SI: Should the Blazers Consider Trading Damian Lillard?

Comparing Dame to LMA is ridiculous and insulting to Dame.

 

Dame wants to be here, he's said it a thousand times. The only way he leaves is if the team won't pay him or via trade. I expect Dame will get a super max extension the day it becomes available. I, unlike the SI writers, think giving Dame super max money will be good for the team and I do think Dame can be a player you can build a contending team around. I do think the team around him will change and I'm hoping we can trade CJ for a 3 and D type and integrate Zach into the starting lineup soon. I would trade Dame for Anthony Davis already signed to an extension and that's about all. So a trade doesn't seem likely to me and if we keep giving him the most money he can get then I don't see Dame walking. He's different from any star player that's ever played, he has a different attitude and part of that attitude is some pretty unreal loyalty to the team and community.

 

I know what the conversation was. Did you miss my question mark insinuating i dont know if that is where he got his statement from?

I didnt make it as a statement, implying that is what I think. Then i went on to explain why i would have it in mind.

 

Yes.

I get embracing Dame for being a great player - but what is the need to anoint him a saint? Portland fans thought Brandon Roy was a great guy too. As soon as he cashed his last Blazer paycheck, he couldn't wait to get out of town. He didn't just turn his back on the franchise and fans, he staged a bogus comeback just so he could say he didn't retire a Blazer.

This is a business and everyone involved is a mercenary. As Barfo once observed, if a player hit you with their car they would stop - but only to feed because they wouldn't waste the meat.

Do I sound old, cynical, and bitter? Too many decades following the NBA and seeing how little the players care about the fans. That is why I only care about TEAM success and not individual player accolades.

Sorry, I'll get off the soapbox now.

 

Gotcha.

 

Dame's a different guy man. I shouldn't have to explain why. Also, Brandon Roy wouldn't have gotten that foreign procedure done to come back for 6 games to say he didn't retire. He did it because he thought he could continue his career for years to come.

 

I can't disagree with you more. Dame is about loyalty, the Dukes and UNCs of the world were after him after his sophomore year in college but what did Dame do... he stayed. So when he stays for the super max it will be both about loyalty and the business. I bet after the super max contract expires Dame will sign for less than the max. He himself has said he likes how Duncan's and Dirk's careers have gone, he sees himself that way.

 

Eh - some of us saw that coming a couple years before it actually happened. Roy was always about Roy, not about the team. Fuck that guy. He showed his true colors the day we got 'Dre.

Dame may just be better than everyone else at hiding his true feelings. Or he may genuinely mean what he says. I suspect he's genuine. But that doesn't mean he won't have a change of heart down the line.

And in response to the LA/Durant comments I leave you with: Reggie Miller/John Stockton