This. Dame wants to contend. What team could trade value for Dame, and still be a contender. I find the sheer quantity of Dame wants out to be on a better team hysteria to be borderline ridiculous.
The blueprint is for style between the 2 guards that need the ball in their hand to be productive, between harden and Westbrook it was the shorter one that was a better defender, so, if scoot can reproduce the defensive intensity that Westbrook had as a young guard, you get the blueprint for how the 2 ball dominant guards can coexist productively.
I think Dame stays….till the trade deadline when we are 10th/11th in the west and someone offers us a mega package we can’t turn down then have multiple lotto picks next year where we get our Bigs of the future.
Mine wasn't. It's gonna be lit. If we suck out of the gates the noise is gonna be louuuuuud. Didn't mean a trade was gonna be done
That is certainly what some people on twitter are saying but I don't know where they come up with that? There are a couple that seem to think they know what has been said between the GM and the player/agent. Not sure how they got that info? Kind of seems like they are projecting quite a bit.
Cronin: Dame, we offered Ant and 3 to Brooklyn for Mikal, they said no. We asked about Siakam, Ujiri wants you for Pascal. NOLA offers Zion for Ant Shae 3. None of those and other options make sense for us. Dame: I understand. I'm not stupid. You did the right thing.
To me it feels like someone who is angry about the lack of movement, with a hint of inflated ego regarding what they think they know. Kind of like how we used to hear people complain that they couldn't believe "they didn't trade for" a certain player/players because they were personally able to use the ESPN trade machine and find a trade that could work financially...but didn't put into consideration that both teams have to agree with the parameters of the trade. A lot of "black or white" thinking, imho. "We are going to try to upgrade the roster" is not the same as "we ARE going to upgrade the roster". If Cronin (etc) wanted to upgrade the roster, but didn't want to get fleeced, he's smart not to trade the #3 pick + Anfernee + Shaedon for someone like Zion or Pascal or Bridges. And yes, they did "get fleeced" trading away Roco and Norm, but that was under different circumstances. Much like the Wizards giving away Beal and KP has no bearing on the Blazers trading Dame for pennies on the dollar. Past trades don't necessarily mean future trades will all follow that forumula. If they did, Cronin would've probably already traded with Toronto or given up a lot of players + picks for Bridges. You can't complain that he gets fleeced one minute, and then bitch that he didn't get fleeced the next. But until we know for sure that the Blazers passed on trades that were good deals financially and player movement wise, I guess it's easier for them to act like they know the details of the trades and assume we're just Cronin apologists (instead of actually being pragmatic about things).
So many rosters were “better” than DEN on paper. Just ask Vegas at the start of the season. Talent is one part of the equation as are fit, chemistry, coaching, health, and a dash of luck. Somehow Vegas doesn’t get that because betting activity is driven by everyday ordinary douchebags like you and me.
I think there aren't too many teams in the west that are guaranteed to be significantly better than the Blazers (Denver and Phoenix). But even Phoenix is an unknown, tbh. They might have over-tinkered with that roster, fired their coach and went full on NBA2K with thinking they only have to put stars together. That's not to say Portland would be a better team next year (even with a miracle trade of Simons + futures for someone like OG), but even the teams that did 'get better' (G-State this off season, and the Lakers at the trade deadline) are still dealing with getting old and potential injury issues. Dallas is a cluster, Minnesota is cluster, Memphis is an unknown (due to the suspension/whether or not Smart will work/be right for them), San Antonio probably won't be a playoff team, Utah is in the mix, OKC...well, you get the point. There's a bunch of teams in the middle that aren't significantly better or worse than each other. HOWEVER, if Portland goes into this next season with the roster as is (which imho, feels like a distinct possibility), then nothing of what I said above will be true. They will probably be, at best, among the teams fighting for a play-in. And not in the good way (meaning if they were in the 4-6 range vs the 12-10 range).
I wonder how much of these kinds of posts are based on the interview he did where he was asked if he would like to play for Brooklyn or Miami, and not Dame actually saying he wants to be traded. In other words, until Damian himself says it, it means nothing.
