Dame all but demanding vet roster

Good luck

 

Throw in Zion, who will eat his way out of the League if a

You sound like the dude who Liam Neeson zapped in Taken.

 

Does Lillard even know who the top 7 prospects are in the 2023 draft? It’s loaded with forwards.
I think it could be a huge mistake to trade that player away.
Unless an Embiid type All Star is available, I would keep the 2023 drafted player, and use future draft picks and existing players to get a veteran that could help now.

 

What makes me laugh is that people that post here think that Joe and Jody are going to turn this roster in the next six months to compete with the;

A) Phoenix Suns, currently comprised of KD, Devon Booker, CP3 and Deandre Ayton

or

B) Golden State Warriors, currently comprised of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Jordan Poole

All the while trading every asset we have not named Dame? Get me the Vegas odds on this project please. I'm not a betting man, but I can be persuaded to bet against that plan. Hell, I'll give to next trade deadline and Portland will not be close to having a lineup that could compete in a seven game series with either Phoenix or Golden State. Why? Because Portland does not have the assets to get it done, but even worse, the players constantly being coveted on this board are not available. I have never heard that Bridges, Bamba or Embiid are available. I know Brooklyn declined four first rounders while consummating the KD trade for Bridges. I've seen posters here posit that if Miami or Philly suck in the playoffs that Bamba/Embiid could be available. But that is wishful thinking, not actually based on anything. I have seen scuttle butt about Brown being available in Boston if the Celtics flame out, but am sure that has more to do with only one year left on his contract and the perception he is tired of being blamed for not delivering a title playing Robin to Tatum's Batman. A deal might be had there, but they will want Dame. Not Nurk, not Simons not picks. They want a difference maker to help Tatum now. They are in win now mode.

The way I see it, Dame asks for a trade and the Blazers try to oblige after the draft lottery. Or, Dame accepts the fact we wasted assets getting Nance and Covington and traded players (CJ, Norm) that did not have near the value many here thought they did, all in the name of building around Dame. He opts to stay in Portland and rolls with developing what we have and is the second or third option in a playoff run when the youngsters develop. The sad truth is what someone else posted, Dame is a top five scorer. Not so much defensively to a great extent. He is a small PG that is getting older, just as CP3. He is fun to watch, that's for sure. It is what it is. I thought we were gonna be world beaters when we had Roy/Aldridge and won the lottery. To bad we lost the draft (Oden over KD), Roy's knees flamed out and Aldridge didn't want to be Robin to Lillard's Batman.

Now we have a very exciting prospect in Sharpe and a lottery pick we haven't realized yet. It's a great start. Just let the Schmitz do his thing. There are seven very good players in this draft at the top end, and value throughout the top 25 in my opinion and most evaluators are saying so. Just don't do the rebuild with Robert/Simmons. Those are the type of vets that will be available to Portland, pennies on the dollar, and for the reasons all are aware of. My two cents again.

 

Don't know if this has been posted.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...azers-wont-trade-star-unless-he-requests-deal

I think he asks out. As was pointed out above, the odds ain't good for this organization in the next few years. I cannot get consumed by a 10% chance to get a guy that has never played in the league. Even with the number 1 pick POR are not contenders. What interests me the most now is what teams would Dame want to go to and what can they offer POR. It is worth considering.

 

Why does it matter where Dame wants to go if he’s the one asking to leave? He is not on an expiring contract like Grant was when he was traded to Portland.
Lillard has 3 more years on his contract and doesn’t have a no-trade clause (I am assuming).
Cronin has to take the best offer available.

 

Great questions. I'm sure Dame wants to go to a team associated with the letter "O" such as Orlando, Oklahoma City or Cleveland since they are in Ohio! But seriously, that is a better discussion than most of what is going on currently. Then, what can a team offer for Dame. I'm thinking mainly draft picks/swaps. Sure, salary has to match to some degree, but the receiving team can not be devoid of talent. That would defeat the purpose of the trade. And if a team would be devoid of talent after the trade, would Dame even want to be there? Great questions.

 

Bleacher report article = NO SHIT and DUH!!!

LOL

 

It doesn’t matter where Dame wants to be. He’s under contract for 3 more years.
Why do we care if the other team is devoid of talent?
You take the best trade for the Trail Blazers.
Should Danny Ainge have nixed trading Gobert because he didn’t think it was good for Minnesota?

 

Dame will retire a Blazer!

 

I agree completely, 100%. I was riffing off of posters that say Portland owes it to Dame to send him where he wants, to a contender, etc... Some posters here say if Portland does not (accommodate Dame to his liking) they will forever burn their reputation with players in the league who will never want to come to Portland because they didn't send Dame where he picks.

 

It's always great business practice for a sports team to say fuck you to the best player in franchise history, which, just sending him to a high bidder would be. Sometimes fans seem to struggle with how relationships meld with the business in basketball. I imagine that whoever we are building around, and their agents, when they see that, will be happy to stick around. Shit take.

 

What’s funny is that you mentioned golden state and they’re currently down 0-1 to the Kings.

 

It's a seven game series. As I mentioned in my post, seven game series. Let's chat about it in ten days.

 

They can’t be stupid enough to trade Sharpe. If we land #2 and snag Scoot I’m sending Lillard to the Heat for a package centered around Bam and picks. Bam is still only 25 and would fit with a core of Scoot/Ant/Sharpe/?/Bam.


We would have the most athletic starting 5 in the NBA no matter who played the 4.

 

Ants gotta go. Sharpe is a shooting guard. If you get Scoot, you trade Ant.

 

Are Sharpe and Scoot going to play 48 minutes per game? What happens if one of them is injured for a few games during the season?

Sharpe, Scoot and Simons could easily play 35 minutes per game. They’d only have to play together for 9 minutes.

If you didn’t want to play Simons together with Scoot and Sharpe, Simons could play 30 minutes per game off the bench like Josh Hart and Jordan Poole. Having a strong 8-man rotation is one key to taking another step forward for the Trail Blazers.

Trading Simons just to trade him won’t make the Blazers better.

 

I am 50/50 on trading Dame and I ma 100% on team over a player, but man, this is not upper deck card you dealing with. It is not about burning the reputation (cos it seems they don't have any anyway), it is about not saying FY to one of the best players you ever had.

 

it is kinda painful seeing the teams that have done the rebuilding work now performing really well and i have no idea who 70% of their team is.

dame has been an amazing player and has given everything to the franchise - but we've also had no real interest from any real star to come here and help.

we continue to surround him with short ball dominant carbon copy guards and seem content to record the same album of hits every year and the songs are getting a little tired and seeing next years tracklist is rather yawn.

we might not have a huge issue trading dame, even at this stage, but id want nurk gone too.

can Simons effectively play pg? i dont actually mind Grant, but not at a supermax - if he isnt gonna be reasonable i aint selling the farm for him.

 

ACL injuries are usually fine once you recover. It's a long road, but they recover well.