Dude's been in the NBA for over a decade. He's almost 33 years old. He's going to be making a RIDICULOUS amount of money as he gets older. However difficult it was to win big with him when he was younger and cheaper, it's only going to get more difficult. Ownership is not really relevant to that reality. And the team signed Nurk. They signed Ant. Both of those guys are probably making more here than the would have if they'd walked this past summer. We're giving Dame more money than almost any US professional athlete ever. Ownership's alleged unwillingness to spend money just isn't a limiting factor as I see it. Ownership is definitely not perfect--not interviewing a GM to replace Olshey and then replacing him with a guy who had no track record other than with building mediocre Portland teams wasn't smart, and I think they're too happy to be mediocre rather than facing the reality and trading Dame--but I don't think that any ownership could take this roster and build a championship around Dame. He's too old and the roster is too weak and the future assets are too few. In three years we may be in the same spot as we are now. At least we'd have three years of hope. Right now we have mediocrity and aged veterans with little to no real chance of doing anything in the playoffs IF we're lucky enough to make them.
I think she would if we had a chance to contend. Paul has been dead for 5 seasons, hasn't it been only two years where we were not in the top 5-10 in salaries, even though our record was not near the top? She still agrees to overpay for some of our players (ie Dame, Ant, NP, Nurk) so I don't count out the possibility that she would overpay for a contending team. We might not like the strategy that the front office has taken in the last 2 years, but I doubt it has been her idea (or Vulcan's) on how to go about building the roster. If she was not suffering courtside on most nights I might agree with you, but she is too freaking rich to care about overspending for a contending team IMO.
Dame's putting up career numbers in year 11......you don't throw that away for a rookie...best case...you keep them both and move Ant....we aren't a team full of old vets...we're a team full of guys in their 20s. Dame is healthy for the first time in 5 years....you honor that in my view and let him win here. We have better scouts under Joe than we had under Neil....let it develop over the summer....as to paying Josh Hart....we choose the bigger guy with the better offensive skills to pay....Josh brought us back a really young 6'9 wing and first round pick...get over that trade, it was a good one considering the circumstances. Josh isn't under contract even with the Knicks...fact is we could still sign Josh Hart this off season, but he wants to be a Knick...win win trade. Joe needs to add a few vets to bolster the bench and a backup pt guard and center...all this is achievable offseason. Dame is happy here. Fuck trading him for a rebuild. Thybulle replaces what we wanted from chronically bench bound Gary Payton II.....both Cam and Matisse will benefit from an actual training camp and offseason to learn the system here. Both are good players moving forward.
I'm no fan of this ownership, but they went right up to the Lux Tax line with the group this year. Don't agree with how they went about it (GP2) but they were right at the line.....and since the first month of the season, have been one of the worst teams in the league with a 37% winning percentage. Not sure I would want to dump more money into that tire fire. And it's not like players that were here were bricking away. Payton (the short time he was here) shot 53% from '3' Jerami Grant has been at a career high 40% from '3' Trendon Watford....career high 40% from '3' Thybulle.....a career high 38% from '3' Little......career high 38% from '3' Simons......38% from '3'. Nurkic.....36% from '3' Sharpe....36% from '3'. That is 8 different players that you could put around Dame to stretch the floor or make a team pay for double-teaming. And yet it has been an abject disaster. Coaching? Philosophy? Who knows, but it's not like Dame has been surrounded by brick layers who left him with no options. Despite Dame being "the best leader in the NBA", it's been a long time since we have seen a Blazer roster play together in a manner that Blazer fans want to see. This team certainly needs more length, another player besides Nurk over 6'8", and some dogs on the court that have some attitude and aren't choir boys. When there is a legitimate shot at having something to really build on, teams spend money because of how much you can make in merchandising and Playoff revenue. I agree, trading Dame doesn't solve the problem.....but keeping him doesn't fix it either. This franchise has been stuck for years and there doesn't seem like a lot of light at the end of the tunnel.....unless we get REALLY lucky.
If I had to choose between the two, I’d choose Sharpe. However, I wouldn’t just move Dame for the hell of it. If Dame wanted to leave, then do it. If Dame wants to stay, I’d move Ant. I wouldn’t move Sharpe for anyone outside of Embiid or Giannis or Doncic or any of the guys we’d have no chance of getting. I don’t think I’d trade Sharpe for Bam.
Didn't read the post since it was a useless one coming from someone who never wants the team to succeed. The only right answer is ant. Please learn from this since you are wrong like always.
I also read Randle was available + #10 to move up to #7. Randle always seems to have an All-NBA year followed by an inefficient year. All things considered, I’m happy we stayed put and drafted Sharpe.
Dame will be making the same percentage of the cap (35%) he's made since signing the super max. Strictly in terms of fielding a team around him, it's actually more money to field a team around him moving forward than it was at the beginning of his super max. 35% of $100 million cap is $35 million, leaving $65 million to build the rest of the roster. If the cap is at $150 million in a few years, that's $52.5 million for Dame, leaving almost $100 million to the cap line and an even greater gap between his salary and the luxury tax line. By staying under the tax, ownership got an over $30 million check from revenue sharing and will receive another $15 plus million from the luxury tax this year. That's significant money for a business, but again I'd like to know what teams have won a title while not being willing to add money to the payroll and are always reducing it? The assets are too few because ever since 2019 every decision has been made with not only saving money in the current year but making it so they won't be a tax team the following year either. At the 2020 trade deadline, they refused to turn Whiteside's enormous expiring contract into anything positive and salary dumped Skal. At the 2021 trade deadline, they chose to trade a young asset in Trent for an older version just to avoid paying him. At the 2022 trade deadline, they failed to get many assets for 4 players that had interest because their goal was to clear as much salary as possible. This year, they refused to take anyone with salary next year and again traded a quality rotation piece simply because they didn't want to pay him. It's very, very difficult to build a contending team when almost every one of your moves is limiting the ability to make a bigger move in the future by depleting assets and leaving you with not many expendable contracts to match incoming salary in trades. Even despite that, this summer they could still offer 5 1sts in a trade, including a guaranteed lottery pick, Sharpe, and Ant. I'm not saying they should trade all that, but it's enough to compete with almost any other team's offers for a star player. Aged veterans? Dame is the only "aged" veteran. He'll be 33 next year. Jerami and Nurk will be 29 next year. Justise turns 27 tomorrow. The entire rest of the team is 26 or under. If anything, the argument should be that this team doesn't have enough proven veterans, not too many. Chris Paul had turned 33 on a team that was 1 game away from beating the Warriors in 2018 with Durant. Then 3 years later at age 36 was on a very young Phoenix team that was up 2-0 in the Finals. With some solid moves to get him some help, you don't think there's any chance Dame could do something similar?
I get what your saying as far as Dame's timeline goes but if our front office has Shaedon's range somewhere between perennial all star and multiple time MVP, then they didn't make a mistake. I think Shae could be the next great SG in the league I feel like his potential is limitless at this point on both ends of the court. I understand that the idea of a known commodity and only moving down a few picks is very appealing and I was pissed we didn't do it when the rumor was out there last year but we brought in Schmitz for a reason and I love what I see out of our first two picks with him on board.
Obviously not an actual question facing management as Dame and Sharpe play well together and don't play the same position.
Truth is this question is kind of loaded since this team has to be sold in the near future and we do not really have a owner more of a caretaker like I have said before since she cannot do anything that MIGHT harm the value of the team. I hate seeing some fans want to bail on Dame in favor of Sharpe but I kind of get it too even if I disagree with it at least for now. I will not lie this summer might be the most stressful being a Blazer fan if the draft does not go in the Blazers favor and that does not mean Wemby or bust granted he would help but if the Blazers do not come out of the draft with a haul of some kind then everything switches to a couple things. First being what can this GM ( who is below average at best ) do in FA and trades to help Dame and then the one thing that I will pray does not happen IF the draft does not go good then the Dame issue will get intensified. I believe IF the Blazers do not hit it big in the draft and / or summer months then Dame might decide it's time as much as he might want to stay he might finally say enough is enough and ask out if not this summer then the next one for sure and I would almost bet on that. I am not saying I want this cause as bummed as I was when Clyde left it will break my heart to see Dame leave cause the front office failed him in such a way that for some it might be the final straw when it comes to the team. I pray this does not happen but all signs point to this happening sooner then later unless the team get's a miracle or two and let's be honest right now the fans are kind of jaded with the team cause of ownership or lack there of and a front office that is a borderline joke. I do not care if you believe in a god or not but whatever you believe in it is time to ask for a miracle cause this team will need it and that is a fact.
I think the summer will be decided on draft night. Either Joe will get a major trade done or he'll make another statement like the one he did after this past trade deadline, essentially forcing Dame to ask for a trade. You're right, it's a stressful time to be a fan of our team, especially one like me, who thinks that Dame playing his whole career here is really important.
No sources. Just listening to radio and how excited New York DJs and their fans were at the prospect of swapping Randle and 11 for 7. As well as their chat rooms. They were pretty low on Randle prior to the draft and everyone was thinking he was on his way out. They just didn't get the offers. And I've heard he is a bad dude, so maybe that's why. I'd take that chance with Dame here. But I'm with you. I think with Randle we would have been a top 4 team this season, and we'd be looking to move Ant and whatever we got at 11 to put us over the top.
Portland didn't have any contracts to trade for Randall except Hart and Winslow. So they would have had major depth issues at wing. They could have drafted either Jalen Williams or Jalen Duren; probably Duren because they took a couple of good looks at him. But Williams would have been better considering they'd have Randall, Nurkic, Grant, Eubanks, and Watford up front
The ultimate hope is that in these last 9 games, Sharpe averages close go 20ppg on above average efficiency and it becomes clear that the answer to the original question is “Both. Trade Ant”.
