If it basically comes to watching a team with Shaedon or watching a team with Dame, I already made my decision last year. I tuned in to watch Shaedon.
As you said--Dame earned his money. And the Blazers are paying him his money. And everybody is and has been fulfilling their responsibilities and obligations. The thing is, Cronin has a responsibility to do right by Dame, and the fans, and the team, and the ownership. There are multiple competing and sometimes contradictory interests that Cronin has to serve. What might have been "best" for Dame may not have been best for the franchise, and vice-versa. I don't fault him for not taking a lesser deal in order to placate his star. If there were a deal available that would have returned a legit star to Portland without hamstringing the organization, then I agree that Cronin should have consummated said trade. But from all reports, it doesn't sound like such a deal existed. Why should we denigrate Cronin for not harming the franchise? At the same time, I don't really blame Dame for asking out. I wish he wanted to stay, but what's done is done. If Dame('s agent) weren't trying to strongarm the franchise into making a move that seemed detrimental long-term, I'm sure there would be a lot less vitriol being sent his way.
So, you're okay with us taking back what everyone describes as a ridiculously poor return to get Dame to Miami? As for me, I like Dame. I would be fine with him getting to a place he wants to be, but I'm a Blazer fan first. I am not willing to move Dame at the expense of such a small return that it would risk our rebuilding with Scoot and Sharpe. I'm not calling you out, I'm just looking for clarity. Is that a tradeoff you're willing to make, or do you see something like Herro, Robinson, and two firsts in 2028 and 2030 being sufficient?
I think that will be the case. Dame will go in as a member of the team to which he is traded. He seems okay with burning down eleven years of goodwill. I don't get it.
That's exactly right. It sucks, but I actually completely sympathize with Dame for wanting a change of scenery. What I cannot accept is him acting like a free agent. To me, that is unforgivable.
This take lacks nuance, you can still be a fan of Dame and a bigger fan of the team. You can obviously dislike the way that Joe handled things with Dame and still be a huge fan of the team. You can even understand Dame wanting to fuck Joe over and still be a huge fan of the team. This shit isn't binary.
Yeah, I totally get Dame wanting a chance to win and have been lobbying for trading Dame and rebuilding for a yr or more, and once again it's the HOW of how he and his team are going about it.
I think it stands a real likelihood of occurring. Cronin, for his own career, cannot accept pennies on the dollar. All of this public posturing from Dame's side paints him into a corner. It doesn't make him more likely to cave, it makes him less. Dame's camp has eliminated the win/win. Now, one side has to lose. And he's the one who signed the contract and is bound for the next 3-4 years.
The funniest part about some people in here taking Joe's side is that they completely ignore that yesterday when Woj was asked if he could see Dame returning Woj said he couldn't because neither side is interested in that. If Joe didn't want Dame out why wouldn't he want Dame to change his mind? And Woj is carrying Joe's water.
Actually, I am hoping that Scoot's connection with Shaedon will be more interesting to watch than Dame's.
I disagree. I think backchannel communication needs to be made between the two parties to lower the temperature. Dame has to see he's destroying his legacy at Bud Light speed with his demand. However, if that won't happen, then I think Cronin's approach has been fine. Don't say much publicly, have a tinge of regret in your tone, say he would love to send Dame exactly where he wants to go, but his loyalty has to be to the Blazers first.
I got roasted for insinuating that Dame knew what he was doing when he played the Will Smith tune. I supported Dame for a long time and went to bat for him on here. Even the Homer'est of Dame Homers can see the forest through the trees at this point. He doesn't give two shits about us or Portland at this point
I'm not pissed at Dame for trying to get where he wants. I want Joe to make the best trade possible. I'd like for it to be to a team where Dame can win because I'm still a Dame fan but I don't give a damn if it's to the Heat. Dame should try to get himself to the best situation possible. We should not care about accommodating him. I'm not mad at Joe for how he is handling things now and I'm not mad at Dame either even though they're now pitted against each other. I am still pretty pissed that Joe in two drafts and one trade deadline where he said he was going to push all of his chips in to build a win now team around Dame, didn't pull of shit besides Jerami. Not one all star with all of the draft capital that Joe himself said he could easily have regained access to. Joe himself said he was so dedicated to building around Dame that he would overpay to get the right guys around him. Joe did the opposite. But that's in the past now. I just hope Joe doesn't fuck this up and again I think Dame is doing what's in his best interests and after what I just described, I don't blame him.
Can't you see how you're being anchored by Riley? Jovic and Jaquez? Those are role players at best. Robinson has one of the worst contracts in the League. Lowry doesn't help us. You don't trade one of the best players in the league for a return that doesn't even net you a starting player. In fact, you don't trade Dame unless you get an anchor/start.
I am on neither side. This is a business worth hundreds of millions of dollars in a battle with a business worth billions, but neither have any interests other than their own. Why do I give a fuck what corporations do to each other? I only care about the product I consume not going down in quality. I don't give a fuck about honest business dealings; we know that myth has never actually been a thing with big companies.
Ok. People love to talk about this. Who was available? What did we pass on? Every single report I have heard was that we were rebuffed, OR we were lowballed.
Right. For those few people that want the team to make a bad deal with Miami just to make Dame happy, that's some bullshit. Otherwise, seeing both sides doesn't make anyone less of a fan. I get why Dame is doing what he is doing and don't blame him for it and I'm hoping Joe doesn't cave to it one little bit.
