They just mirror that shitty fanbase. They think they are doing us a favor by taking on old man Lillard and his massive contract.
Since this franchise fucked up and didn’t trade Dame two years ago, getting multiple firsts and a couple of young guys with promise is most likely the return
(this didn't post earlier and is probably aged horribly... I’m sure it’s been said somewhere, but the 3 or 4 team potential is stacking up nicely if everyone goes down that route. Dame to BOS Jaylen to anywhere with young guys and picks (OKC, UTH, SAS, ORL, DET?) POR gets young defensive minded bigs and firsts. And maybe a bad contract (Simmons?) if there are more younguns and firsts in the trade. no idea about Brown’s market, but I have to believe it’s higher than Herro. The meta point I'm most interested in is "who's doing the calling trying to make this work? Is it Cronin? Riley? Goodwin?" I don't imagine Cronin's got a deep bench of confidantes and dudes willing to play a little ball. Riley is ruthless. Agents should be trying to support this, but he also doesn't want Dame's new team to be gutted. And it's not like he's working the background to hook up some of his other clients...GP2 is his only other active one. Edit: "And do the front offices in UTH, SAS, BKN, etc just try to insert themselves into the trade, or are the main players like Cronin/Riley/etc roping them in?" In the past I've advocated for NO (though he rarely did anything logical) to try to get pieces in that get help around the margins, exceptions, 2nds, lotto ticket players, etc. I don't know how the mechanics go anymore.
Yes. You got it. Jaylen Brown to Houston where he wants to go. Two out of Amen Thompson, Tari Eason and Jabari Smith come here in addition to 1st round picks. Too bad Joe will get some late 1st round prospects instead.
I'd absolutely take him with a sweetener. I still think if he has any interest in continuing to play in the NBA, the Blazers would be the ideal situation for that, especially in a full or almost full rebuild. He'll be out of the spotlight playing for a coach who knows something about early-career adversity. The Blazers need some salary to reach the cap floor, and Simmons, if even somewhat motivated, can impact a team in several ways even without shooting well.