How? Specifically, what harm would come in some future transaction as a result of playing hardball? I don't see it. Nearly all of the talent that comes to Portland happens by draft or trade. How does ignoring Dame's whims impact a draft or trade?
What's best for the team is sending assets to a team to bring in help like Joe said he would. Joe's making this toxic now. Dame earned my respect as a fan. Joe is a Jive Ass Mother Fucker. He ain't done shit , but show broken promises for tanking. All those moves were supposed to be for flexibility to add to the team. The youngsters may be special, maybe. But Joe is making Portland less of a destination by playing hardball here. It's already tough enough to get free agents to Portland without overpaying first. And making your best player, who has given his all to this franchise , look like the bad guy, won't do Portland any favors going forward.
Not sure if this has been addressed elsewhere, but I gotta ask. So my son is under the impression that Dame gave us an Ultimatum to make a big splash by the first day of free agency. That doesn't make much sense to me as if he wanted us to make a splash, then he would need to wait until after FA dust settled and us to make moves during that time period. It sure seems like Dame waited until the ink dried on his buddy's Albatross contract (w/o Dame loyalty premium it's definitely worse than I originally thought) and then he demands a trade. That leaves me feeling not particularly happy towards Dame and it really undercuts his position.
No, Cronin shouldn't "just trade the guy." Cronin should make the trade when the return gets in the ballpark of Dame's value, and he gets pieces that will help the team.
Less of a destination? Scoot's probably thinking, OK, you're going to disrespect my talent and not play with me, don't let the door hit your arse on the way out.
I was responding to a post that said Cronin should just sit Dame for the next year. I don't think Joe should even be in a rush, it's the second day of July and Joe should feel pretty good about being able to have time between now and training camp to get the best deal from the best place around the league but it would seriously be stupid to have Dame sit out any games and let this situation get that toxic. Having Dame sit out a whole season would be about the dumbest possible thing a GM could do since Dame isn't young.
I'm confused. If we give in to dame, were weak. If we don't, were assholes? But for you it's opposite? That hurts my brain. In no world should we ever cater to dame here. If we do, we fuck up our chances in the future. If he wants out, we oblige him, but not at the detriment of our team for half a decade or longer. That's just really stupid business. Dame said his peace. Now, Joe and company make the decisions.
It's good business to hold out, but it's really good business to know when you got it. Hold out, and dame will either weaken his demands to specific cities or make it toxic. But that's on him.
It's a viewpoint I wouldn't argue on. The optics are really bad. 12 hours after grant signed dame leaves. Everyone thought Dame was staying. It was a really bad look from that viewpoint for all involved.
What if all the offers are crap? Do you take the best crap offer? Cronin should take a fair deal, and if he can't get a fair deal now, he should hunker down until the trade deadline when some teams might be desperate.
I didn't say Miami, I said don't trade Dame to a crummy team just to get an extra draft pick. Portland already has their draft pick, the most valuable one. Send Lillard to the Warriors or something. Let him hob nob with GP2. Kuminga, Moody, CP3 and a bucket of 1sts
I don't get the hesitation to consider Western Conference team's offers. Dame will be retired in 5 years.
When Coach Billups signed with Portland, he stated he wanted to coach a competitive/playoff team. Didn't want to coach up a bunch of kids in a rebuild. Basically the exact same thing Lillard had been saying before asking for a trade. My point is... will Billups hand in his resignation? Has an NBA coach ever quit midseason, because the GM is just a walking bag of lies?
Yeah? What about Lillard’s obligation to Portland? He signed a contract to play for the Blazers for three more years, and now he’s walking out on that promise. We don’t owe him shit.
