Blazers weren't talking to Dame's camp after Dame's camp tried to tank his value. Shocking. Dame was getting very bad advice. And his people here in Portland (including at the Athletic) are still being toxic. He'll get over it eventually.
I'm sure he'll move on soon and the questions will stop coming. That being said, I think Dame is still more pissed that the team didn't bend over backwards to keep him than he is salty about what happened after. The Miami or bust bullshit was a salty move and I'm glad Joe dug in his heels in opposition to that shit. I may not love that Joe was unable to do the things necessary to build a contender or even a team that looked like it was heading towards contention around Dame but Joe is our GM for now and it seems like he has done a great job going in the opposite direction... the rebuild looks strong and it looks like there are a few more very fruitful moves that will be available between now and the trade deadline.
All this seems like a rehash of everything we already knew. I still don't buy that Goodwin gave the Bucks a green light to pursue a trade.... but at the end of the day - it's immaterial to the events that occurred.
The sad thing is that he doesn't think he's a prima-donna, and doesn't understand how much he was tanking his value. Joe was able to "un-tank" his value, and got good return.
Truly baffling how he doesn't understand that the optics of coming back with a standing trade request can't work. You can't agree to come back and play while still waiting to be traded to only one destination. It's not like he recomitted to the org. Guessing a lot of his incredulity is stemming from the uncertainity with his family. And don't even get me started on Goodwin. He once again lowered Portland's leverage only informing the Bucks' side that he was onboard with Milwaukee.
Again Blazerkor, what was it that Cronin did NOT do? I don't understand why Dame isn't filled with rage at OLSHEY, not Cronin who had what 18 months to clean up Olshey's mess before Dame left? What about the Abbot report (which sure seems plausible to me) that Dame and his agent conspired two years ago for this outcome? I note Goodwin hasn't sued Abbot despite what he was saying being potentially a career damaging revelation. This is starting to look like covering up that fact by making Cronin the scapegoat. I mean what the fuck did Dame expect Cronin to do? Trade the #3, AND FUCKING SHARPE for Bad Knees Anouby? Does that REALLY change our trajectory? No of course not. There was no fucking silver bullet trade out there! Olshey on the other hand didn't make a move for PG-13, Butler (LOL) and I forget who the other one was. We also theoretically had some sort of shot with Harden (before he went to Nets/Sixers), and we DEFINITELY should have traded CJ for Wiggins which I lobbied for and again, was shit on by the Mid-Wit cabbages at Blazersedge ( oopsies he's a fucking All-Star now!). So yeah, Olshey fucked us OLSHEY say it with me, Cronin did NOT HAVE THE FUCKING TIME OR OPPORTUNITY. Olshey destroyed Lillard in Portland OLSHEY! So sick of hearing people blame Cronin's 18-month tenure, during a big part of which he was just trying to secure the job (Clips trade). It was OLSHEY period. PERIOD!
Where is Lillard bitching and bad-mouthing Joe? This just looks like Lillard explaining his side of how things went down. I think a lot of you are just looking to complain about things. If Lillard had told the reporter he didn't want to talk about it how things went down some of you would have complained about that.
I can't fucking stand the question of what players Cronin could have acquired to make Dame happy and have us headed towards contention in the next couple of seasons because no one fucking knows... no one. Only Joe knows who was available and that's if he turned over every rock to find out. Only Joe knows if when teams asked for both Shae and Scoot if he countered with Scoot plus future picks that could have been unlocked by making a deal with Chicago. I honestly doubt that Joe exhausted all options two years in a row with high lotto picks and came up with no impact vets at positions of need. I heard a lot about incoming offers from other teams and our team waiting for one that made sense. I didn't hear about offers we made other teams. That doesn't mean they didn't happen but it's just as solid for me to argue that we never got out there and shopped our picks, as it is for anyone in here to say the rumored offers we've heard were the best our front office saw.
I am guessing that it is the following: This, I suspect is the quote people are referring to, as it implies that Dame claims the Blazers did what they did because they wanted to go against what he wanted - where in reality it was because the Blazers would not get the best value from Miami. If this is what he meant to say or how the article plays it, I do not know, but that was my impression when I read it. Could be a miscommunication.
I'm pretty sure Dame has no idea of what Miami was offering, and likely didn't care. The reality is that Miami never made a "Godfather" offer, so they weren't in the mix. Good thing they didn't, as we ended up better off without the Heat. I've heard zero reports that Dame put pressure on Miami to increase their offer.
what I think is likely: Portland was outraged by the actions of Dame's agent. And I'm convinced Portland believed Pat Riley was involved in the architecture of the 'Miami-or-Bust' position Goodwin promoted. Accordingly, I think the Blazers simply cut-off any discussions in a back-channel 'fuck-you-guys-no-way-we're-trading-Dame-to you' strafing run. There was simply no way the Blazers were moving Dame to Miami. Bridges were completely burnt I think Riley communicated that to Dame's agent, and Dame's agent communicated that to Dame. And there was no context about how much Portland was justified in their stance....mainly because it was easier to lay all the Blame on the Blazers rather admitting that Goodwin, Riley, and Dame themselves were the ones that stated throwing rocks in a glass house
