Dame all but demanding vet roster

This cant be helpful for Cronins leverage when you have Haynes threatening a "conversation" if we make a pick at 3.

 

Why would the Nets trade us Bridges if they can just keep him and know Dame might try and force his way there?

Dame certainly should've made these opinions known privately to Blazers management. But going public with them does nothing to improve the Blazers chance to contend or the chance he stays with the franchise.

 

He got much higher in MVP voting and on All-NBA teams before. He has been asked these questions or had requests for interviews for years. His answers and willingness to answer is much different now....period. Not blaming him, not saying it isn't justified, but it is different.

 

Whats wrong with wanting a conversation? That doesnt mean a conversation to trade Dame. Maybe it means a conversation on the long term plans management has?

maybe those answers are good for Dame and that conversation goes well?

so much overblowing over “have to have a conversation”.

dog days of summer are in full bloom.
Ima go get my tim hat to avoid the aliens!

 

I actually think he is and im okay with it. I dont think he has the relationship he once did were convos all happen behind closed doors. I think he feels his message hasnt been clear enough in the past and so he is making it even clearer by going more public.
I also think we are overblowing the impact of the leverage his statements may have. Soo much goes into trades like cap issues, player fit with teams etc. i don't think his words will have major impact in negotiating.

 

At least people are talking about the Blazers for a change. Seriously though it doesn't bother me because I expected it to happen.
I do read the stories and comments but I take it all with a grain of salt.

 

I'd just trade Haynes, keep the 3 and sleep well.

 

If you’re a free agent, why would you sign with Portland while Dame is out there saying who he’d like to play for?

 

Lets be purely speculative and dig a little deeper into WHY Dame is being so publicly vocal. Is it because Dame knows what kind of offers Portland is getting for pick 3 and he does not like the offer? Maybe Dame does like the offer but Cronin does not. Does Dame know what is available on the trade front for a "difference maker" and Cronin does not like the deals why Dame does like them? Dame says himself he is constantly in contact with Cronin. If Portland is getting good offers for the 3, or good trade offers for say Ant, Nurk or any other player, there would most likely be no reason really for Dame to go public as he has. If Dame knows Cronin is working on a deal for Bridges, Dame knows silence is golden. But if there is no deal being worked on or to be had, he goes public. Is it a veiled threat to Cronin? Could be. These are factors I am thinking are playing out behind the scenes .

 

Then I would suggest staying off social media, the sports platforms, and certainly this board. Don't subject yourself to anything that makes you unhappy, mental health is #1!

 

In the exit interviews, Dame mentioned there were guys in the league who want to play with him in Portland. This "news" from Marang isn't anything new.

But certainly these off hand comments about other teams are not helping.

 

I will take my annual break from hoops after summer league.

 

To be fair, Haynes was just quoting what Dame said in April and what Dame said again in that interview.

 

If he’d done that, you’d have a point. In reality, in that interview he said he wants to stay in Portland and go for a title here. The interviewer pushed back and asked what teams would be of interest if things don’t work out in Portland. It would have been nice if he’d just blown it off, but Dame is a good guy and shared his thoughts.

 

Because that’s not what he said. He said that he didn't want another rookie and if that’s the route that the team decides to go, they would have a different kind of conversation. He basically said that he would ask to be traded without saying the exact words.

 

I know that. I listened to the whole thing. But regardless, he said who he’d like to play for if he was going to leave Portland, and if I’m a free agent that would make me think that Dame is considering leaving Portland. He already has a list in his mind if he decides to ask out.

 

If you're a free agent talking to dame, then you're actually talking to dame and know how he feels instead of adjusting what he said to fit a narrative. Pretty simple.

 

Ok but why would you really consider Portland if Dame is publicly saying things that indicate he would ask out if we draft a player?

If your buddy was asking you to come work with him, while also saying that he might be leaving the company if they don’t do what he wants, that would lead me to believe that I wouldn’t be joining a place on stable ground.

 

he may have exercised some questionable judgement in interviews lately. That doesn't mean I'm buying the assertion he's undermining Cronin's leverage by talking about Brooklyn or Miami because they are two of the 3 or 4 teams that might actually try to trade for Dame. All these fantasy Dame-trades to Houston or Orlando or Utah don't have any legs. Fake value nonsense

and as mentioned already, it may be that after a decade of Olshey, and what Dame has seen of Jody Allen & the Vulcans, and Cronin's relative inexperience, Dame doesn't feel like reducing pressure on the front office or ownership. He saw a decade of the 'risk-adverse-fence-straddling-dumpster-diving-easy-path-failures' of the Blazers under Olshey. He probably doesn't want to make it easy for them to find another fence to straddle

it doesn't make it easy on Blazer fans though, and when you're talking about trade-Dame fires there are plenty of posters here who will search for any spark and blow on it violently. Blow jobs galore