First of all, Vincent and Strus, both key rotation players are gone, they alienated Herro, Shakira's impact on Jimmy still TBD. Last year's cinderella run was a fluke. They'll be lottery team this year.
What last season proved is that the Eastern conference is more wide-open than anyone thought. A team that actually lost a play-in game won the conference. It's comparable to the Minnesota Timberwolves losing to the Lakers in the play-in game, then winning the Western Conference last season. Think about that. One of the keys for that Miami team was hot three-point shooting. Geez, I wonder what player might be able to give an instant boost to the three-point shooting of an Eastern conference team? The Trail Blazers just need to be patient and wait. I myself would be happy to see what Lillard can do with the current roster of the trailblazers. They might go back to being a perennial playoff team, with more potential to advance than in the past.
Hot Take: If not traded by then, Dame not only will show up for training camp, but will backout of his trade request. I believe he only wants to get traded to Miami and no other team. But Miami has shown how little they value him. Dame takes it personal.
I am getting to the point where I would trade Dame to Brooklyn for a 2nd rounder and Simmons just to spite Miami. Their fans are absolutely, unbelievably, next-level, mindbogglingly horrible scum bags. Read some of the Miami comments and in particular this gem: " @RodSantista10 6 hours ago They wont... they will get Dame and by the end of this saga, Portland and Cronin will be demoralized and ridiculed." I legit want Dame to go ANYWHERE but Miami, even if it's a slightly worse Deal. Fuck that team, fuck their FO, fuck Goodwin, and most of all fuck that unbelievably toxic fan base.
I love this idea. We need to push this "Miami doesn't actually value Dame" meme HARD on twitter and Instagram until Dame notices.
It's rich people in general and it starts earlier for the uber rich. Consider, it's not just GM's it's the OWNERS who usually have to sign off on any big trade. "Sell in May, Go away" is a saying in the stock trading world due to the uber wealthy doing just that.
I shouldn't be criticizing Billups coaching in the Miami rumors thread. Sometimes I can't help it. The Blazers bought 3 more years of rebuilding with Billups, so the only aspect of Chauncey's coaching that's important... is he good at developing younger players? The hot start to last year was super fun. Brand new Blazer Jerami Grant really helped. Lillard & Simons were both red hot. Josh Hart and Justise Winslow added that veteran defense & hustle from the 3 spot. Nurkic had fresh legs, was filling the stat sheet. Little, Shaedon & Eubanks added a dose of energy off the bench. My perception is what ended the red hot & rolling 10-4 start is 1 small injury (Dame calf 2 weeks). The Blazers went 2-6 while Dame was out. Lillard mentioned somewhere when he came back the team no longer carried that all out effort to win. Was the Billups undulating amoeba zone defense and short rotations sustainable for 82 games? Go watch some highlights of Blazers in November compared to Blazers in January. It's night and day basketball intensity. I think last year's team burned out after the first hard fought 20 games. Once oppenents adapted to slicing up the Billups zone, all Portland could do was focus on scoring, while Billups told reporters he never questions effort, and only has nice things about his guys.
I'm not debating whether bench depth adversely effected wins and losses. I'm just mentioning what I saw. The Blazers began slacking on the court defensively, and Coach Billups even stated during press conferences he doesn't hold players accountable. Blame the coach, blame the "incomplete" roster Cronin built. Just never blame the players and everyone keeps their job. Unless it's Sharpe, you can blame rookies because they don't have experience.
by the end ?? - LOL -- the smart fans are already doing that to the Blazers and Cronin while the out of touch one's make excuses and make Dame the enemy.
They work more than most of us, and they value their time (no Zoom calls during off time eg). It’s very possible they are on vacation. Not certain, but definitely possible.
The 5 stages of not getting the player you want. Denial: 2 picks, 1 swap, herro, drob. And in fact, herro doesn’t necessarily need to be in the deal. Anger: ITS THE BEST OFFER. TAKE IT. TAKE HERRO. Bargaining: many teams have expressed interest in herro. You could get extra seconds for herro. Would you like jovic but not Martin or Jaquez? Depression: 8 podcasts about what’s holding things up. 8 podcasts projecting emotions onto cronin. 8 pods about leverage. Acceptance: the heat are fine without Damian Lillard, who isn’t that good anyway and is nearly 40 and retired.
I am fine with the reported Miami offers so far. Let’s just do it already. This whole saga has been boring af.
