I'm a big Dame fan, at least I was. So I have some thoughts about this: * first thing is I don't ever fully trust what any GM says. It's not their job to be 100% open and truthful with the fans. In fact, in many cases, that would be malpractice...or at least unilateral disarmament because 29 other GM's will be busy deflecting, dodging, strategically leaking, and outright lying. * this situation didn't turn nasty at Dame's initial trade request. Pretty clear the Blazer FO was expecting it could happen and was probably prepared for it. It turned nasty when Dame's agent went scorched-earth-miami-or-bust and did a number on Portland's leverage. I think Pat Riley was a big part of that, but Dame is ultimately responsible for the actions of his agent. * and it was those actions that put Cronin and the front office, and probably ownership, in the mood of telling Dame there was no coming back from that * and even though I think Dame was ultimately responsible, or more accurately ultimately accountable, I think Dame got some really bad advice from his agent, and that Riley's fingerprints are all over that advice I think it's sad that Dame wanted to rescind his trade request but the situation had deteriorated to the point it had. IMO, it was still a salvageable situation but I can see why the Blazers didn't want to go thru the effort or live with the distraction
I was totally prepared to move on then saw what Haynes said and IF true and my gut tells me it is Cronin can go screw himself and I have lost all respect for this front office ( very little but still ) and guessing Vulcan ( had none there ) but WTF If this report is true I am pissed off and I will support the players who put on the jersey but this front office and ownership can go BEEP themselves. Also I see some trying to defend this and there is ZERO defense to it and this accually makes what others and I have been saying look more true. HOWEVER if True --- I tend to believe if but want to see what else is revealed in the coming few days before totally going off but this if true -- I want Cronin Fired ASAP
I'm just ready to move on and hopefully after that last shot fired from Dame he is too. We'll hear something from Joe but it will ultimately be nice guy stuff. I hope Dame and the Bucks win it all this season and I hope Joe makes a great trade with Jrue now and has some more good moves that help our rebuild at the deadline. Go Blazers!!!
if it's the truth...I don't have a problem with it. If Dame asked to rescind and Cronin refused, I don't have a problem with that being reported either. I can understand why Dame wanted to back off his trade request....and I understand why Cronin refused I think I was pretty clear I don't completely trust any GM and that includes Cronin I get that you're skeptical about after the fact spin...there's a lot of it going on from all sides right now. But that Haynes article doesn't smell strongly of spin, IMO, and it does seem mostly credible, with a Dame POV. And what's mostly credible is that Dame was very naive about how far his agent had taken things and about how deeply that had rankled the Blazers FO
nor should he, not everyone in the position is John Nash. The GM position for a franchise is different then a community outreach PR guidance counselor. The job requires keeping options open to best improve the franchise and being circumspect/vague in public comments is part of that. Sometimes doing the job right (doing whats best for the team) requires the GM to make difficult even unpopular decisions. Fans who expect full disclosure/truth telling from a GM are fucking ridiculous. STOMP
I think it's kind of naive to try and find a villain here. Joe did what he thought was in the best interests of the team and Dame felt like that was a slap in the face. That made Dame feel OK about going scorched earth, who knows how closely Dame was involved with how that was carried out. Dame wanted to stay if the team wouldn't put him in Miami, the team was over it by then (and let's be honest they probably were pushing Dame to a trade anyway). Dame wanted the whole story from his perspective out there. And here we are. I don't find a bad guy. I see hard situations being navigated by human beings, we fuck shit up. I'm gonna root for our team and I'm still going to root for Dame.
"In the Sept. 5 meeting, Cronin conveyed that if he was forced to do a deal with Miami, he had every intention of going after every attractable asset. Lillard knew then he was unlikely to end up in Miami." So, Lillard knew that Riley wasn't going to give Portland the kind of package they deserved to get. The kind of package us fans deserved to get.
I was never totally against Dame being traded cause in a post yesterday I believe I stated that I did not see any player out there outside of Giannis , Jokic or maybe Joel that would warrant running it back with Dame and none of those were going to happen. What I have issue is with Cronin being a lying sack of shit and disrespecting Dame and his legacy again IF true and I will say this IF true then Cronin needs to be fired cause he mishandled this situation wrong from the start and Dame should prolly fire his agent too cause he also screwed this up too after the trade demand and such.
Fuck off Dame. You let your personal problems infiltrate your professional life. Have fun in Wisconsin.
This would have been a good chance for Haynes to point out what asset that would have made the Blazers a contender was offered to Cronin in exchange for the #3 pick.
I really doubt he handled it any differently than the Vulcans asked him to. I fucking love Dame but trying to find a villain in this is silly. It was a messy situation and in messy situations people do some messed up things, acting in their own best interests as they should as long as they're not literally hurting anybody. People's feelings can get hurt but I've seen nothing that looks abusive or to be honest unprofessional. Joe avoiding Dame and not wanting him back after all of that shit went down makes sense. Dame wanting to get his side of the story out there makes sense. I still don't like the Miami only thing but it didn't get Dame to Miami so I'm over it. I'm over all of it. Just ready for my team to get on a good track and ready to see Dame do well in Wisconsin.
I still think Lillard is a good guy. Somehow though, he wasn't able to step outside himself and see how all that his agent, and maybe Riley, were doing was perceived.
Yeah, I think that would be easy to happen given that it seems his marriage was blowing up and the team did the exact thing he asked them not to do, even if him asking them not to do it publicly shot him in the foot. Anger and chaos make real self awareness pretty fucking tough.
