I didn't hear anything too crazy from the Miami guy. He's right that they don't have a huge incentive to give their best offer right now.
I don't think that's true though. They need the Dame trade to happen so they can potentially finish filling out their roster. We already heard that Dragic wants to go there, but he can't until the Dame situation is resolved. They need this trade to happen so they can start knocking over the other dominoes. If this drags into training camp, that's going to massively limit their options. And it seems like maybe they're quibbling over some fairly minor assets.
I wouldnt use the word "need". I think in an ideal world, for both teams, the transaction would be over so future transactions can be made. If Miami's championship window after a Dame trade was only going to be for one season, then that would elevate the importance of getting it done sooner. In my opinion, Miami is going to have a better shot at winning a title in 24-25 or 25-26 seasons because they'll have off-seasons to sign minimum deals and use their exceptions to build around their big three. I do think Miami is in a bigger hurry than Portland to get this deal done, but if I were a heat fan, I would be ok with Miami trying to minimize how much they give back. I'd bet if the situation were reversed, there would be Blazer fans saying we should try to hold off on giving away every young guy on the roster.
It's funny..... because Dame is right. He doesn't know what it's like to be a vet min guy. He has his bag. He has ALWAYS had his bag. I was listening to Marang today and they were talking about this Austin Rivers quote. They brought up an interesting thing. Dame and to a smaller extent Harden, are holding up the entire league. There are a ton of free agents who are just sitting out there waiting for Dame to get traded. Miami isn't going to sign anyone. We aren't going to sign anyone. So it's funny that Dame with his insane contract is telling a dude who is paycheck to paycheck is speaking on things that he doesn't know. Marang and Dusty were saying that the vet min guys are going to start getting pissed at stars like Dame for affecting their money. Rivers spoke a lot about not liking the new CBA and that there's a huge gap now between the haves and the have nots of the league. Gonna be a few dudes who are making 40-60 million and then a bunch of dudes who are making significantly less money.
Austin Rivers is smootching up to Cronin, because he's still a free agent and hopes Portland will sign him.
While it may be seen as symantics, I don't think Dame/Harden should be held responsible for other teams not making moves, that's on the teams.
I’m not happy with the way he’s handled the trade demand in particular giving us one team to trade to. That said I will definitely miss watching him as a Blazer and truthfully I think he’s going to regret leaving (JMO).
That may be the reasonable take, but not necessarily the one that will resonate with the majority of players who are seeking new deals. In the current NBA climate in which players wield enough power to feel they can dictate their destination even when they have 4 years remaining on their contracts, it will be hard for players to deny the impact that Dame's (agent's?) unreasonably restrictive trade demand has on everyone else.
I'd guess 98% of the money spent in free agency has aleady been spent, despite Dame and Harden's trade request being floated out there; so we shouldn't act like this paralyzed transactions from happening. Obviously the Blazers/Heat will likely spend some additonal money filling out their roster later than normal.
I think the next event is Jacquez being trade eligible? Anyone know if he signed 7/1? Normally thats when all the rookies sign. If so I believe his restriction would end Sunday 7/30 so he could be traded Monday or later. If we all of the sudden start hearing a lot of additional rumors Sunday or Monday perhaps these negotiations are further along then we thought. If its still crickets then I'd suspect nothing changes until a few weeks prior to training camp. Media day and training camp is at the end of September, so that would likely mean nothing will happen until mid September. I'd expect most front offices, GM's, assistants, and owners actually go on vacation. Sure they can be reached if need be. But if were still very far apart on a trade which appears to be the status, I'd think they instead just prefer to shut the office down and revisit these negotiations closer to training camp. This type of trade will need a ton of review from all over teams management so its not something Cronin or others will want to finalize with a bunch of the front office calling in over skype.
Yeah it's either 7/31 or 8/1. Not sure which. But it will start to get interesting once he's available for trade. We are running out of potential partners though. Boston (probably not going to happen because Brown re-signed) Philly (maybe a landing spot but what can they even put together?) Brooklyn (there hasn't really been any indication that they're interested in Dame) LAC (they don't have much of anything to offer us) Toronto (haven't really heard anything) I'm just wondering if the trade happens as soon as Jaquez can be dealt.
304 million for Jaylen Brown? No wonder Cronin scared Lillard off the team. The small market Blazers franchise simply can't afford to pay multiple next gen All-Star salaries.
How exactly do you figure that? At the time of his death, Paul Allen was worth $20.3 BILLION DOLLARS. He was the 44th wealthiest person on earth. Since then, franchise value has only gone up and the new TV deal is coming soon. We can absolutely afford to pay those salaries. We just aren't.
