Dame all but demanding vet roster

We’ve never been serious title contenders. I don’t consider that “winning”. That’s not on Dame either

 

We've won more with Dame than without him. Since the year 2000 we've been a more serious title threat with Dame than we have been without him.

Any lack of success has been the direct result of a poorly constructed roster or injuries.

 

No we haven't. Having zero chance is exactly the same as having zero chance.

 

not during Dame's time PDX hasn't.

I am harboring a small flicker of optimism for 2024-5 if they play their cards right

STOMP

 

Please find one reputable odds maker that has given the Blazers zero chance every year of Dame's career.

You do that and I'll stand corrected.

 

Me too. I still say that the most likely outcome of either a reload around Dame or a total rebuild is a team that wins a series or two, but doesn’t win a title. It’s just damned difficult to win a title, particularly if you don’t have one of the top 2 or 3 guys in the league at either PF or C. That said, I think that Cronin can add talent this summer that will make the Blazers a solid playoff team, and then tweak it a bit the following summer to truly compete.

 

You either ARE a title threat, or you are not.

We have not been a title threat while Dame has been a Blazer. We haven't been a title threat since 99-00.

I know this because we have been absolutely dismantled any time we went up against an actual contender.

2013-2014 - lost 4-1 to the Champion Spurs in the Semis.
2014-2015 - lost 4-1 to the (lol) Grizzlies in the first round.
2015-2016 - lost 4-1 to the Warriors in the Semis.
2016-2017 - lost 4-0 to the Champion Warriors in the first round.
2017-2018 - lost 4-0 to the (lol) Pelicans in the first round.
2018-2019 - lost 4-0 to the Warriors in the WCF.
2019-2020 - lost 4-1 to the Champion Lakers in the first round.
2020-2021 - lost 4-2 to the Nuggets in the first round.

We got obliterated in every series but the Nuggets, and that team was missing Murray and a few other key people. We were NEVER a contender with Dame. Not once. That's not his fault, but that's the reality of it.

 

Disagree. 2014-15 before Mathews went down that team was close. I also happen to feel that was the deciding factor for Aldridge leaving so I believe that team could have contended for more than one year.

 

I don't think there was a chance in hell that LMA came back under any circumstances. I think his mind was made up about leaving several years before, and one of (if not THE) biggest mistakes Neil made while he was GM was not trading LMA.

 

First, injuries happen, and that could have seen us get a favorable matchup in the WCF and Finals. They play the games for a reason.

Second, we were a contender with Aldridge. Injuries and Aldridge's ego derailed that.

Further, making this argument in this thread is just arguing semantics. We have always been better with Dame than without him. We have never (to my knowledge) had the opportunity to trade him for anything that would have made us better. The organization failed Dame (and us) by keeping CJ too long and failing to put talent and size around Dame.

I feel like the failure this season will be failing to get one of the great coaches who were available.

 

We weren't. We were dismantled by the Spurs and Grizzlies with Aldridge. Maybe if LMA had stuck around until Dame reached his peak, but then you have to wonder.... would Dame have reached his peak with LMA still on the team?

This is irrelevant. Being good is subjective. The problem is we have never been good enough.

It never made sense to trade Dame until the last year or so, when it became clear that this team would never achieve contending status while Dame is still in his prime.

 

We lost to the Grizzlies because Aldridge quit as soon as Matthews went down. We were a contender until that point. Problem was, we weren't deep enough to overcome that injury, and Aldridge turned out to be a piece of shit quitter.

The whole conversation is irrelevant. We were good enough until Matthews went down. We had a non-zero chance every other season.

It has never made sense to trade Dame if the goal was to win.

 

I don't think you can legitimately claim that the team was a contender if LMA was that mentally fragile. Do you think that team could have honestly stacked up against the Warriors or the Cavs? And that's what a true contender is. A team that can go blow for blow with the best teams in the league. The Warriors crushed everyone that year.

 

Silly argument. There is no such thing as "zero chance" with odds makers. The Pistons this year were +50000. That doesn't mean they actually had a chance. Not once in Dame's career have we ever actually had a chance. You know that and that's why you trot out this silly argument in the first place.

 

Well I guess we disagree on that also but I certainly can’t say you are wrong.
I seem to remember watching him change after that injury and I really felt that it was the deciding factor. Just seems like if that team stays healthy and they get to the WCF or better that he would have stayed.

 

Yeah. As long as we had players to keep Aldridge pumped up he would have been fine. If we had another Matthews behind him he would have kept playing. He always quit as soon as it could be blamed on something else. Don't give him a reason and Portland was a contender.

The problem was, we should have traded him before or during that season. But we were certainly a legit contender that season.

Again, unless you just want to argue semantics. Which I'm not interested in doing.

 

The thing with Aldridge is he had already been through the injury to a teammate thing a few times. First Oden and all that hype. Then watching BRoy go down a slow decline. Then Wes gets the Achilles injury which 8 years ago was much more questionable than today.
I just think he felt snake bit at that point.

 

That's the point. That's what I said in my original post. Dame gave us our best shot since 2000. Never, at any point could we have traded Dame and increased those odds.

I'm not interested in being a perpetual lotto team because we blow it up every year we can no longer sell the baking cake theory. Been there, done that.

 

Honestly I just disagree with you guys. I think LMA had checked out because he knew he wasn't going to be coming back that summer. He had made up his mind. I don't think Wes mattered in the least. I think LMA played us. Dude was a diva from day one.

 

And I responded by saying in none of those seasons did they ever actually have a chance. You knew exactly what I meant but immediately tried to make it a semantic argument. Then a couple posts later you proclaim you don't want to argue semantics. Grow up.