The convo won't be quick. He is on vacay. Wait til he comes here, have an unrushed discussion with Joe about what happened and what the plan is, face to face. You don't do that over the phone while on vacation
Good grief, why is it weird that you're pitching a fit about Dame's career window being wasted years after the fact? Try putting your self in current management's shoes. They inherited a roster void of much talent aside from their aging superstar. They told Dame they'd explore options to upgrade the roster. They did. As predicted by many here, their trade options were underwhelming reflecting a lack of assets and maybe a lack of valuable assets of others on the block as evidenced by no needle movers being traded except for Beal who doesn't fit here. It takes two to tango and no one offered them the moon for their peanuts. I'm sure there were some options, but not enough to be legit contenders so they gathered what talent they could via the draft. No surprise at all. Second, it's on the individual fan if they believe whatever smoke is coming out of a GM's mouth as the unvarnished truth. Their job isn't to keep you and the world in the loop telegraphing their course of action. If they want to stay employed, first and foremost their job is to win and they've a limited window to make that happen. They have to react to what happens in the moment/whats available, which apparently wasn't much. If they'd sold out for mediocre vet options which they deemed it weren't enough to contend with, soon enough the team will suck again and they'll be out of work. Misled Dame? Oh boo hoo, they explored then weighed the options and choose accordingly. They can't force another team to give up it's assets for pennies on the dollar. And of course they aren't going to tell the team's most popular player they're going to trade him as they obviously don't want that to happen... that would be his choice given the circumstances that unfolded. I fully understand why you're upset that your pie in the sky dreams didn't come true, but welcome to reality. STOMP
Bridges is in his mid 20s and had his best year yet last season, Cam Johnson same, DFS is 30 and just a dog, Royce O'Neal also 30 and a dog, Nurk is Nurk, Seth has the same window as Dame, Patty is getting older. Bridges, Johnson, DFS and Nurk are better than what we are putting around him right now and none of them is getting worse any time soon, I think Royce O'Neal should be good at what he's good at for several more years. It all comes down to Ben. If Ben can get back to being good, not even great like he was but just defend every position, make his open layups and make the passes he can make, this is a much better squad for Dame than we are. Also, it's New York City. The TPMLE is going to get a really good player in NYC, the vet min will get great bench guys. If Dame wants to stay, I'll be happy because I never want him to leave but I'll be a little conflicted because I don't think our front office is coming through for him.
I feel like Dame is back. I think he went to France without the fam and was asking his baby girl on IG today if she missed him and I think they were here but I could be wrong.
smh... what dilutional nonsense Obviously it's all your fault they suck today because you didn't hope hard enough STOMP
Ah yes, I forgot that this is how you respond to everything. Inactivity can always be excused with "the offers weren't good enough". Always. Bottom line is that Dame was expecting Cronin to come through with something and he hasn't. What Cronin told fans was exactly what Dame said he wanted, which was more size and a more veteran-laden, experienced team. Then he went and drafted 3 guys and said "these aren't normal young guys" and doubled back on his comments on size (for the 2nd time in his tenure). But his words mean nothing I guess. This summer was about executing a wim-now move for Dame. He drafted a 19 year old point guard with an asset that should've had a lot of trade value while saying he wants nothing more than to build around Dame. You say it takes two to tango but act like he has absolutely no part in procuring the deals on the table. Basically he has to be handed a good deal or else there's nothing he can do. Their first job is to win? Well, all they have to show for the past two years are Scoot and Sharpe, assets they got from being quite bad at winning, and tbeyve potentially lossed Dame who will get traded for scraps. That also makes the Grant acquisition pointless and the loss of an asset that they could've used to get Jalen Duren. But imagine how much worse things would be if they were better at their job and didn't get those high picks. My "pie in the sky dreams" were also Dames and supposedly Joe's. I don't think it's crazy that a guy who'd supposedly go #1 in a lot of drafts and a 23-yeard-old coming of a 20ppg season could fetch a star. But if you think Cronin is completely helpless, then I get it.
17-18 Celtics Lost to Cavs in Game 7 of ECF Tatum 19 Brown 21 Smart 23 Irving 25 *Hayward 27 *injured first game, never played rest of season Blazers recipe for suckcess in 23-24: Scoot has ROTY-level season Dame has All NBA season Shae has MIP-level season Jerami returns w/o overpay Cronin turns Ant/Nas picks -> Bridges/OG Cronin upgrades C and/or backup C Tisse resigns on a team-friendly deal Kris Murray gives solid bench minutes Watford continues to provide solid play (injury coverage)
Lots of snippets of this coming out now as a result of the new CBA. It is curious how so much value is being put on draft picks now. Teams now covet the 4-5 years of control at a reduced rate on players now. Second rounders are now big currency in trades as well. Has anyone put thought into the new CBA might even the playing field for small market teams now? It seems, as mentioned, that with free agency becoming useless that eliminates the large market teams biggest advantage, locale. Now, teams covet manageable contracts that can be easily traded. Teams do not care where the contracts go, just that they are gone. This also opens up a whole new level of importance to having trade exceptions and cap room. Cap room for absorbing players, not necessarily for poaching a free agent, instead trading for players. I foresee a lot of multi team trades from the new CBA because these trades will be much more complicated and intricate. Has Cronin caught a glimpse of the new landscape after trying to make deals and being unsuccessful? Is he adjusting to the new realities of player acquisition in the NBA? I hope so. It seems the new CBA is forcing teams to build from the draft, eliminating super teams from player movement, emphasizing better talent evaluation in the draft. Also, understanding how the sign and trade works in the new CBA will be critical. Just a few thoughts.
I'm sure it's out there, but I've yet to see the realistic trade that sent out th #3+ enough salary to make it work (Ant +) and future picks because no one was biting on just #3/Ant and wanted Sharpe as well.....what were we going to get that would legitimately make us a contender, and how pissed would so many fans have been when we gave up that kind of youth/future haul for something that very likely wouldn't make us even a HCA team? I get Joe didn't make any trade, but he is not in a position of leverage, in large part to just where the franchise is with Dame, his age, and the lack of tradeable contracts there are.
Also just want to point out that while Dame keeps saying he wants to be here, he keeps stabbing Joe in the back by making public comments like “I don’t want to play with another 19 year old rookie.” That immediately hurt our leverage in trades. It signaled to other teams that we were in a dame-or-the-pick situation so of course they’re gonna lowball. And the most absurd part about it is that fans WANTED us to take those lowball offers. It was a no win situation for Joe.
Dame talking completely hamstrung any leverage Joe might have had in trade negotiations. This is fact.
lol, hey it's holier then thou back to look down on me again. I regularly have tame exchanges with posters, but your stance here is ridiculous on it's face. I expect GMs to blow smoke often to keep opportunities open and massage egos. It doesn't bother me at all when they paint pretty pictures of for those they deal with (players, media, fans) as that is part of the job. I also don't kid myself that I'm in the loop on whats said in conversations. I believe a GM's actions not words especially if they have good reason to fudge which is usually. It's not personal, it's business oh please. They are not close. The roster sucks. What great transforming deal did they leave on the table? Most deals that go down fans never catch a wiff of prior yet you're asserting you know what they did and didn't do behind the scenes. You are crying about a pipedream not happening as if thats his fault and not yours for believing in fantasies... if only he'd have wanted it more. Despite liking Grant as a player, I'm very much on record for not wanting to part with the Bucks 1st for him and I really wanted Duren. Thats what I was advocating for last summer but they were trying to keep options open and please Dame and see if they could pull off a miracle. It didn't happen & here we are. yes they've a limited window to put together a winner or it will be on to the next front office group. Pursuing short sited folly like you're advocating, is a sure way to never working as a GM again. I'm sure Neil would have kept digging that hole throwing good money after bad as Dame's window closes to keep some fans unicorn dreams alive. As it is, management assessed their choices and there was no good short term option to transform into contending which is what many here have been saying for months. Building through the draft isn't a sure path to success either, but at least (from a GM's perspective) they should get a longer crack at the job as they can sell hope as they build. That was always the prudent path this offseason for them and the franchise. reality can be hard, especially if you've deluded yourself into believing in pretend time fantasies. So sorry that I don't pity the manufactured hysteria. Unless this hypothetical star they were to land was Jokic, Embiid or Giannis, Portland was not contending. Adding a star like Brown or Siakam still leaves them well on the outside looking in at the real teams and with no future. Again, the wasting of Dame's time was committed many seasons ago with umpteen poor personnel moves. Today they're dealing with whats what and not we wish for. STOMP
might be because the teams that Portland was trying to trade with, Brooklyn, Boston, LAC were all in a win-now mode too. Toronto is just in a Masai is an asshole mode. honestly, I don't think Portland would have received better offers for the 3rd pick if Dame had kept his mouth shut. As soon as Portland started to shop that pick, every front office they talked to would know why Portland was shopping that pick. It might have made a little difference but I don't think it would have been enough I think Cronin/Schmitz really value draft picks and so far their performance in drafts make it obvious why that is
You’re right that teams would know that we preferred to deal the pick, but it’s a world of difference when your superstar player comes out and says he has no appetite to have another 19 year old rookie and that isn’t his path. That gives the impression that we HAD to trade the pick instead of maybe preferring to trade it.
This interview is from three months ago, but he touches on that very topic. It's a long one, but one of the best interviews I've ever seen with Lillard.
The comparison I use (and it's probably not a good one given how their season turned out and that he's no longer with the team) is Chris Paul on the Phoenix Suns.
