What has actually happened since Dame requested a trade is that the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully touched down near the lunar south pole region on August 23, 2023. India's first lunar landing and the first on/close to the south pole by any country.
What is on him is making it only be one team. That, and only that, is what makes me disappointed in Lillard.
Excerpts from an article in Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/seandeveney/2023/08/30/harsh-truth-about-damian-lillard-trade-market-it-was-never-really-there/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=topic/portlandtrailblazers&sh=211679e37f33):
When an article claims that he missed 24 games last year due to injury, completely ignoring that 10 of those missed games were at the end of the year due to tanking, it invalidates the speculation, conclusions and claims throughout the remainder of the piece.
Yeah, this seems like agenda-written reporting, or just really poorly-informed. He's had one or two occasions where he missed a significant number of games in a row in 11 years because of injury. One of those was because he elected to play in the Olympics and put off surgery on his core and then the team decided to tank and hold him out the rest of the way. Dame's health has zero impact on the trade value. In fact, Dame's production at his age is part of the reason the Blazers should expect a better return for him than the typical 33-year-old.
<goodwin does the most obvious, bad faith market meddling of all time> forbes: 'well, besides all THAT—are we sure 'anyone' wants damian lillard though?'
One of the funniest things about Damian Lillard is that he invokes the most amazing 2-part, SAS-esque sentences of any player I can think of. I feel like every writer and podcaster does this and it makes me chuckle every single f'ing time, lol. They all think it's some sort of blaspheme to diss Dame because of what he represents and who he is. it's always 'Look—Damian Lillard, great player. One of the most exciting guys in the game, and I tune in whenever he plays, truly. He's absolutely a difference maker, and worthy of his top 75 status, for sure.' ... ... 'But are we sure he's ever made a single teammate of his a better NBA player, and are we sure any NBA team would start him at point guard knowing that?'
that article from Forbes is a classic example of agenda-driven-half-assed-misinformed speculation. "Can't stay healthy"...what a crock of shit that said, I think the main claim is probably correct and that's there isn't a sizable market for Dame. There was never going to be and all the dreams about 'huge hauls' and 'godfather packages' weren't grounded in reality there are several reasons for that starting with that the Blazers want a return for trading Dame that would match what a lottery team could give. But lottery teams just wouldn't be that interested in Dame because of mismatched timelines. And some of the teams that would seem a good fit for Dame have already cashed in their chips: Minny for Gobert; Cavs for Mitchell; 76ers for Harden. There is no team out there willing to sell the farm for Dame, and the 2 or 3 that might be have no farms to sell That market for Dame was already very thin before he asked out. The actions of his agent not only made it thinner, it left the Blazers with almost no leverage. In fact, the only real leverage Portland was left with was to ignore Dame's request and expect him to show up for TC and the season...which they sure appear to be doing
TBF, there's a sizable gap between 'huge haul' expectations and that herro/drob/2 picks/1 swap opener, though.
that Forbes article is a copy & paste Woj hit piece. I would bet that writer has never watched much Blazer action. Is time running out to get a few licks on Damian before the trade to Heat goes through? Using "out of context" games played numbers, in an weak attempt to explain why nobody wants to trade for Lillard. Let's use the actual list of Dame games. It will describe one of the toughest, most durable PG's in the NBA. 2012/13 - played all 82, (rookie, missed playoffs) 2013/14 - played all 82, playoffs 11 2014/15 - played all 82, playoffs 5 2015/16 - played 75 of 82, playoffs 11 2016/17 - played 75 of 82, playoffs 4 2017/18 - played 73 of 82, playoffs 4 2018/19 - played 80 of 82, playoffs 16 2019/20 - played 66 of 72, playoffs 4 2020/21 - played 66 of 72, playoffs 6 2021/22 - played 29 games injured, needed surgery 2022/23 - played 58 of 70 non-tanking games. this list in no way reflects an oft-injured washed up old guy on a terrible contract. Because in the 58 games Lillard played last season, he climbed the ladder of league leading scorers, wound up in the #3 spot with a sizzling 32.2ppg, 7+ast, 4+reb stat line. if anything, this list of Dame games brings in the question; why are games Lillard played in playoffs such a low number ?? 4's & 5's and 6, wtf ?? Was Lillard all banged up and couldn't go? > NO The rosters Neil Olshey patched together had inherent flaws, and the Blazers kept getting spanked by bigger, more physical teams in the playoffs.
It only matters that another team THINKS he will make a difference. It doesn't matter if you or I think he will, or if he actually does. "Making a difference" doesn't apply ton I would be fine just ignoring his trade request, as it is. Unless Dame is out of touch with reality, he should expect it too. If anyone has watched "Winning Time" episode 4, or remembers the 1981-82 Lakers, everything does not need to be hunky dory or smooth with everyone singing Kumbaya, to have a successful season. Those Lakers swept the Sonics and Spurs in the playoffs then beat the 76ers 4-2 in the finals. Magic gets a big contract which upsets his teammates, including Kareem. Kareem wonders what it would be like playing in New York. Nobody likes the head coach, especially Magic Johnson. Magic dislikes the coach so much that he asks for a trade. Coach Westhead is fired after a 7-4 start to the season. On November 18, 1981, at halftime while on the road at Utah, Magic Johnson and coach Paul Westhead had a verbal altercation in the locker room. It was stated by teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that Johnson had offered input on the game, which resulted in Westhead twice telling him to "Shut up." Johnson then told reporters after this game that he would like to be traded anywhere, resulting in a barrage of media coverage. One day after these events, Lakers owner Jerry Buss held a press conference at The Forum, where he announced the firing of Westhead, with his replacement being Pat Riley as "coach" and general manager Jerry West as "offensive coach". West came to the podium and clarified to media that Riley was indeed the head coach and that West himself would simply provide him support on the bench, which lasted for a period of 12 games. Although Johnson denied responsibility for Westhead's firing,[2] he was booed across the league, even by Lakers' fans[3] However, Buss was also unhappy with the Lakers offense and had intended on firing Westhead days before the Westhead–Johnson altercation, but assistant GM West and GM Bill Sharman had convinced Buss to delay his decision.[4] The growing rift between Riley and Westhead Once close friends and confidants, the rift between Riley and Westhead was growing rapidly as things spiraled. Westhead did, in fact, hire a new assistant coach, a move that was not received well in the front office as Westhead described in his book. “I finally selected Mike Thibault because of his NBA experience. My pick was not popular with Jerry West, who proceeded for the ensuing year to criticize the activity of Thibault. I knew this was another problem between West and I, but I felt that as long as we did well, I could withstand his criticism.” Norm vs. Magic While Westhead took much of the blame for how things played out, Norm Nixon and Magic Johnson were one of the obvious issues on the court. Despite having won a title together barely more than a year prior, the two — like their coaching staff — were not on the same page. The most dramatic scene of the episode was the final one in which Norm, Magic and Dr. Buss have a showdown of sorts. Incredibly, very little of that scene was dramatized, as it all really happened as detailed by Magic in his autobiography, “Magic:” Eventually, the two would reconcile legitimately and head into camp on good terms once again. And the common ground they found? Hating Westhead. July 31, 1981 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has notified the Los Angeles Lakers that he would like to be traded immediately to either the New York Knicks or New Jersey Nets, according to a source close to the situation. Abdul-Jabbar's desire to finish his pro basketball career in his home town was conveyed last week to Dr. Jerry Buss, the owner of the Lakers, by Thomas M. Collins, Abdul-Jabbar's business representative. Growing dissatisfaction with some of Buss's more flamboyant deals recently, an apparent problem in communications between Buss and Abdul-Jabbar, and sagging morale on the Lakers' squad are believed to be the three factors behind Abdul-Jabbar's decision to seek a trade, the source said. November 19, 1981 The Los Angeles Lakers' guard Earvin (Magic) Johnson, citing differences with Coach Paul Westhead, said tonight that he wanted to be traded. Johnson said that he planned to talk with the team's owner, Jerry Buss, tomorrow. ''I can't play here anymore,'' Johnson said after the Lakers' 113-110 victory over the Utah Jazz. ''I want to leave. I want to be traded.'' Johnson said he had differences with Westhead, but refused to be specific. He then declined to say anything more and left the Los Angeles dressing room still wearing his uniform. His announcement surprised his teammates and Westhead. ''This is the first I've heard of it,'' Westhead said. Last year Johnson signed a 25-year contract with the Lakers for $25 million. The contract calls for Johnson to become part of the team's management once he retires.
