Exclusive Dear Joe

[e_blazer]

Okay, year one, I get it. The roster and salary are totally Olsheyed up. Not much in the way of truly good trade assets. You slashed and burned.

Year two, things just didn’t break your way. A ton of injuries. Nobody was willing to do a deadline deal to truly improve the roster. Despite Dame’s near superhuman efforts, the team couldn’t gain momentum toward a playoff run. Pulling the plug and going full tank mode to improve asset values and maybe hit the Wemby sweepstakes made sense.

While acknowledging the above, let’s face facts that you’ve pissed away two years of Dame’s prime. We don’t get those back. I watched to the painful end as Steph and Co. giggled and pranced their way to a massive blowout over that glorified G League squad you stuck Chauncey with. It was nauseating, to say the least. The shots of you and Bert Kolde laughing it up didn’t put me in a charitable mood.

All of this is to say, this 50 year fan has had enough. You have assets to improve this team dramatically. Don’t fuck it up.

 

[illmatic99]

dear joe,

don't you dare trade shaedon.

sincerely,
oregon

 

[e_blazer]

dear joe,

don't you dare trade shaedon.

sincerely,
oregon

IMHO, that would constitute fucking it up.

 

[Strenuus]

dear joe,

don't you dare trade shaedon.

sincerely,
oregon

Ant is gonna go. There's no other way. If he does trade shaedon the bulk of fans will be livid and at that point I wouldn't blame them a damn bit.

 

[LayneStaley]

I wonder what Ant/Nurk/4th or 5th overall pick plus future 1s would get? I’m assuming the Knicks pick goes to Chi to free them up. Would a Jaylen Brown/Robert Williams for Ant/Nurk/Picks work?

Dame
Sharpe
Brown
Grant
Williams

Is that a top 5-6 squad?

 

[MickZagger]

I wonder what Ant/Nurk/4th or 5th overall pick plus future 1s would get? I’m assuming the Knicks pick goes to Chi to free them up. Would a Jaylen Brown/Robert Williams for Ant/Nurk/Picks work?

Dame
Sharpe
Brown
Grant
Williams

Is that a top 5-6 squad?

That’s a significant upgrade. But I only see it happening if the Celtics decide to rebuild. And I don’t see that being the case. They give up the 2 best players in the trade and the only difference being the picks they receive.

 

[crandc]

I did not enjoy watching my favorite team publicly humiliated over and over.

 

[LayneStaley]

That’s a significant upgrade. But I only see it happening if the Celtics decide to rebuild. And I don’t see that being the case. They give up the 2 best players in the trade and the only difference being the picks they receive.

I guess I’m assuming we land number 2 overall and they can team up Tatum with Scoot.

 

[Strenuus]

I wonder what Ant/Nurk/4th or 5th overall pick plus future 1s would get? I’m assuming the Knicks pick goes to Chi to free them up. Would a Jaylen Brown/Robert Williams for Ant/Nurk/Picks work?

Dame
Sharpe
Brown
Grant
Williams

Is that a top 5-6 squad?

Nah it'd have to be a top 3 pick for brown to start. That package isn't near what I think they'd want. I feel like ant isnt that coveted tbh but that's just gut feel.

 

[Chris Craig]

I wonder what Ant/Nurk/4th or 5th overall pick plus future 1s would get? I’m assuming the Knicks pick goes to Chi to free them up. Would a Jaylen Brown/Robert Williams for Ant/Nurk/Picks work?

Dame
Sharpe
Brown
Grant
Williams

Is that a top 5-6 squad?

I just don't see Boston doing that. Maybe if it was the 1st pick this year. That's the only way they would give up Brown. And you might as well just keep Wemby.

 

[Ed O]

Dear Joe,

Jason Quick claimed in his recent article on The Athletic that, "Lillard is part of the three-headed braintrust that makes the top basketball-related decisions for the Blazers, and Cronin and Billups on Sunday were aligned with the thinking of their franchise player."

Is this true? If so, why? When has a first-time GM, first-time coach, and ESPECIALLY a player been able to put together a team that can compete? If so, when did Dame ascend to that role? Did it correspond with the Blazers' inability to make the playoffs?

This team is no closer to winning now than it was when you took over, and you have spent big money on retaining Nurk, Simons, and Dame. You have given up future assets to get a guy that Dame thought would be a difference maker. Billups claims that, “We’ve done the tweak thing. A few times. We’ve got to be more aggressive than that. If we want to actually do right by the best player in the history of the organization, we have to be aggressive.” Why is "doing right" by Dame a priority for the organization when it hasn't, to date, resulted in teams that can even finish the season without tanking to escape mediocrity?

What has to happen for the team to finally stop grasping at straws, giving up future picks, and re-signing our own free agents? How many years do we have to suck? Is two enough? Three? Five? Until Dame retires? Until you get fired?

This was an uninspired season filled with injuries and very few promising things moving forward. Dame was awesome but the only other bright spots were (a) the addition of Sharpe, and (b) the potential of adding another quality lottery pick... but now Dame is saying he's, "I’m just not interested in that [drafting another young player]. That’s not a secret." Why should the Blazers fans be interested in a franchise that would be content with doing more of the same when it's so painfully obvious it will end with the same sad results?

Ed O.

 

[Samuel]

It was weird watching succession tonight and then remembering that Bert Kolde, the big string-puller, has the quality of being the #1 hanger-on er of all time.

Can we please get a proper owner in place? Even if Cronin is an average GM the combo of kolde and jody and the Vulcan lawyers is an awful combination.

add in two newbies in cronin and Chauncey, and dame who is absolutely going to publicly angle for equity in the team. What a mess.

that warriors game was an insult to every blazers fan who paid money to watch.

 

[crandc]

The team regressed after last season. Last year with injuries and first year coach they were bad. This year Dame healthy, added Grant. Good start. Every team hits a rough patch during a long season but the Blazers, instead of coming back, collapsed.

Warriors had a worse record than Portland but focused on improving and started to win. Avoided play in. Only a 6 seed but anything can happen.

Helps to have a coach who knows his ass from a hole in the wall.

 

[TBpup]

I did not enjoy watching my favorite team publicly humiliated over and over.

I didn't enjoy it last year either, but really enjoyed Sharpe as the result of that. Hopefully this year, we can do even better to salve the disaster that was the season.

 

[HailBlazers]

that warriors game was an insult to every blazers fan who paid money to watch.

sold mine to a warriors fan for good money. Props to anyone that could stomach that.

 

[Samuel]

sold mine to a warriors fan for good money. Props to anyone that could stomach that.

I watched the first half and still have an awful taste in my mouth.

 

[crandc]

I was planting. When I came inside the Blazers were 40 points down. Watched PBS documentary on cats.

 

[TBpup]

I was planting. When I came inside the Blazers were 40 points down. Watched PBS documentary on cats.

Those are fightin' words to @SlyPokerDog

 

[wizenheimer]

Dear Joe:

hey there, just wanted to let you know I'm as big a Dame fan as anybody. I really don't want him traded. But if Dame is pushing you into making bets you don't have the cards for, and threatening to demand a trade if you don't make those bets, then the only bluff you should call is Dame's. You're the GM; he isn't. You've already executed a trade that Dame obviously wanted when you landed Grant. And it looks like you'll probably over-pay to keep him. But I'd suggest you'd look at Portland's record when Dame & Grant played, especially when they played with Ant & Nurk. It wasn't that good was it?

hey look, I know you probably feel a little guilty about the Blazers wasting Dame's prime years with dysfunctional rosters plodding along on a jerky treadmill. You were the assistant GM for all that time...right? But don't let that guilt drive you into desperation moves that don't accomplish any more than adding Grant did

and yeah, I know you were dealt really shitty cards when you sat down in the GM's chair. And I'm pretty sure you've had the Vulcans looking over your shoulder with calculators in their hands. So I don't blame you, at all, for last season's trade deadline. You had to dismantle that crappy team and the movable players didn't have a lot of value. I don't believe you could have done much better than you did

but Joe, sorry man....you fucked up last off-season. You significantly overpaid last summer's market when you re-signed Ant & Nurk. And after explicitly saying the Blazers needed to get a lot bigger & longer, you hard-capped the team to sign an injured-and-headed-for-surgery 6'2 guard. WTF man? Was that the best you could do?

so yeah, it sure looks like it's shit-or-vacate-the-pot time. No more excuses after wasting last summer. You don't have to build a contender. You can even go for a rebuild no matter what Dame says or wants, if that's the best alternative. But for fucksakes it's sure the time to end the decade of idiotic fence-straddling that happened under Olshey. Pick a fucking lane and drive smart when you do. If Dame is unhappy and asks to be traded, let him know that you have to look for the best deal possible and won't be doing him any more favors after trading for Grant and giving him that extension. He might be traded from a non-contender to a non-contender. And before you commit to trading this year's first, think about Sharpe and what his upside means to a whole lot of Blazer fans. Sure looks like the Blazers can add another guy with massive upside, like Sharpe, and that would quite possibly be better than adding another player like Grant, at the expense of the pick

so good luck Joe, and the main thing is: don't fuck things up worse than they are

your friend, wizenheimer

 

[BigGameDamian]

I remember when we signed Nurkic to his contract people were talking about how good of a a deal it was for the Blazers and how tradable it would be. Now people at least in this forum talk like it’s just an awful contract and no one wants to take it.

 

[wizenheimer]

I remember when we signed Nurkic to his contract people were talking about how good of a a deal it was for the Blazers and how tradable it would be. Now people at least in this forum talk like it’s just an awful contract and no one wants to take it.

as soon as it was announced I said it was a significant overpay. In fact, before Nurk was re-signed I said the Blazers should not pay more than what he made on his previous deal which was 12.5M/year, IIRC. And I wasn't alone in that

simply put, Nurkic was 27, had just completed his 8th season, and was still wildly inconsistent with very poor touch around the rim, still making the same mistakes, and had an extensive injury history. And it appeared he was having trouble regaining the athleticism he had before his major injury

at times, he can be dominant in the paint, but he never sustains that dominance and is prone to extended periods of low impact basketball

 

[Phatguysrule]

Dear Joe:

hey there, just wanted to let you know I'm as big a Dame fan as anybody. I really don't want him traded. But if Dame is pushing you into making bets you don't have the cards for, and threatening to demand a trade if you don't make those bets, then the only bluff you should call is Dame's. You're the GM; he isn't. You've already executed a trade that Dame obviously wanted when you landed Grant. And it looks like you'll probably over-pay to keep him. But I'd suggest you'd look at Portland's record when Dame & Grant played, especially when they played with Ant & Nurk. It wasn't that good was it?

hey look, I know you probably feel a little guilty about the Blazers wasting Dame's prime years with dysfunctional rosters plodding along on a jerky treadmill. You were the assistant GM for all that time...right? But don't let that guilt drive you into desperation moves that don't accomplish any more than adding Grant did

and yeah, I know you were dealt really shitty cards when you sat down in the GM's chair. And I'm pretty sure you've had the Vulcans looking over your shoulder with calculators in their hands. So I don't blame you, at all, for last season's trade deadline. You had to dismantle that crappy team and the movable players didn't have a lot of value. I don't believe you could have done much better than you did

but Joe, sorry man....you fucked up last off-season. You significantly overpaid last summer's market when you re-signed Ant & Nurk. And after explicitly saying the Blazers needed to get a lot bigger & longer, you hard-capped the team to sign an injured-and-headed-for-surgery 6'2 guard. WTF man? Was that the best you could do?

so yeah, it sure looks like it's shit-or-vacate-the-pot time. No more excuses after wasting last summer. You don't have to build a contender. You can even go for a rebuild no matter what Dame says or wants, if that's the best alternative. But for fucksakes it's sure the time to end the decade of idiotic fence-straddling that happened under Olshey. Pick a fucking lane and drive smart when you do. If Dame is unhappy and asks to be traded, let him know that you have to look for the best deal possible and won't be doing him any more favors after trading for Grant and giving him that extension. He might be traded from a non-contender to a non-contender. And before you commit to trading this year's first, think about Sharpe and what his upside means to a whole lot of Blazer fans. Sure looks like the Blazers can add another guy with massive upside, like Sharpe, and that would quite possibly be better than adding another player like Grant, at the expense of the pick

so good luck Joe, and the main thing is: don't fuck things up worse than they are

your friend, wizenheimer

Excellent post.

 

[riverman]

Rumor mill says 2 needle movers who want to play with Dame are gettable, 3 others who want to play in Portland aren't gettable...and yes....that rumor mill is Dan Marang's (I know a guy who knows a guy and I"ve talked to 17 NBA GMs so far) so ...grain of salt...Dame hinted at 2 stars who want to play here...we'll see. I'm cheering for Joe to build a 10 player competitive roster with guys like Mays, Watford and Eubanks as insurance on the bench. This team hasn't had a core identity for at least 4 seasons and I hope Nas, Ant, Keon and Butler are gone...Hayes is way better than Keon and Knox is better than Nas in my view.

 

[Hoopguru]

dear joe,

don't you dare trade shaedon.

sincerely,
oregon

Dear Joe, if it takes including Shae for Siakam do it, try and get another vet along with him.
If it takes Shae to get Bridges do it.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Dear Joe, if it takes including Shae for Siakam do it, try and get another vet along with him.
If it takes Shae to get Bridges do it.

No. And no.

Shaedon goes nowhere.

 

[illmatic99]

No. And no.

Shaedon goes nowhere.

Im only putting Shaedon in a trade for a definitive top 10 guy younger than 30. Thats it.

 

[THE HCP]

Dear Joe,

Jason Quick claimed in his recent article on The Athletic that, "Lillard is part of the three-headed braintrust that makes the top basketball-related decisions for the Blazers, and Cronin and Billups on Sunday were aligned with the thinking of their franchise player."

Is this true? If so, why? When has a first-time GM, first-time coach, and ESPECIALLY a player been able to put together a team that can compete? If so, when did Dame ascend to that role? Did it correspond with the Blazers' inability to make the playoffs?

This team is no closer to winning now than it was when you took over, and you have spent big money on retaining Nurk, Simons, and Dame. You have given up future assets to get a guy that Dame thought would be a difference maker. Billups claims that, “We’ve done the tweak thing. A few times. We’ve got to be more aggressive than that. If we want to actually do right by the best player in the history of the organization, we have to be aggressive.” Why is "doing right" by Dame a priority for the organization when it hasn't, to date, resulted in teams that can even finish the season without tanking to escape mediocrity?

What has to happen for the team to finally stop grasping at straws, giving up future picks, and re-signing our own free agents? How many years do we have to suck? Is two enough? Three? Five? Until Dame retires? Until you get fired?

This was an uninspired season filled with injuries and very few promising things moving forward. Dame was awesome but the only other bright spots were (a) the addition of Sharpe, and (b) the potential of adding another quality lottery pick... but now Dame is saying he's, "I’m just not interested in that [drafting another young player]. That’s not a secret." Why should the Blazers fans be interested in a franchise that would be content with doing more of the same when it's so painfully obvious it will end with the same sad results?

Ed O.

You absolutely lost me at “Jason Quick claimed”

 

[Hoopguru]

No. And no.

Shaedon goes nowhere.

Sure he can for the right package. Its the NBA!

 

[BigGameDamian]

Rumor mill says 2 needle movers who want to play with Dame are gettable, 3 others who want to play in Portland aren't gettable...and yes....that rumor mill is Dan Marang's (I know a guy who knows a guy and I"ve talked to 17 NBA GMs so far) so ...grain of salt...Dame hinted at 2 stars who want to play here...we'll see. I'm cheering for Joe to build a 10 player competitive roster with guys like Mays, Watford and Eubanks as insurance on the bench. This team hasn't had a core identity for at least 4 seasons and I hope Nas, Ant, Keon and Butler are gone...Hayes is way better than Keon and Knox is better than Nas in my view.

It’s always shocking when you read that 2 needle movers actually want to come play in Portland? I wonder they are?

 

[Hoopguru]

Hey Joe where you goin .....................................?