Can the Blazers effectively keep Dame Jrue Scoot Shae next 2 years?

What do you think?

 

I vote yes, with injury and rest, Shae playing a few minutes at SF, I think fans are overestimating how crowded the backcourt would be.

I read these posts that Jrue or Scoot or such will be traded for sure in the next year which I don't believe is the correct mindset.

Would be interesting to see how many of the same games (game#1-#82) all 4 played the last two seasons.

 

Given their ages: yes.

 

Really depends on ego’s. Assume and hope that both Sharpe and Scoot show they deserve to be starters then ideally you move both Dame and Jrue to bench. I think Jrue seems like the type of person that could handle this not sure Dame would be able to. Always a huge hit to ego when you’re use to being the man.

My hope this was talked about during their meetings and Dame understands that’s a possibility. Even if Scoots doesn’t work out Dame will be at end of career coming off terrible injury

 

"effectively" is a tricky word. Contract-wise....sure the Blazers can keep them

minutes-wise, next season won't be an issue. The season after that could be a squeeze. But that season is 15 months away. A lot can happen in a month....just look at the last month (actually closer to 3 weeks):

* draft Hansen and add a 2028 1st
* signed Caleb Love to 2-way
* agree to trade Simons and two 2nd's for Jrue
* issue with Jrue's physical so the two 2nd's are rescinded
* buyout Ayton and he signs with the Lakers
* play 4 SL games
* Adam Silver throws a bomb about a new arena for new Blazer owners
* sign Dame

quite a month

the only addition to that list I can think of I'd liked to have seen is signing Camara to an extension. But there's still plenty of time for that. (the arena issue could be huge though)

 

Only if Scoot and Sharpe show they're better than them

 

Theoretically speaking …

1. A healthy Lillard will eat minutes — not 36 per but 28-30? — and he should if healthy. His game will have to fit in with the offense developed over the next year, but that’s a nice problem to have.

2. Jrue is a pro and can fit beside any of the 3 guards. He also has value as a guard on a playoff team. Stay or go, he’s a dude and plays both ends.

3. Shaedon has the higher ceiling compared to Scoot, IMHO, and he can fit playing with both Jrue and Dame. Scoot? He may ball out this next year and fit with Jrue and Shaedon, but playing alongside Dame? Scoot better D-up and earn it, and Dame would be off ball for significant minutes.

In the theoretical, and assuming Dame is healthy and ready in a year, a lot of good has to happen in Scoot’s game for him to remain as he heads to a 2nd contract … and a healthy Dame becomes a combo guard?

Next season will work itself out. The young guards have a prove it year. Jrue stays or goes.
Compared to the last couple years, this is a nice problem to have.

 

how does this affect/effect us re-signing Scoot and Shae though. Wonder what their camp feels about this?

 

In 2026 we are right back in the same situation we were in two years ago.

Ant/Scoot/Shae/Brogdon
Dame/Scoot/Shae/Jrue

96 minutes
4 guards who should play 30+ minutes
We will be short about 25 minutes per game.

 

Not to be a party pooper but I don’t think Dame plays 30+ min a game anymore. He might try in the beginning but unless the recovery is miraculous I don’t see it.

Maybe more in the playoffs.

 

I think Shae will be fine, and should start at 2 this year. Scoot on the other hand has some work to do.

 

There is no goddamn way these 4 coexist in any sort of healthy rotation. Either the geniuses behind the Dame/CJ/Norm starting perimeter fuck up the same way again or guys are getting stiffed on playing time.

Obviously there is no problem this season with the team having stated that Dame will be rehabbing until the 2026-27 season. At that point though there would be a problem if all 4 are still here. The thing is, I don't have a problem with where we're at right now and that makes me think that there's a better chance than not that I won't have a big problem with our roster a year from now.

I think there is a very good chance that Scoot and Shaedon shine during the first half of the season while sharing equal minutes (each getting as much as 32 minutes apiece) with Jrue. If Jrue shows that he can stay healthy and play the kind of shut down D that he's known for while contributing anything on offense then the offers for him at the deadline should be nice enough for Jrue to end this upcoming season on another roster.

I'm going to trust Cronin on this one but those of you who think all 4 guys could coexist if they're all playing well are kidding yourselves. The only way that works is if one of Scoot or Shae don't get better or one of Dame or Jrue can't stay healthy. So there's no way that things are effective and we keep all four.

 

I'd feel a lot better about it if Jrue wasn't on a long ass huge contract. But I think we're even less likely to move him next summer. The only other explanation to me is that they don't have faith in Scoot and they're going to move him.

 

Yeah if Scoot or Shaedon have shown that they don't have what it takes to play 30+ minutes a game in the NBA then the problem takes care of itself. If Jrue can't stay healthy that pretty much takes care of the problem. If Dame comes back as a shell of himself that takes care of the problem. If all three of those things happen we're fucked. I do think that if Jrue is playing well and both Scoot and Shae have shown our front office that they need to be starters that there will be a team at the deadline that will want Jrue... what we have to take back in terms of salary in that trade is another story.

I just think that either in a positive way that I'm hoping for or in a number of negative ways that this will all sort itself out. If Dame was healthy right now and we were going into this season with all four guys ready to go, it could be problematic but that's not the case so there's time to see how it will shake out.

 

I still have this feeling that Joe is trying to finally go all-in and he will move one or both of Scoot/Shae plus picks for a star. Someone like Brown or Booker. They might wait until they see how Jrue does, how Scoot does, how Shae does, and how Dame looks during rehab.... So it might not happen until the deadline or next summer But something like this with the best of the 2029 picks, the Orl 2028 pick. They clear a ton of cap and get some young guys and picks.


But is this rotation a contender?

Dame
Brown
Tou
Deni
Clingan
Jrue
Grant
Yang
Murray

 

No, Id say in a year that's a 6th seed behind
OKC
SAS
HOU
DEN
MIN

Maybe sneak into HCA but no chance to contend.

 

Do you really think so? By the time Dame comes back from the injury, the other three might be clearly better than he is. Maybe Jrue doesn't want to be here or doesn't vibe with his teammates like Scoot and Shae. Maybe the Blazers play with better chemistry with the younger guys.

This is part of what I was avoiding talking about the other night because so many people were thrilled about Dame coming back. One of the factors in Dame forcing the trade two years ago, depending on who you talked to, was that Dame felt slighted about the Blazers drafting his heir apparent. Is it really that far-fetched to be unsure if he'll be willing to relinquish the reins to "his team" if it turns out by the time he's back that either he's been surpassed by one of the younger guys or he just didn't recover his greatness after the injury and being advanced in age?

That's the question facing the Blazers now. If we can be one or the other, are the team's decision-makers (and the fans, for that matter), prioritizing being fun and interesting or being good, if the former is a little easier path?

IMO, no one has earned a spot. Maybe they've earned a little extra leash in earning a spot or confidence that they can handle it, all other things being equal, but the spot itself, I'd say not. Not if your goal is being good, at least. No one is saying Jerami Grant should be starting ahead of Deni and Tou because he's owed it for what he did in the past. This is the same, at least to me. The players that make the rotation work the best and make the team perform better should be playing based on what they do on the floor, not what they did on the floor, if you are trying to win, at least.

If the paths are mutually exclusive, do the Blazers and their fans want to err or the chance of watching Damian Lillard add another signature game to his career (like Brandon Roy did late in his run), or do they want to have a better chance of making it to the WC Finals? Are we looking at nostalgia and entertaining or winning?

That's one of the things that concerned me. When the Dame trade drama went down two years ago, I think we found our fanbase to an extent got divided into Blazers fans and Dame fans. The latter were about giving Dame whatever he wanted because "he earned it" and to heck with what the Blazers were getting back. We read all this stuff about Cronin being a horrible GM and person, which is a lot harder sell right now considering the roster around Dame. I remember Dame's proxies putting out stories in the national media about how he gave everything to Portland and now the Blazers were being awful by not trading him to Miami for scraps. Maybe it's OK to overlook or forgive that, but I think it's a mistake to forget it.

What happens if by the time Dame is ready to play again, Scoot's made this "his" team? Are we really sure Dame will be fine with that? Will the fans?