Like others have said, if simons is good enough to build around, then he should be a good enough asset to bring in that 2nd star to put alongside dame. And star in simons trade plus dame seems like a clearer path to contention than the alternative. We've said all along its a star league, but ant plus stuff is diminishing your #1 to improve #s 2-4. Unless one of the late 1sts you get for dame hits it big. Huge if.
to me, this is the key. Unless the team already has a couple of high lotto picks in their pocket, Dame isn't netting any future lotto picks. The team he would be traded to would be too good. So i don't see a way to swap Dame for a couple of assets and lotto picks. They would be late picks at best.
Or Simons is good enough to build around but doesn't have the requisite trade value to bring in a second star because he hasn't demonstrated it long enough to build that value around the league.
Keep making up whatever....since apparently that is going to happen no matter how many times I post that I want to see Dame win a title here. Over and over, I've said that everything should be under consideration given where the franchise is and has been for that last 5-6 years. Now feel free to throw whatever spin on that you would like. #Meaningless
You are correct, Im sure every scenario has been considered. We shouldn't forget the team is owned by Paul Allen's Estate and I would assume Jody has attorneys looking at all options.
yeah thats the only way i see it happening is if the team already has picks stockpiled from other teams.
I appreciate all your repsonses and the effort beind them. I'm genuinely wanting to hear your take. You picked out some decent contracts/talent in your list, but how obtainable are players of that level for that amount in Portland? We rarely can sign guys with solid value. Nurk might be a rare exception of a mid-tier contract with solid value. Also, the second we trade Dame, Ant and his agency will know we can't lose him, and force us to pay even more. I'm not saying your strategy is impossible, I'm just saying I believe it is filled with many low percentage variables, including Ant being an elite talent. I think finding another superstar to put next to Dame and fill out the roster with vets who are willing to play for less is a strategy that is more doable and also has a much smaller downside. Building a roster with a bunch of role players with zero superstars, and zero previous all-star appearance has never happened to my knowledge. I'd bet against the Blazers being the first.
Exactly. Ant had a good month. Prove it for a season. Until then it's just meh. Consistency. That's it.
Absolutely agree on the "low percentage variable". Sadly, that is the position the franchise is left with after Neil's years of myopia and egotism. That said, there are things that can be done, but they involve risk and don't have the highest probability of success. But sometimes to achieve the pinnicle, it takes risk. (See Toronto, San Antonio tanking, Bucks leveraging to get Holiday, etc) If they can do it around Dame in a year or two, great, but that is going to take diligence, luck, and a break or two.....and they have to hit every note along the way. Otherwise, the window will close. Dame is not the type of PG like CP3 who can age and still control a game from a playmaker standpoint. His shooting will age well, but the athleticism, quick step to create separation, will not age well, and he doesn't have the physical stature like a LeBron to age well due to just being bigger with skills than everyone else. There are moves to be made. But other teams are in on some of these as well, so it's not done in a vaccuum. It will also take the stones to do it. Joe has to have that....and then the permission to carry through.
All good stuff once again. Interesting that you point to the Spurs who tanked one year, but kept David Robinson (didn't trade him). Toronto, who traded their best player for a better player they couldn't resign in 4 months. Bucks, who added additional #3-#5 talent around their top 2 guys. None of those teams got rid of a Top 75 player for picks/role players in order to get better. So I'm with you that if there is a Dame trade where we get the better player, that would be a risk you consider. Making a move using our other assets to significantly upgrade our starting lineup is a move I'd really love to consider. Tanking one year in hopes you can add another star to add to your current star, is an idea I love. Trading the best player the Blazers has ever had, still in his prime, to build around a guy likely to be a solid starter + other role players... I still can't sign off on that.
The 'biggest' difference with those examples, is the Spurs best player (injured) was 7'1". Toronto's best remaining player was 6'8" Siakam, and of course the Bucks was 6'11" Giannis. Dame is dwarfed by those players, and not on the same planet from a defensive standpoint with any of them. My heart wants to build around Dame and get a ring. But my head tells me that just isn't very likely.
Agreed about us needing an above average height all-star level player. Dame will never be that. Nor will Ant. And it's highly unlikely if will be a FA signing based off decades of history. Dame + tall all-star = enough to contend. Ant + tall all-star = unlikely enough to contend.
I would tend to agree with that....although to be fair, Ant is doing things in the last month that maybe even Dame didn't do at the same age. Here is the variable. Dame + tall all-star = enough to contend? While And + tall all-star = unlikely to contend....but at in what you might be able to do with the ~$22 million dollar difference in salary between the two to make it an apple-to-apples comparison, and maybe Ant + tall + wing might contend with Dame + tall. Who knows.....hope we find out soon.
I guess I'm siding with the guy who's averages over the last many years are as good as better as one guys best month, which also happens to be significantly better than any other month of his career. Maybe I'm just not the river-boat gambler type.
Dame may have 13 more years if he makes it to the age that Brady just showed us is possible, and a lot of winning is in the works in the next 6 years. To counter the pessimists who are speculating only 3 more years and that he may have reached a peak, I think that Dame will be back for 7-13 more years and with the surgical repair and intelligent training, better than ever. I imagine at least 1 Blazer NBA Championship in the coming years!
Brady is playing like 20 games per year and the most he has run should be like 3 seconds. I don't think being an NBA point guard is the same.
I don't think anyone is comparing Dame to Ant. But I believe there is discussion that can be had to one being 9 years older than the other, costing twice as much, and what their production was at similar places in their careers. Dame is an all-time Blazer great, but to be fair, that has not translated into significant on-court team success. Perhaps Ant + what you could do with the cap savings + what you would get back as assets wouldn't do any better. Who knows. What we do know is Dame is probably done improving and much closer to the start of the inevitable decline everyone experiences. Ant is still growing and improving and just came off a month that only Dame and Clyde have ever achieved.....and did it at age 22. I'm up for discussion either way. Some cancel culture type won't even have the discussion. That's fine, but kind of defeats the purpose of a discussion board.
