Zombie Damian Lillard to request trade in coming days (nope, he's not.)

After reading the Haynes piece, the pressure is Neil to get something done. I believe he will. Whether you like Olshey, or not, he's a prideful man. The way he carries himself. I believe he will do everything in his power to get something done. But Dame also said the pressure is on him, his teammates, the whole organization to be Better. Have to be. I don't feel that WCF run was fools gold. It was soecial, and could have been great if Nurk didn't suffer that injury. Nurk was a dominant force that year who was getting even stronger as the playoffs approached. Nurk has not been the same since. But if HE commits to being that guy again, that would certainly bolster the Blazers chances at success. And Bolster his pocket book as well. I'm not giving up on Dame staying. Today's conference will probably be like taking a fire extinguisher to a forest fire. I don't expect any decision, one way or another, to be made by Dame. It's probably gonna be similar to what he said a week ago. "did it come from my mouth" kinda stuff. I'd love for Dame to come out and say STFU media. Don't see that happening either. But to me, Dame has put the ball in Neil & his Staff's hands to get their jobs done. I always preach patience in here, but i'm not doing a good job of that, AT ALL. Where's the Pepto?

 

Hard for Dame to call out the media when the leaks appear to be coming from his camp.

 

Unless he comes out at the presser today and says he's gone, the Blazers have two windows of opportunity they need to capitalize on:

1) Mortgage the near term future of the next 5 seasons or so. Put a package with CJ and multiple 1st rounders and pick swaps for Bradley Beal (as an example).

2) If that doesn't produce in 1-2 season and Dame wants out, go into full OKC mode and trade those guys for picks knowing you at least swung for the fences. Like OKC, they might just come out with better picks than before at the end of the process.

 

Obviously Dame was drinking like a fish last night.

 

Okay the one major rabbit hole piece that really bugs me, and let me know if you feel the same, is how disconnected he is with CJ this particular off-season (on social/everything). He's always been the closest to CJ. What if he's already told CJ that doesn't want to be here? We know how close they are. Even CJ's happy birthday message to Dame had them both at the draft lottery, not in uniform.

 

gonna mentally prepare myself a bit, but what's the worst case scenario from the PC today?

That he verifies the rumor and will indeed request a trade?

 

Sorry. I may be out of line. Has the rumor been squashed? I’m tired of hearing about it. Trade him if he wants to be traded.

 

Lillard should — as a stand-up guy who has been extremely consistent — end the speculation. If he doesn’t, the speculation will overshadow the Olympic team. Not cool. A simple statement that the story is wrong and anyone “close to” him talking to reporters doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Flat out denial of the story ends it.

If he says all the attention should be on the Olympics. The Finals are going on! His only focus is on playing. …
Then he makes the speculation ramp up. He can’t control the chatter, but he can say the story is crap.

 

OR maybe he's requesting CJ be traded!

 

My advice is not to give up season tickets over a rumor but give up twitter....problem solved

 

Yeah, if he made a trade request public... that would mean he's breaking with everything he's said before which also means he might play hardball. Long story short it would mean having to trade him soon and him losing value.

 

I'm cool with Dame wanting out--it's clear this organization isn't going to get it done during Dame's prime years. I'll love watching Dame on a team (unless it's the Lakers) getting the recognition he deserves. I'm personally a fan of rebuilding years and the joy of watching our young guys grow anyways. Playing with expectations and getting pissed off at every loss is not a fun way to watch basketball.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/sportsnaut.com/james-harden-trade-blazers-c-j-mccollum/amp/

 

He's already come out and said you media guys are putting words in my mouth...if I have an issue I'll talk to Neil...Neil knows how I feel about it. Which is exactly what has happened...the day Stotts was fired Dame said I love Terry and I miss him already.....they were like business partners....people who don't like Stotts don't think about the impact that had on him but it did impact him. I think Chauncey will win him over like he did the Clippers players and he'll see how things can move forward with progress

 

If Dame does want Portland to get better it would be wise to shut down all these rumors unequivocally. Not doing so makes it much more difficult for Olshey to make a good trade. The other GM's have all the leverage.

 

Seems like Nurk and Abbott are having a little back and forth on Twitter lol.

Nurk last said to Abbott: Y'all keep guessing at this point. That’s my brother and you still have a better source?? #Comeon

 

I think the Dame/CJ BFF thing was largely overplayed in the moment, and seems to me to have been fading for multiple years now. Feels like they're cool with each other but Dame now seems a lot closer to Nurk. Not sure I'd read much into this, it's something I've noticed for quite a while now.

 

If he doesn't care and wants out it would be wise to reiterate that he has made his request to Neil and everyone needs to move on until Neil makes the next move.

 

nah i didn't care much about that pic. thought it was adorable lol. And i don't think CJ is disconnected to Dame this year-- he was working out with Beckner just yesterday and was training with Dame's guy in Tigard earlier (so was Simons/Blevins/etc). Haven't yet heard his podcast from yesterday but just like 2 weeks ago, he said he connects with Dame on a nearly daily basis.