Exclusive 2019 Trade Deadline Thread

It still goes back to the same debate we have all been having for 3 years......is the problem in the playoffs Dame and CJ or is the problem the other 10 guys?
Dame sees that the top teams add more and more firepower. So lets see what happens when they give them more. My guess is that in Dame's mind replacing one player for another does not add more fire power.

 

Yup. There is no synergy, and until Dame actually plays in a different system with a different coach, or Neil trades CJ, and Dame gets another complementary player, I don't think he'll realize it. Stats are alarming-- Both CJ and Dame are nearly twice as efficient with Nurk on the court rather than each other.

 

and who's opinion should we go with? The one that is one of the best players in the NBA or some guys hanging out in a basketball team forum? I think Dame's sentiment extends well beyond just the team as many other analysts and those in the NBA seem to see things similar to Lillard.

 

You can't compare CJ and Seth to CJ and Dame. It's not just the other 3 guys on the floor that makes it flawed, but the opposing 5 as well.
Regardless we are talking about what Dame said. I just don't believe he was talking about "role guys who might not be in the league if traded to another team"

 

Agreed players don't make good GM's or coaches. But again I am just commenting on what I believe is Dame's mind set on the subject. I could be wrong though.

 

Too bad you are not sensitive at my argument. But i stand by my point. Journalism is expensive. And if we want it to remain it must be a effort to pay for it.

 

Anyone See Dames comments in HoppsH about the team and competing against the mega talent teams?
He also comments on his feelings about influencing trades and how it's not his way.

I really like his attitude about the team!

 

I’m going to go out there and get to the playoffs and put my best foot forward before I go out there and say (clicks his tongue) ‘Man, you need to go out there and get him instead of him.’ Because that’s not who I am,” Lillard said. “And I don’t care what nobody has to say about it. I’m not going to be the person to say I want to win a ring so bad and all I care about is winning. “Because at the end of the day, I know in my heart I want to win. I want to win a championship for this city, but I’m not willing to put somebody under the bus to do it. That means more to me than saying ‘I won a championship!’ but now this guy has been traded to a bad situation, and now his team don’t like him as much and he might be out of the league in a year. I’m not going to have that. I’m not going to have that on me.”
– via The Athletic

 

"You can't see the forest from the trees."
Also, if you want to hold your job, you don't tell the boss what to do.

 

Interesting article. A couple observations.

First, a team this wildly inconsistent trying to sell "continuity" as a strategy? That is somewhere between "facepalm" and "hold your head and weep."

Second, Turner blurts out a hard truth. A team that is supposedly trying to win now should not be drafting "prospects" instead of players. Does Olshey actually have a consistent plan?

 

All of that continuity stuff came from Dame. Which is interesting.

Someone had to say this. Dame is too selfless -- he cares more about Simons' development than how Simons (or someone instead of him) could help Dame.

Here was what he said about Simons before the season:

 

Generally understood? So you would value opinions of some posters in an anonymous forum over Lillard? Lillard seems to me to be one of the most level headed and genuine players in the league, but I have no link to prove it. Just an opinion.

I have no link for things that I have seen on various NBA programming on TV.

 

Wouldn't be the first time in Portland someone wanted something for free that someone else worked for.

 

Who could we have drafted instead of Simons that would be helping us out this year? Gary Trent Jr was supposed to be pretty NBA ready for a one and done 2nd round pick and he hasn't played a single meaningful minute this season.

The Collins pick was definitely on potential versus helping Dame now but Olshey drafted Swanigan as more of a ready now pick and that turned out to be a terrible choice.

I think in the draft you just gotta pick whatever player you think will have the best career. Need should only come into play if two players have a similar grade.

 

I do pay for it. If I want to share what I pay for, that’s up to me.

 

We have had 4 first round picks over the past two drafts and only got one contributor to the current roster. And these weren't all shit picks either. 15/20/26 in 2017, and 24 in 2018.

You don't think we could have gotten at least more rotational players for those picks in a trade? This has nothing to do with whom we picked, rather what else we could have done with those picks.

 

Well Olshey did admit he should've been more aggressive last year with using the pick in a trade (see Mirotic). He has used the pick in the past for a trade when he acquired Plumlee so I am guessing he tried to do the same this year with it. He referred to it as the "Plumlee Model".

This goes back to Dame's point though. Making those type of trades makes the team a little better but who you'd get for the 24th pick still doesn't put you on the same level talent wise as some of those other teams. In the long run it might still end up working better having guys like Collins and Simons versus trading for a guy like Trevor Ariza (or whatever, you get my point).

 

The picks were perfect assets to use in a trade if Dame were scared of getting rid of people already on the team. Hell, if you think about it, they had a lot more value before we made the Collins or Simons' picks but rather as the 10th pick or the 24th pick. You think Collins will fetch a lottery pick now? Will Simons land us another first rounder? I'm completely ignoring the 0 that is Caleb. These are all assets that he lost value on.

He salary dumped Crabbe, and then squandered a trade exception that he said he was one of our best assets. And he salary dumped Noah for nothing. And in two weeks, that trade exception will also expire and more excuses will be made.

All this makes me sad for Dame. Neil doesn't deserve Dame's loyalty.