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

Naw, he's as loyal as any NBA player can be today. These media pariah can hover over a player, and sometimes it's just enough. CJ said he's all in. I have more belief in what comes out of CJ's mouth than the Media. Dame just looked annoyed. Like Elway, he is in a fish bowl. That's what happens when your the biggest star for a team. Everybody wants a piece. Elway is huge here in Denver STILL. But he had times when he was rethinking his future. But, the grass isn't always greener.

 

This isn't the media saying this stuff, it's Dame. It's literal words out of his mouth:

"I haven't made any firm decision on what my future will be."

"I am not leaving PDX, for now at least."

The media isn't posting cryptic shit about his dissatisfaction, he is: WTF does this shit even mean?

 

He also just had an amazing series, which his team failed to win, and was frustrated beyond belief, like many of us. I've said many "Doom & Gloom" statements about life sitches, that i look back on , were overblown responses.

 

How is CJ still on this Team after his embarrassing playoffs

 

as a fan though, if dame is content with the status quo why would management not be either? I’d rather Dame ruffle some feathers

 

CJ is not on a team friendly deal. And he is getting long in the tooth considering there are guys out there with his talent but 6 years younger.

 

Bc nobody else wants him pretty simple

 

C'mon man! That total B.S. The Blazers probably have received a ton of request for CJ. It's just the compensation wasn't meant.

 

He has said at every opportunity that he is fully transparent with the FO directly. Yet he posts shit on twitter/IG, or says stuff that just fuels the fire for the media. ESPN didn't just get up one day and decide they're going to drive Dame out of Portland-- his posts/quotes initiated all this.

This isn't as much ruffling feathers as it is driving a narrative.

If Dame wants CJ traded or certain moves made by the FO and has expressed them to Neil, why would Neil not make those moves? Olshey knows his job security is tied at the hip with Dame's happiness. He's not gonna deliberately counter Dame's direction and force Lillard to go public-- Dame is doing that entirely on his own.

 

Maybe he's made his offer to Morey, but Morey is holding out to see. This next month should see some movement on the Simmons front.

 

And maybe Dame doesn't want CJ to be traded at all, but understands, great return ain't gonna happen with Mind Tricks. Unless you're Jerry West of course.

 

Morey will not trade Simmons for CJ and effectively end his chances at getting Dame.

 

And another one:

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/8/25/22641434/portland-trail-blazers-plan-damian-lillard

 

If you're operating under the assumption that Olshey's hands are tied and there's not many moves he can make then I guess this would make sense. Dame has been very honest with what he wants to see from the FO and they've just not delivered. So to expect him to change his stance at this point in time is unreasonable IMO. There are very basic move like spending the TPMLE to have as a salary filler or not getting a TPE for Collins that are just puzzling from the perspective of a team that is supposedly trying to "win it all". These are very low risk moves from a roster standpoint. Sure they may not be worth it from purely a value perspective, but these are all things that winning teams would do just to give them the best chance at winning or making moves down the line. We're not in a position where we should be trying to optimize the reward for low risk moves.

All these things in combination make me question the FO's commitment to winning and Olshey's willingness to make moves, which makes many of Dame's statements in totality make sense.

 

My theory: Dame ignited the fire to create more buzz, to help promote his album #marketing

like how you see actors doing interviews prior to their latest movie being released, articles written about authors before their new book is published.

Just a thought.

 

Oh lemme be clear, I am fully onboard with the Olshey bashing for this disastrous summer. Snell-McLemore-Zeller is on par with Tolliver-Hezonja-Bazemore in terms of roster "improvements." I'm not necessarily saying Olshey's hands are tied even. I'm more frustrated with Dame going back on his word about supposedly keeping it all in house.

 

Business Reporting Analyst

Somebody apply to the job above, get in on the inside, then fix this whole thing.

Seriously though, pretty solid job opportunity for the someone interested in working for the Blazers.

 

might wanna fix your link. Your name is visible via linked in.

 

FFS. Fixed.