Game Thread 2022-23 Game #40 - BLAZERS VS MAGIC - JANUARY 10, 2023 - TUESDAY - 7:00 PM (PDT)

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Chris Craig, Jan 8, 2023.

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  1. Tince

    Tince Well-Known Member

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    Well... Last year he didn't try to win games, but yes overall, GM's typically try to win games and contend. And I would say that Cronin is more likely to have a roster that wins games with Dame.

    Do we know what ownership and the business side think about trading Dame? Cronin has to answer to them as well.
     
    Tince, Jan 10, 2023
    #361
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  2. MickZagger

    MickZagger Well-Known Member

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    Cronin hasn’t done anything to prove he’s any better
     
    MickZagger, Jan 10, 2023
    #362
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  3. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    Against those two teams after what we just saw... I don't even know what to think. Of course if we're hitting our shots, not making lazy shots and keeping our defensive intensity up without fouling too much... we can beat anyone even though our roster equals less than the sum of its parts.
     
    blazerkor, Jan 10, 2023
    #363
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  4. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    CJ was nowhere close to as good as Ant at 23 and Ant has the advantage of the upside that athleticism gives him.
     
    blazerkor, Jan 10, 2023
    #364
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  5. Tince

    Tince Well-Known Member

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    I'm not sure anyone is focused on it. I made a comment about it, that's it.

    I also made a handful of other points about moments in the game that I wasn't "focused" on or blamed for being the cause of the Blazers lost.
     
    Tince, Jan 10, 2023
    #365
  6. KingSpeed

    KingSpeed Veteran

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    0–3 in blowouts
     
    KingSpeed, Jan 10, 2023
    #366
  7. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    I don't think Dame has that much trade value now, given he's owed like a quarter of a billion bucks. That doesn't mean he can't be traded (we all know corpses like John Wall can be traded while making almost as much! :) ) but that I don't know how Portland gets better by trading Dame.

    I agree that Dame and Simons aren't a good fit in the back court. Unfortunately Cronin gave them both big money in the offseason and I don't know how we get out of it with so many years and salary left on their deals (without dumping them, which makes our team worse without getting much future value other than a slightly better draft pick).

    As for Payton... I don't think he has any trade value at all. Portland overpaid for him in the offseason, for some reason, and Payton is demonstrating the reasons he was almost out of the NBA recently.
     
    Ed O, Jan 10, 2023
    #367
  8. HailBlazers

    HailBlazers RipCity

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    I don't understand. What do you have to lose. A challenge you don't use?
     
    HailBlazers, Jan 10, 2023
    #368
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  9. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    I don't think anything has changed...Portland won't trade Dame unless he asks to be traded. And if that happens that extension Portland gave him will drag down his value. There won't be any godfather package traded for Dame. Likely some bad players on big contract and a couple of middling draft picks

    can't happen till this summer anyway

    and it may becoming apparent that Simons isn't a player you build around, any more than CJ would have been
     
    wizenheimer, Jan 10, 2023
    #369
  10. KingSpeed

    KingSpeed Veteran

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    Our squad is 9th youngest
     
    KingSpeed, Jan 10, 2023
    #370
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  11. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    I think Ant has real trade value. He has upside and his contract isn't even bad given his current production. Don't get me wrong if it was a few million less a year it would be a great contract but it's not too bad that we can't get productive pieces in return for him in a trade.
     
    blazerkor, Jan 10, 2023
    #371
  12. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    That is absolutely true. His job might be to keep fans engaged and to put people in the seats. Dame is a fantastic player and (rightly!) beloved by Portland fans. So he might be doing his job.

    But I don't want to think that the franchise would rather win PR battles than win playoff games, so I'm working and commenting on the assumption that if Cronin doesn't build a winner he'll get fired (like every other GM in the NBA and major pro sports).

    Of course, I would have assumed Portland would have interviewed GM candidates, rather than handing Cronin the job without any track record of success (or being part of a successful franchise), and management proved me wrong there, so who knows? Haha
     
    Ed O, Jan 10, 2023
    #372
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  13. OneSport3

    OneSport3 The Knowledge Hoarder

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    It’s actually the opposite: Portland is the 7th youngest team while Boston is the 7th oldest team.
     
    OneSport3, Jan 10, 2023
    #373
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  14. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    I thought he could be traded six months after his extension which was just passed on the 5th of this month.

    It doesn't matter though because you are right, he's not going anywhere but I do think that Cronin will make moves to try and make this roster more balanced. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
     
    blazerkor, Jan 10, 2023
    #374
  15. Tince

    Tince Well-Known Member

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    I'm willing to give Cronin more than 1.5 season (as I did for Olshey). My concern with the Cronin hire when it happened was that ownership didn't appear to even have a GM search and simply promoted from within on the cheap. At that moment, I set my expectations accordingly.
     
    Tince, Jan 10, 2023
    #375
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  16. KingSpeed

    KingSpeed Veteran

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    Dame to Pels for Ingram and the Lakers pick swap.
     
    KingSpeed, Jan 10, 2023
    #376
  17. Freshtown

    Freshtown Well-Known Member

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    Resigning Simons was still a good idea even if the fit is bad with Dame. He has positive trade value, so you can get something decent for him vs nothing if we didn’t resign him.
     
    Freshtown, Jan 10, 2023
    #377
  18. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    This team is an embarrassment.
     
    Chris Craig, Jan 10, 2023
    #378
  19. Tince

    Tince Well-Known Member

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    Bingo! I just had a post about the Cronin hire right before I read this; and it wasn't trashing him, instead it was questioning the greater motivations of the organizations.
     
    Tince, Jan 10, 2023
    #379
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  20. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    He might. I don't claim to have any inside information.

    But I didn't see (or, rather, read about :) ) teams lining up to give him $25m/year this past offseason, and I don't know what's happened since then that would encourage a team to give up value to get him at that salary.
     
    Ed O, Jan 10, 2023
    #380
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