"Very little logic" eh? Please point me to the immediate tangible assets we got in this trade. Players or picks we can actually appreciate these next 4-5 seasons. What is the actual distance between having Ayton, Holiday, pick swaps with a similar small franchise and nothing? To me it's almost the same. Maybe the potential for a shot at some young bench guys in the future. Meh.
By the way, I didn't know why his winning basket wasn't goaltending. Well, as most people probably know, an inbounds pass doesn't count as a shot. WHY DID IT COUNT? NBA Rule 11, Section I, Subsection f gives part of the answer. That rule states that a player shall not “touch any ball from within the playing area that is on its downward flight with an opportunity to score. This is considered to be a ‘field goal attempt’ or trying for a goal.” Crowder’s pass — an extremely difficult one — was not a field goal attempt. Because it was an inbounds pass, it would not have counted as a field goal even if it went through the basket untouched by a teammate. The goaltending rule doesn’t apply for the same reason.
The picks at the time of dispersal, to start. More along our current timeline. Ayton. More assets. It's really very easy to see. You'll get there.
he may not of but he landed an all star and nba defensive player of the year candidate who plays both sides of the ball and has great trade value to add even more assets
A good prospect to be sure. I, personally, would have preferred MarJon Beauchamp from Milwaukee. That kid has the potential to be a stud.
I think it’s pretty safe to assume Joe took the best available package that probably also took into consideration Dame’s wants. Do you really think the guy has a learning disability or something ? Dame is an aging pure scorer on a supermax. There are already younger scorers ie SGA that will reach his level shortly. Dame is not a unicorn like Giannis, Luka, or Jokic.
NBA trade grades: Breaking down the three-team Damian Lillard trade Portland: B+ All along, I've felt that trading Lillard before training camp was the right move for the Blazers. It's easy to talk about waiting for the best possible deal in July, with little pressure to make a move. Urgency clearly set in for Portland as next Monday's media day and the start of training camp approached. With one caveat, the Blazers can now look to a future built around recent lottery picks Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. They've also locked in Lillard's trade value without having to risk the possibility of an injury or age-related decline making it more difficult to deal him than it is now coming off an All-NBA season. The key caveat, of course, is that Portland has swapped one 33-year-old All-Star point guard for another. Holiday isn't the kind of young talent a star trade would typically return, and without any ties to the Blazers or the kind of drawing power as Lillard, it seems inevitable Holiday will be traded again soon. Just how much Portland gets in return will determine how this deal compares to the possibility of sending Lillard to his desired destination, the Miami Heat. From this trade alone, the Blazers aren't returning nearly as much volume in terms of draft picks as Miami could have offered. Portland got a single first-round pick outright, though it's a potentially great one. Even if Giannis extends his contract, by 2029 he'll be 34. Lillard will be 38. The odds Milwaukee is still a contender by that point are remote, and there's a reasonable chance of the Bucks bottoming out without either star (or, as noted, their own picks in between now and then). The young talent the Blazers did add comes with baggage. The Suns' willingness to part with Ayton, 25, without getting any above-average starters or any draft picks showcases just how eager Phoenix was to move on from the 2018 No. 1 pick. Ayton gets a fresh start in Portland at a position where the Blazers had no promising player on the timeline of the rest of their young core. If Portland can get the kind of performance we saw from Ayton in the 2021 playoffs, when he averaged 15.8 points per game and 11.8 rebounds per game while helping the Suns to the NBA Finals, getting him at this low cost is a bargain. Admittedly, I'm skeptical that such a transformation is coming, but in the worst-case scenario, Ayton's current deal expires in time for the Blazers to have massive salary-cap space in the summer of 2026, when Henderson will be entering the final year of his rookie contract. Camara, the No. 52 overall pick in this year's draft out of Dayton, is by far the lowest-profile part of this deal, but Portland likely also values him. Camara played well for Phoenix at summer league in Las Vegas, averaging 16.3 PPG and 7.0 RPG in four games. Camara has a better chance of playing time with the Blazers than if he had stayed with the Suns. Above and beyond the potential to reroute Holiday, Portland still feels like a team in transition. The Blazers re-signed Jerami Grant to a five-year, $160 million deal this summer, and the 29-year-old forward feels out of place on a team that's rebuilding. Adding Ayton makes it unlikely Portland will bottom out, but this trade now puts a timeline on the Blazers contending. Ideally, they want to be contenders again by 2028, maximizing the potential value of pick swaps then and in 2030, when Henderson (24 in 2028) and Sharpe (25) will be hitting their prime years. As a result, more change is sure to come in Portland. The Blazers can continue the process with clarity now that they've secured value in a Lillard trade that seems to have left all sides satisfied. ---------------- The Bucks got a B+ as well and Phoenix a B-
Ohhh wow so the list was changed to 3 teams 10 days ago? This makes sense with Dame being close to Giannis/Bridges.... as well as the Toronto pushback.
Nah I've always been a 0 and 1 guy. If it's not a real, championship caliber guy or a high potential pick then it's like a zero for me. Somewhere in my mind I'm convinced those swaps would be shit. Maybe it's blazers fan bias, idk. Guys like Ayton always seem to get squashed into tiny assets eventually. And also: Ayton,Simons,Sharpe,Grant? Yikes, doesn't exactly scream confidence/killer instinct.
Well I said I would be back once Dame was traded and I am a man of my word ... I hate that this day came and how it all came around cause I still feel and in the song I think Dame kind of confirmed that they changed directions without giving him a heads up ( maybe even mislead him ) but not going to get back into that since I know very few of you agree so let's move into the trade itself. My grades before breaking it down is this : Blazers -- B -- rock solid "B" Bucks -- A Suns -- C -- Solid "C" I am not going to go into detail on the other teams but will on the Blazers and say this while they are getting a solid "B" it could go up to a PLUS or a MINUS depending on what Jrue is turned into when that trade happens. I think this trade hinges outside of the follow up deal on if Ayton can grow up and mature into an all-star type player for the Blazers. If he is the same player the Suns traded away then one could argue that the deal might fall a little in the grade too but if Ayton can turn into a all star type player then this deal could be better might even get it into low "A" tier. I think the Blazers are fooling themselves and some fans too thinking this team might be a play in caliber team and if all things line up it's not impossible just not likely and I hope they realize this cause there are SO SO many question marks on this team it's not even funny. I plan on doing an outlook AFTER the follow up deal but this is my thought as of now on the deal. Now on the fact that Dame is gone breaks my heart and you would think even knowing that this was coming for what 2 months ish now it would hurt less ... WRONG ... still hurts like a damn truck hit me but might not really hit me until I see him in a Bucks uni but we shall see on that one. I am glad this happened before camp opened so I can get my thoughts about me and focus on the season and gives me a few days to let this sink in that Dame time has ended and try and look forward. GO Blazers and Thank you Dame for the memories now please go win a ring with the Bucks you deserve it ( just wish it was with us )
That sounds like a man who wants to join Scoot and Sharpe off the bench for another ring in a FULL redemption Arc after winning 2+ with Giannis.
