Dame the Villain / Stop giving (too much) power to the players

Was this one of Dames contingencies?

 

100% agree with Jason

https://www.blazersedge.com/2023/6/...t=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

 

It seems pretty clear to me that there are three untouchables on the team right now: Dame, Scoot, and Sharpe*. Everyone else is available. I'm pretty sure Dame understands that as well.

*By "untouchable", there are obvious exceptions (Giannis, Embiid, Wemby, etc.), so please don't nitpick.

 

As an avid bird enthusiast, my time is predominantly spent tending to these beautiful creatures and creating a nurturing environment for them.

Birds bring me immense joy, and I find great fulfillment in providing them with the care, attention, and respect they deserve. Whether it involves ensuring their habitats are well-maintained, supplying them with nutritious food, or simply observing their natural behaviors, my commitment to these feathered friends occupies much of my waking hours.

 

Nice. I like Blue Jays, Cardinals, and all the little purdy birds in the world. On top of that, some in here who like to belittle Dame's commitment and contribution to the team tend to make me an Angry Bird. For which i want to give them, the proverbial Bird.

 

I know, the NBA is a player's league, but we need more specific weight as a franchise

We are not New York or L.A., i get it, but not everybody should be entitled to put himself ahead of the franchise

as good as Lillard is, he's not an MVP caliber player, he's not a first option on a championship team, he's not LeBron James, he shouldn't be able to keep hostage the franchise mediatically and non

even worse, players like NURKIC who is absolutely NOTHING shouldn't be able to post on twitter messages like "The Blazers must deliver" or posting an hourglass as an emoticon as a clear reference to our situation

We are the Portland Trail Blazers, our owner recently refused more than 2 bilion to sell the franchise, nobody should be entitled to put himself ahead the franchise even if not explicity

I would only grant that to a few players, the LeBron or the Curry of the situation, who delivered times and times again when the game really matters

As long as the NBA will be a democratic league in which the Wembanyama, Miller or Henderson of this world can go to San Antonio, Charlotte and Portland and not New York/L.A. we must keep our back straight and stop being hostage of the players

Lillard and Nurkic are not sure about our project? this is the door...

We have Scoot/Sharpe who are 10+ years younger

 

cool

 

Nurk can post whatever the fuck he wants the team doesn't give a shit about his opinion. They can't give the dude away.

Dame on the other hand is a guy who has been on an all nba team seven times but has only played with one other guy that's been on that level. Dame hasn't had the teams that LeBron has and you're right he's not as good as LeBron but he's fucking great. He's the team's all time leader in scoring and like it or not he is a superstar and in this league if a superstar says that they want traded the team obliges because that is the precedent that has been set and if you go against a precedent that gives superstars more... whether it's more power or freedom, then you won't get or keep superstars.

It is a player's league but more so it is a superstar driven league and that's why they are catered to and that's why we need to cater to Dame. Shit the dude is only asking for the team to be more competitive while he's still at his most competitive. It's not an unreasonable ask and for all we know he hasn't even given a hard ultimatum just the request for the roster to get better around him.

 

Mmm, wut?

 

I think Lillard has the acceptable amount of power.

He can request the Blazers to do any and all sorts of moves. But the Blazers can pick his good ideas and go with them, or disregard his bad ideas and do whatever they think instead is best.

Lillard has been very well spoken and a great player for many years here. The best Blazer in franchise history to most fans. So if he wants to give an opinion he's free to do it. Doesn't mean the team has to follow it or that he's inherently right.

Now I do think the Blazers should consider what he says. But they should feel free to do or not do any of those actions as they see fit. Apparently that is what the team is doing.

This playing out so publicly does make for a very awkward situation. I personally would have preferred if Dame just had these discussions privately with Cronin and either stayed or if it ever came to it pushes to get traded. I don't see the need to have this play out so publicly. But that's his choice and he's free to go about it.

I'll be glad when this situation is hopefully resolved and the team can go forward with him or without him.

 

Playing 10+ years with a franchise doesn't make you the best player of that franchise, 1977 season of Walton means more to the franchise that 10+ years of Lillard

thanks god there's Jason Quick

 

I agree on the Nurkic post, did he really said "the Blazers must deliver"? Who the fuck is he to demand anything? He should be happy everyday that he's still here and got that stupid contract extension. He's always injured, can't make a fucking layup, is afraid to dunk, makes stupid fouls and stupid plays every game, doesn't bring the energy, is unplayable in crunch time. Hasn't won a single playoff series in his career. I could go on and on. He speaks like he's a star or something. Take a seat clown and shut up

 

So Bill Walton has given more of himself to this franchise than Dame? Bill Walton has got more butts in seats than Dame? Walton played four seasons for out team and undoubtedly played at the highest level a Blazer has ever played at and due to that and him having a helluva team around him we have our only championship and Walton was the only MVP in team history.

Again though he had a great team around him constructed in a way where they were more than the sum of their parts... that's not a luxury Dame has had. Dame has given this team 7 all nba seasons that's more than what Walton did. Bill Walton had the greatest short stretch in Blazers history but Dame is the best Blazer ever. So I think ten years of greatness with one year that was basically lost to injury is more valuable than 3 years of greatness in a four year run... even if two of those years were the best in team history.