I mean if the only qualification for contending is winning championships than yes. But all those teams listed had at least got the conference in finals in the timeframes you listed. I’d say that’s contention.
Probably demanding a trade to a single team to join with a bunch of superfriends - while he spent 11 years here saying he was the type of guy to never do that.
Warriors weren't in a conference final from 1975-2014 Knicks 2000-current Nuggets from 1985-2019 (excluding fluke Melo 2009) Bulls 1998-current (excluding Rose 2011) Yes two of those teams made conference finals, the Jazz made it in 2007, we made it in 2019. I don't consider any of those teams to have been contenders as none of them went on to win multiple conference games so they never really had a shot at winning the title. To be a contender you need to be a team that had a realistic chance to win the title. We were certainly contenders in 1999 and 2000. Maybe we were contenders with Aldridge in 2015. We certainly weren't contenders in 2019 even if we made the same conference finals as in 1999 and 2000.
And you took offense to this? Guy gave this town and organization EVERYTHING and then some…..and then asked for help for 2+seasons in the middle of his prime and didn’t receive it…. He earned the right to be sent where he wanted. Not at the detriment of this team, but he had the right to request a destination. If that offended fans, you gotta be kidding me.
If Dame just said I want out and I would like this one destination and that was all he said then that would've been fine. Hell I'd probably have pushed for the Blazers to make a solid effort to accommodate him. The Blazers roster was a mess and it made no sense for him or the Blazers to continue with him here. But instead Dame and his agent planted stories that he wouldn't report to other teams and that he would refuse to play for them and would be disgruntled. The NBA had to organize a meeting between both Dame and the Blazers where they stepped in and said he was not allowed to do that. Dame tried to lower his trade value and back the Blazers into a corner where they had to give into him for that crap package Miami was offering. Do you not recall the media circus nationally and out of Miami about "doing right by Dame" and all that nonsense? Cronin had to cut off all communication with Dame and his agent as they were working to sabotage any negotiations to other teams. This coming from a guy who preached loyalty and criticize other players for going to super teams. But when it came time for his own change of teams he was about as toxic as any player has been in many years. Durant never demanded a trade to ONE team, and LeBron waited until his contracts were up - not less than a year after signing a supermax extension. If you think Dame had the right to demand whatever he wanted - I certainly have the right as a Blazer fan to be annoyed by it. I'm far from the only Blazer fan that was put off by Dame's behavior.
