Has this fiasco with the announcers taught us nothing? We aren't a corporate city. We aren't a regular NBA city. If someone wants to love this city and sta here for his career, you stay on his good side
Man, this forum starts to go ape shit when things go wrong for our team. I also disagree with whoever said Dame isn't a top 5 PG, he absolutely is. He is extremely loyal to us, signed an extension last season knowing we might suck. Always does shit for the community, good leader. Not to mention he averages 27, 6 assists, 4 boards a game shooting 45 percent. He only gets better every year. I could absolutely see him being loyal and retiring here. YET again the fans try to chase players who actually give a fuck about us out. For real this the dumbest thread I have read. He sits out one game and everybody starts shitting on Dame just because we were in it with Toronto all game. Toronto played like shit and maybe the answer is we shouldn't be playing two ball dominant guards at once. People are tripping
We never hear this Dame trade talk when things go right, all of a sudden we are at a pretty big low and everybody starts talking trading Dame, it's crazy. Shit, if it was Lebron James, Portland fans would still come up with trade ideas to get rid of him
Well.....LBJ is on the other side of his career and so if we had him, we wouldn't be contenders forever, so we would need to do something and better to do it now while he is still a top player, rather than after he declines to mere human stature.
Is it time yet for this??? Cause that is what it would be when you trade your recently declared franchise face, regardless of who we get in return.
No I would not trade Dame, possibly CJ if the right trade came around. I do want to get a C like Noel and see if our defense would pickup significantly, especially with CJ and Dame together.
Tough crowd. There isn't an untouchable player on the Portland roster. If Lillard were a great defender then yes, he'd be a superstar you never even consider trading. But as it stands, he's a great (but not historically great) offensive guard who gives back a lot of value on defense, in my opinion. That kind of player is tradeable under the right circumstances. That said, I'm having a tough time thinking up the correct circumstances. The players I'd trade him one-for-one for would never be available. There could be a profitable deal involving Lillard for multiple good players, but it is a truism that the team getting the best player tends to win the deal--it's very, very hard to diversify from a star and come out ahead. Honestly, probably the only situation in which it makes sense to trade Lillard is if you determine that it's time for a complete tear-down and rebuild, in which case you could try to deal Lillard for a top prospect and a boatload of draft picks--something like the Kevin Love deal, but with good picks in place of the Anthony Bennetts. Of course, I tend to be against complete tear-downs unless the deals accomplishing it are great deals for you on their own (from a net-present value perspective).
I don't understand some of those stats like VORP, but i'm looking at the per game and per 36 and Dame is better in most categories. pts, ft%, etc. I see Roy has a better FG% but not by much. I think the key is Roy was short lived. (knocking on major wood here) God forbid Dame has something happen that is career ending, otherwise, he will go on to blow Roys' numbers out of the water and I think that is why most of us consider him the best thing since Clyde.
I think Roy was a superior player to Lillard, mostly because he was a better defender while quietly being one of the most effective offensive players in the league. Of course Lillard will almost certainly eclipse Roy in terms of career value (at least, I hope he does because if he doesn't, it means he too suffered an awful injury), but if I could have either player for a healthy 10 year prime, I'd choose Roy.
I'm not saying Roy was the better player, but that wasn't what was offered in the original post. "The best thing to this franchise since Clyde". To this franchise, Dame almost certainly means more even now. I don't know for certain because I was too involved with touring and playing out with bands at that time, but Roy didn't embrace being the face here like Dame has right? I DO know that we did Roy completely solid. More than most any other franchise would even think of doing and he shit on us. He then tried to go play for Minny... with our money in his pocket. Yes, the best thing for this organization must include more than just stats, like how he helps promote and advertise us. Dame might be the best ever for the franchise in that regard.
How did Portland "do Roy solid more than any other franchise would have?" He got his contract before the extent of his knee damage was known, so Portland was just paying their superstar, the same as any team would. I also don't think Roy "shit on" the Blazers. He was basically forced into retirement by his knee issues. He only tried to make a comeback after trying the platelet-rich plasma therapy that Kobe Bryant made famous. I don't blame him for that--if a medical development comes along that could allow you to continue your dream, it's absolutely the right decision to try it.
Maybe I am wrong, but we gave him that contract after his first issue with his knees? Also, couldn't he have come back to us and say I think I can play again, come back and help?
Yeah, but it wasn't considered career-altering/ending at the time. Nope. Portland used the amnesty clause on him to remove his cap hit, which made him ineligible to re-sign with the Blazers.
Dame has been the model of durability. Knock on wood. He has missed 8 games in 4+ seasons. He routinely plays in pain. Knock on wood. Don't let that go unnoticed.
Should have raised red flags prompting further research, examinations and options though no? I mean we did learn our lessons from ... well how many experiences now? Just sayin'. Not Roy's fault though. I get it. Ahh, okay, fair enough on that front.
I think the team would be better off. Despite what rose colored glassed fans will say, Lillard is not a SuperStar (though his branding would like to have you think so). He is a fringe All-Star (and that's a very good player still). Ultimately, he gives up too much on the defensive side of the ball. Lillard = 45/50 for offense, only 10/50 for defense = 55/100 rating. We look much better with CJ at point - a bigger guard who has more defensive potential but has much less experience and therefore room to grow into the role. If the Blazers are serious about winning, they wont care about backlash from trading him and will let the win column translate into fan approval of it's own accord.
