Dame all but demanding vet roster

Dame is being Dame but the bottom line is that he says he wants to stay here in every interview. He says that him and Joe have talked about what needs to be done. He says if things don't get done then that's another conversation. I respect the guy for being real and I do not think it hurts Joe's leverage in negotiations because Joe needs to be willing to take this team in whatever direction is best for the team. Joe can have preferred options and do his best to get us there but if those options are blocked then he needs to go a different direction and if people think that blocking those options will get them a shot at Dame then Joe needs to tell then that they are mistaken.

 

i see Dame and Cronin's public statements as;
Q: what are the Blazers selling ??

TICKETS. JERSEYS. A sports entertainment product. They have 2 completely different jobs, but work for the same company.

Lillard ain't no ring chaser = content with Portland floating in the NBA ocean with no direction.

breaking news! Lillard doesn't have an appetite to be part of a young rebuilding tanker squad. --> Can't hide it, it's too Late for that, Blazers are grabbing top rookies because they are very young, lack big strong ballers, and have a head coach that makes poor in-game decisions.

While Portland usually got mauled by physically tougher teams, they did excel against the really bad opponents, which is a good sign moving forward.

next page: Lillard will have serious discussions with Cronin this summer if the team doesn't look good.

pass the mic to Cronin

"Super duper win now mode"

"We want to build a title contender with Dame."
(Bingo! Lillard IS that good at basketball, putting Dame on any squad makes it a fantastic fun franchise that might win a bunch of games)

Portland has a gem, with Lillard on board, anybody that the GM acquires will be drilled into the fanbase as players Portland needs to make a deep playoff run.

There are 3 paths the Blazers can take:

1) go nuts and build an actual contender, woohoo!
2) shed salary at the deadline and tank again
3) trade Dame and enter the forbidden cellar

I've said it before, I don't mind the 2nd route, Portland is getting fantastic rookies while pretending to be a good team. I just need to adjust my expectations, and quit listening to the local media bragging about awesome Blazer happenings.

If I, as a longtime Blazer fan, quits complaining about terrible defensive effort, bad coaching, and an incompetent GM that seems to enjoy making everything worse, then that road to new top draft choices will be far less bumpy.

 

LOL. I mean. This is the most direct prediction I've ever seen.

 

Nurkic isn’t wrong.
Dame gone?
Then Grant is iffy … sign then eventually trade? S&T? Keep as veteran and good player? I don’t like real players walking.
Nurkic traded.
Simons if Scoot drafted? Probably gone. Miller or Amen? Stay, probably, unless picks.
Nas? Meh, but shopped.

Who stays? Shaedon Sharpe. Bench guys? Some.

 

Got it.

It would probably be better if you simply said "I don't like Dame talking about his desire for Portland to have a contending roster." vs "He is massively weakening the Blazers position in ALL NEGOTIATIONS. It is not even debatable" and "I am sure the league office does not appreciate this" "

Your original statements come off as fact, which should easily to prove. Instead, it sounds like those statements are simply you giving an educated guess based on your experience, with a lot of assumptions attached to it.

 

I actually really wanted Dame to speak up and put pressure on the team after the Pelicans series, but that was back when I still thought we could build around Dame.

But now that we might need to move on from Dame, maaaaaaaaaybe keep his mouth shut a bit?

 

I don't know how literal he was being, none of us do.

I do know he was asked the question on what change he would make if he were the commish and he said he would make teams have two old old vets on their roster. Then he went on to talk about the value of it. Currently old old vets are allowed to be on rosters, but not required, so him just liking that it can happen, would be a change at all.

 

I'm shocked you didn't like him not doing what you wanted and now he's doing what you wanted and you still don't like it.

Very much on brand!

 

Biggest issue is that veterans cost more money these days, and the new CBA is making it hard to retain salary for the sake of retaining salary.

 

Correct... so going all young and trying to obtain, develop, and retain multiple young stars into their prime would be more difficult path than ever.

 

I wanted it at that point in time and space!

I also wanted to sleep with Britney Spears when we were both 20. Not so much now.

Is that on brand?

 

Yes, on brand. Consistently unhappy things in the past didn't work out and currently unhappy with the way things are going!

 

Maybe Britney isn't a good comparison.... I'm not unhappy that I wouldn't want to sleep with her at this point. I just wouldn't want it.

Now, if we were talking about Gal Gadot or Blake Lively....

All that to say, it's not about being happy or unhappy. It's about whether it benefits me. Dame speaking up after the Pelican series would have benefitted me as a Blazer fan. It would have benefitted the team, but then again I think he talked with Paul after that series..... but nothing happened. Stotts was still here. CJ was still here. But Dame demanding a trade right now probably doesn't help his trade value, so that doesn't really benefit me.

 

well, if any one thing is apparent...it's that S2 members love to argue. We'd argue with a possum

 

Why does it have to be a possum? What is love? How do you know that I love to argue? I trust actions more than words.

 

Finally an example of you having good taste!

 

Aren't you in the trade Dame for draft pick and young players camp? You just say the Blazers are terrible at drafting, but want to trade a generational talent for draft picks?

 

If you go back and reread what I originally said, you'd see I was ribbing Nate at how he was pissing and moaning that Dame wasn't demanding the franchise do more 5 years ago and now that Dame is demanding it, he's pissing and moaning about it. Sure you can at least laugh at the irony in that.

I never said anything about people being happy with how the franchise has been managed for the last decade. At all. I've been very vocal with my displeasure with the amount of support we've put around Dame.

 

Hey wait…. I wasn’t pissing or moaning!