Nearly 1/2 billion dollars. I have to be honest, I'd be pretty damn loyal for that as well. I wish him a ring, whatever happens. It just doesn't seem like it will be here, so then time to move on to the next era and cut the cord if that is the case.
Exactly. We are trying to build a winning team and we have two foundational pieces who are 20 years old. So much time now to go out and add in core pieces.
And probably 2 of the most talented, athletic, explosive, entertaining foundational pieces you could ask for… home run 2 years in a row will make a quick rebuild
I'm all for prioritizing the young talents of this franchise and not trading it away. But no I disagree with your comment, that's a very bad take. Many fans are very emotionally connected to Dame, which is fine. The team is ultimately about the people connected to it including the players. Dame embodies that more than any Blazer ever. I am upset too, it's just father time is unrelenting, Dame is aging, and the Blazers don't have enough talent to contend soon.
I get what you are saying… but he is 33… you have to know when to move on. No move makes a team from 5th worst to title contender.
Alright , so after listening to Joe, i've come to the conclusion that both keeping Scoot and building around Dame can coexist. Scoot will get time at point behind Dame, at 2G behind Shaedon, and at C behind Nurk ( the Stu Inman, "but we have Drexler". Bobby Knight "play Jordan at center" thing). I still think Joe is going to bring in some veteran depth at the 2/3, DeRozan possibly. That would help free up the pick reconciliation situation with Chicago by trading Ant / pick. The cap space would be there in that kind of move. The dawn of a new day. Gus Williams & Dennis Johnson weren't huge dudes. But they were great players who played side by side to a title. Go Blazers!!
And if Scoot and Shaedon are special, added to Dame's amazing talent, this team should become special as well.
I think all fans would be on the same page with that. No one ever wanted Dame to leave, we just didn’t want to mortgage the future for a short term move. I think they can play together. I’d look to move Simons for more size if Dame wants to stay.
this was a discussion about Scoot/Sharpe possibly being part of a championship duo lol...I wasn't talking about competing against players like John Butler or Shaq Harrison
Partially disagree. Portland possesses two foundational pieces and I think they will both be great players (HOF trajectory) so, that part, I agree with tremendously. The way I see it, a championship squad usually possesses one superstar and three All-Stars/borderline All-Stars with good bench depth (usually a sixth man and some young player who steps up) and usually, at least three starters who can defend. Last several championship squads have demonstrated this. ex. Jokic-Murray-Gordon-MPJ//Curry-Klay-Draymond-Wiggins//Giannis-Middleton-Jrue-Lopez//Kawhi-Lowry-Siakam-Van Fleet//Lebron-AD-Kuzma-Rondo//KD Warriors Portland will need to replicate this. Because there's really not any precedence for a non-elite three point shooting backcourt to contend, one should begin to wonder about the kind of help Portland can get at the 3-5 positions. Size matters here, essentially. The Blazers are going to have to find an All-Star caliber wing/forward who can shoot and defend to compliment Scoot's weaknesses, especially considering how vital that archetype has been to the last decade of championship teams and their runner-ups. But the problem is that those players are much rarer and more difficult to obtain than point guards that can score. As far as I can tell, the next draft doesn't project to have this player. Either the wing/forwards lack defense or a three point shot or don't have the athleticism/first step necessary to be a major star. In fact, the next two drafts are expected to be weak. in general. Scoot and Sharpe are young enough that Portland can spend two, maybe three, years tanking. But after that, they're going to breakout and it's going to be difficult for Portland to secure the type of player since the team will likely be too good to acquire a top pick. Essentially, it'd end up being like Dame and CJ after Aldridge left. They were too good to tank for players like Tatum, Ingram, JJJ, maybe LaMelo, etc that they absolutely needed next to them to compliment their skills and weaknesses. I would expect Portland to have Westbrook+Harden or Carmelo+Iverson type experiences (superstar duos with supporting pieces but no extra All-Star help) before re-shaking things up. A championship squad can still be built out of that. It's just going to require constant retooling for 10 years and no guarantees that Scoot or Sharpe have the same loyalty as Dame did. Imo, the disappointment for Portland will be that....with the level of potential that Sharpe possess (higher potential than Lillard, mind you), I think Portland may have missed out on a dynasty by embracing the current route. Let's hope I'm wrong and the Blazers get the 2025 #1 pick and acquire the next Scottie Pippen.
You got to know when to hold em and know when to fold em. It's a tricky game, but in the end, it's just a game.
I heard some reactions to drafting Scoot mention how Scoot will extend Dame's playing career by being the guard who drives and bangs in the post while Dame can catch and shoot more. Made sense to me. Dame spends a lot of time on the ground and as you age less of that is probably going to keep you in the game longer. Scoot can play though contact now and is young enough to do it for another decade on that level
We don't need either to be better than Dame. What we need is for them together to be better than any of the other Dame-inclusive backcourts we've seen here the past decade. And I think that's definitively possible. I do think it's relevant to point out, however, that we're once again guard-focused, without any elite frontcourt talent. I'd really like to see them add a top-5-pick-caliber forward to this rebuild.
I like them too, but they can't really be a champ foundation. The only backcourt which was that during the last 20 years was Klay and Curry - and they were the #1 and #2 shooters of all time. They were dominant at a very important aspect of the game. Luka and Brunson could have been that too, but Luka has GOAT potential. Despite being in 2023, i still think you need a very talented forward\tall player in order to reach that upper echelon.
