Cleveland had Kyrie, Love and a host of complementary role players and then you have the Heatles. Dame hasn't had a supporting cast that closely enough approximates those rosters to make the call you're trying to make.
You're just taking him aging like CP3 as a given. It is not a given. You have no idea what Damian is going to look like as player 3 years from now, let alone 5. See this is the problem why fans can't agree. After 10 seasons of Lillard and you still haven't decided if there is a gap between him and Curry or Lebron.
First of all no GM would/can say it on record. Like, it’s not allowed. Second, it’s bad practice to dole out Supermaxes as a reward for the past. Lillard is a great player who is in his thirties, with little help around him. He was paid very fairly year after year. He wasn’t underpaid. This isn’t a Michael Jordan situation where he was underpaid forever so they gave him $30-$35m in successive years.
There is a gap between him and LeBron and Curry but the gap between him and Curry isn't the kind of chasm that so many want to make it out to be but there is a huge distance between the players Dame has played with and the system he's played in and what Curry has had. If you think Dame's had the teams around him (roster and coaching staff) that prove that he couldn't get the job done or that he's about to have a Westbrook/Wall type of fall off then I can see why you think this is a bad deal. Those just aren't my opinions. I think it's a fact that a supermax contract does not prohibit teams from building rosters around them that can win championships. I just want to point out that last time Dame actually played (2020-21) he got the fifth most all nba points and seventh in MVP votes. The injury that kept him out of this season isn't ever chronic. I guess we'll see how he does going forward. I can't promise that management will surround him with the team he'll need but I have more hope than I have during the rest of his career but I am extremely confident that he'll be one of the best ten players in the league for the next few seasons and knowing Dame his descension from greatness will be very gradual after that.
I don't think for a second that this extension was a reward for the past. I think it's a projection of value in the future. Time will tell if that projection is correct but I don't think this is what you think it is. We're paying one of the top ten players (probably higher) in the league like he's a top ten player and that's all there is to it. I think we're locking him up for the period of time that we are because we think he'll be worth what we're paying him through the lifetime of the contract.
Curry is better than Dame. There is no conversation to be had there. No matter who is next to Dame and who isn't. Dame is still top 75 of all time. He is just closer to 75 than to top 10 like Curry.
Ok. Just disagree. All the awards and votes are in the past. Why supermax a guy who has gone to the WCF once. Blame the teammates and coaches - that’s fine. Well he still doesn’t have the teammates and coaches….so….maybe he’s the next Tom Brady and plays till hes 40, I hope so. Again. He’s a great player.
I might listen in just because I like Lillard. He hold nothing back on the podium. I still hate the signing and think we should move on.
