And anyone that didn't think CJ had inside information over a month ago that he said this was the year Dame would want out of Portland, i've got some oceanfront property in South Dakota to sell you
100% this. EVEN IF the Blazers come out as the "bad guys" in all of this, we're probably no more than 24-36 months away from new ownership (and hopefully leadership along with it). With new ownership comes a clean slate for this kind of thing...
Yeah when CJ said that I knew something was up. And you know he ran that through Dame before he said it.
Depends on the current team. I don't think a 36-year old Dame would net Jody more money than a 22-year old Scoot.
He wasn't even confident when he said that. He's just one of the talking heads that helped push Dame out.
Likely not. I posited before Dame made the request public, that Jody was trying to "build around Dame" as cheaply as possible to sell a team with an aging superstar and cheap, young talent around him. None of that matters though...
I'd agree with you, except that was a couple days after they saw each other. It was all too coincidental to be an accident.
Actually I don't think he did. Because Dame was surprised when he heard about it and then CJ quickly retracted the statement. I think CJ wanted his moment in the sun and he said some shit he wasn't supposed to say.
I don't think so. I think the Media, his agents, friends like CJ, etc got into his ear and their repeated suggestions of him leaving helped push him out.
I personally think Cronin and Dame have been playing chicken with each other since Cronin took over as GM. It may not have been pre-calculated but it has been a battle the entire time, just now it's public.
Maybe, gut I fought back and forth with people about what would happen if we used the pick. Dame repeated multiple times that if we used the pick, that was not his path. He said he did not have the appetite to play with another 19 year old rookie. He said that if we chose not to use the assets that we had to get pieces to help him compete, he would have a separate conversation with the team. He said that back in... what.... April? Dame drew a line in the sand, we ignored it. Now he has followed through and he asked out. I'm sure that Dame knew what was coming. He saw that we were getting excited about Scoot or Miller. The die was cast.
People argued with me at the time, but that post about Judas walking amongst us and taking a picture of dialogue about traps waiting for him.... that HAD to be aimed at the team and Joe.
Dude there was something (maybe Haynes?) Talking about how Dame wanted to ask out two years ago but didn't want to leave Chauncey hanging. I'd have to think the Blazers knew that and started considering alternative ways of building the team. This has to have been on his mind for awhile. He could have even asked Aldridge in their talks what it was like on the other side.
I will laugh my ass off if nobody makes a deal with Cronin, and Lillard sits out in protest collecting a 50 million dollar check, while the Blazers continue losing for ping pong balls.
