I’m getting very worried. I got friends talking shit telling me we are gonna get robbed and I’m defending Cronin, holy fuck.
But I'm not talking about the people who are fans of Dame but are wanting a good deal. I'm talking about the fans who think we should just deal Dame to make him happy.
You may have mis-read my post. If any of Herro, Lowry or Robinson actually ends up in Portland, I will be supremely dissatisfied. The necessary salary filler from Miami needs to end up somewhere else, and the pieces coming back to Portland need to either be reasonably-costed or short-term contracts on young players (like Simmons).
I am pretty sure that Woj was talking about NOW. That doesn't mean Joe didn't want Dame to stay before. Too much has happened in the last few days for a Dame return to make sense.
I am not upset about that. You pay the GM for talent evaluation and cap management. If they did not find trades that were worth it, talent wise, I would rather have the team aspect on it. It's a shame that the assets could not bring the right talent on Dame's time-line, but that's not Cronin's mistake, that happened when NeO did not get any assets for LMA or when he did not split Dame and CJ to balance the roster when CJ still had value. At this point, Joe is thinking long term and that's the best thing for the team.
Why do people keep asking these questions? We don't fucking know but we do know other teams with similar if not worse assets have pulled off win now trades during the last year and a half. So I don't know what deals were out there, I don't know who Joe tried and failed to get. I just know that he said one thing and did the opposite. I'm not even saying that was the worst move for the team. It was just the worst way to handle things if he didn't want to lose Dame. Joe has probably actually been really smart he's just been very opaque about his plans and that is why I don't blame Dame for doing whatever the fuck he wants to get wherever the fuck he wants. There are really only two ways to look at it Joe either sucks at setting a goal and attaining them, to the point that it pissed Dame off at the level we are currently seeing or Joe was saying one thing while he was actively trying to and achieving another which caused the same reaction from Dame. I actually hope he was trying to push Dame out the door because at least that would show some competency.
I just want someone to point me to ONE report that the Blazers turned down a reasonable offer for the #3 pick. I haven't seen a single report of a reasonable offer. I have heard of lowballs. I have heard that we were turned down on #3 and Simons offers. I have yet to meet a Blazer fan who would toss in Sharpe to get Siakam or Bridges or Paul George.
There's a midpoint where both sides win. The meeting could have concluded with a "mutual agreement" where both sides acknowledge it was time to move on from one another. We would try to send Dame to the best situation for him, and Dame thanked the Blazers, the fans, and the front office for trying to do right by him. No specific destination requests (although those could be communicated behind the scenes) Sure, it would be complete bulls***, but the fans would still love Dame. Joe would have leverage. Instead, we have this public mess where Dame is acting worse than LeBron. He's self-immolating and I just can't figure out why.
It's a two way street. He can't make a deal if there isn't a willing partner. Dame put him in a corner. He had no leverage, other than to walk away. If there was fair deals out there, and he passed on them, we would have heard about them. He said he would do lopsided trades to get help, but he didn't say he would get completely fleeced and that seems to be what teams were trying to do.
Dame and his agent are playing hard ball with Portland and Riley is pulling strings. Sly offered a possible reason why Dame might be operating with a big chip on his shoulder toward Portland. But Dame may be losing track of how badly his image is getting tarnished and how big of a hypocrite he seems right now that's all a sideshow though. What matters for Blazer fans is that Cronin is in a box right now. You can hate Dame for what he's doing but what's he's doing has already been done. I'm having a hard time seeing how Cronin gets a good trade, or at least better than the somewhat weak PDX/Miami/BKN trades we've talked about that has 3 picks coming instead of the 5 or 6 pick pipe-dream, because I'm having a hard time seeing how Cronin's leverage increases over time. The only way it does is if Dame opens up his list of teams. I don't believe it increases if it comes down to a stalemate
And Dame is partially to blame for that. His public utterances have kneecapped our front office for a year and a half. If he just would have kept quiet in public (push hard behind the scenes), our front office could have been dealing from a position of strength. I don't want to think this, but I am arriving at the conclusion that Dame has wanted out for a couple of years and his public utterances about forcing the Blazers to make a move was intentional to handicap the front office, so we would have to trade him, and do so from a position of weakness. Dame knows any deal for him kills the future of his destination team, unless he weakens the Blazers' negotiating ability. Dame, nor his agents, are this dumb.
Have to be willing to call Dame's bluff and let this ride into the season. Dame doesn't have time. He's 33. Is the Miami offer going to change between now and the trade deadline? A bunch of shitty picks and mediocre talent? Probably not.
The way out of that box is just to refuse to accept a deal that doesn't meet a certain standard (e.g., Durant level). Just be patient and make clear that Dame is still a valued member of this franchise. Lillard won't sit or play half-a**ed. He'll kill himself to play so well teams will offer us the moon for him, and it will be to a contender. In other words, to quote the TV show Kung Fu, "Patience, Grasshopper."
And that's the other aspect about all the leaks from Dame's camp , with him telegraphing the forced choice between keeping him and keeping the young assets. Other teams smelled the blood in the water and knew they could try to extract as much out of Portland as possible. Some other teams figured that they could just wait it out and Dame would become available. It all made any leverage impossible leading into the draft from Portland's side of things, which I don't know if that was really Dame's intention or not. But his inability to just play it closer to the vest, keep his mouth shut, and let the business side of it work itself out has made him look foolish at best and like a massive douche at worst.
I've noticed a couple things since the Lillard trade request. First, the barricade holding back Blazer fans that just want to fight and argue has been weaponized. This isn't basketball right now, it's getting dirty, it's getting personal. Blazer fans that simply compliment Lillard for having a great career in Portland are walking on eggshells. Best advice is to hide in the cellar until the angry hoard passes by. Another thing I see is franchise embarrassment. The Blazers only superstar has basically said management in Portland stinks, I can't take it no more, please get me the hell out of here. OUCH. Naturally the Blazers self defense button gets turned on, and the Blazers are trying to flip the narrative by saying EVERYTHING wrong in Portland is Lillard's fault. Which feeds the before mentioned rampaging battalion that go into chat rooms armed with nothing but personal insults towards Damian or anyone else who dares speak up.
I disagree. This is an absolutely binary situation between the Blazer team and Dame. I am not one who would say Joe handled everything correctly, because I don’t know, and he probably did not. What I can say is Dame has handled his trade request about as poorly as could be imagined. I don’t even blame his agent as he works for Dame. All the years he preached about not running from the grind and the importance of loyalty are out the window. In his effort to give the middle finger to Blazer management and ownership (both of which will change one day) he has also given it to the Blazer fan base which for the greater part will remain loyal. This parting could have been done in an amicable manner, but now that is not possible as Dame and his support team are acting much like a petulant child.
I see two parties attempting to do what they feel is in their own best interest. There is a case that cooperating may have produced the best outcome, but if both sides didn't have full trust in each other, then expecting them to work together is also a stretch. I don't think Cronin or Dame are really handling this wrong. It's a tricky situation.
