A heretical thought / And something about Orlando

[Bingo Bango]

Does it seem curious to anyone else that in 10 years Lillard has never been able to convince another star to join him in Portland? Likewise, does it seem curious that we’ve never heard a star say they want to play with Lillard? We always attribute Portland’s difficulty in attracting big name talent to the weather, or the market size, or the “whiteness” of the city, but might it also be that players don’t see Lillard as the type of guy who can get them a title, or the type of guy they would be comfortable sharing the court with?

 

[RR7]

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Only time the Blazers really had a chance was in 2015/2016 when the Blazers had cap space. Instead we ended up with Even Turner and resigning Meyers Leonard, thanks Neil.

Blazers haven't had cap space since, and they were unwilling to trade the assets when stars were available. Rumors were the Blazers could've brought in Paul George / Jimmy Butler / James Harden / etc but Olshey wouldn't break up Dame CJ.

I do give Dame credit for bringing in Jerami Grant, and he's way better than any MLE wing. I guess we will see what happens this summer, Blazers actually have some assets that could bring in an allstar. Either Dame is able to get a friend to force his way to PDX, or the Blazers may have to explore rebuilding.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Does it seem curious to anyone else that in 10 years Lillard has never been able to convince another star to join him in Portland? Likewise, does it seem curious that we’ve never heard a star say they want to play with Lillard? We always attribute Portland’s difficulty in attracting big name players to the weather, or the small market size, or the fact that Portland is a mainly white city, but might it also be that players don’t see Lillard as the type of guy who can get them a title, or the type of guy they would be comfortable sharing the court with?

We have heard stars say they want to play with Lillard, but they all wanted their team to trade for him.

 

[Chris Craig]

It's not Dame. Players don't want to live here.

 

[Bingo Bango]

We have heard stars say they want to play with Lillard, but they all wanted their team to trade for him.

Any links? I’m sure you’re right, but I don’t recall any players asking their teams to trade for Lillard.

 

[inconceivable]

Any links? I’m sure you’re right, but I don’t recall any players asking their teams to trade for Lillard.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...6849442168023&referrer=https://www.google.com

 

[Bingo Bango]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2764691-lebron-james-give-me-damian-lillard-ill-show-you-how-appreciated-hell-be#amp_tf=From %1$s&aoh=16849442168023&referrer=https://www.google.com

Great. Thanks! Have any players besides James stated that they wanted to play with Lillard?

 

[Bingo Bango]

We have heard stars say they want to play with Lillard, but they all wanted their team to trade for him.

Any besides LeBron James?

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Carmelo Anthony.

 

[Labinot41]

KD/Westbrook wasn't enough to convince players to come to Oklahoma. Even LeBron fucking James wasn't sexy enough to convince players to come to Cleveland, that's why he had to go to Miami. Market still plays a huge role even though we have Social Media today

 

[wizenheimer]

I wonder if bingo bango signed the petition

I also wonder which NBA stars recruited other stars to the small market team they were on? Durant signed with the Warriors...but...Durant is a putz, the warriors were already champions, and they ain't no small market

Lebron didn't recruit any stars to Cleveland; Duncan didn't recruit any to San Antonio and neither did Kawhi; Booker didn't recruit any to Phoenix and it's nearly 3 times the size of Portland. Durant + Westbrook didn't recruit any to OKC. How many stars have signed with the Kings? Thunder? Cavs? Hornets? Pels? Nuggets? Pacers?

in other words, in the modern NBA with the salary cap...it just doesn't happen. DWade-->Lebron-->Bosh was a singular occurrence and Miami is a big market with South Beach, good weather, and no state income tax.

Nope...stars don't recruit other stars to small markets. It's rare even for big markets. It's a stupid fucking fable but it fits with the 'let's-crap-all-over-Dame-for-dumb-&-dumber-reasons-to-justify-trading-him' narrative that's all over this forum. And don't forget...the Blazers can trade Dame for 7-9 unprotected first round picks & swaps plus a couple of young studs plus a massive TPE. There's a huge market right now searching for an 'aging-selfish-small-no-defense-guard-who-only thinks-about-himself-not-his-team's-future-and-who-and-who-stopped-his-GM-from-making-good-moves-and-who-doesn't-throw-lobs-or-push-pace-or-recruit-stars'. Huge demand...yep...1+1=17

 

[SharpesTriumph]

Any links? I’m sure you’re right, but I don’t recall any players asking their teams to trade for Lillard.

LeBron, Giannis, DeRozen have all effectively said this.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

KD/Westbrook wasn't enough to convince players to come to Oklahoma. Even LeBron fucking James wasn't sexy enough to convince players to come to Cleveland, that's why he had to go to Miami. Market still plays a huge role even though we have Social Media today

LeBron got Kevin Love to agree to go. Yeah Love is an old slow guy now, but back then he was an all NBA skilled star.

 

[Bingo Bango]

Carmelo Anthony.

Okay, but not exactly an elite player who had other options when he came to Portland.

 

[Bingo Bango]

Giannis and DeRozen have effectively said this.

Links?

 

[SharpesTriumph]

I wonder if bingo bango signed the petition

I also wonder which NBA stars recruited other stars to the small market team they were on? Durant signed with the Warriors...but...Durant is a putz, the warriors were already champions, and they ain't no small market

Lebron didn't recruit any stars to Cleveland; Duncan didn't recruit any to San Antonio and neither did Kawhi; Booker didn't recruit any to Phoenix and it's nearly 3 times the size of Portland. Durant + Westbrook didn't recruit any to OKC. How many stars have signed with the Kings? Thunder? Cavs? Hornets? Pels? Nuggets? Pacers?

in other words, in the modern NBA with the salary cap...it just doesn't happen. DWade-->Lebron-->Bosh was a singular occurrence and Miami is a big market with South Beach, good weather, and no state income tax.

Nope...stars don't recruit other stars to small markets. It's rare even for big markets. It's a stupid fucking fable but it fits with the 'let's-crap-all-over-Dame-for-dumb-&-dumber-reasons-to-justify-trading-him' narrative that's all over this forum. And don't forget...the Blazers can trade Dame for 7-9 unprotected first round picks & swaps plus a couple of young studs plus a massive TPE. There's a huge market right now searching for an 'aging-selfish-small-no-defense-guard-who-only thinks-about-himself-not-his-team's-future-and-who-and-who-stopped-his-GM-from-making-good-moves-and-who-doesn't-throw-lobs-or-push-pace-or-recruit-stars'. Huge demand...yep...1+1=17

After LaMarcus/Durant left the NBA changed the CBA so stars now all sign extensions. It's effectively eliminated stars moving in free agency, it's now always done in trades.

Also why its now asinine to try and setup a team to have cap space. Cap space means you have less players on your roster to trade and actually have LESS flexibility to add a star.

 

[wizenheimer]

After LaMarcus/Durant left the NBA changed the CBA so stars now all sign extensions. It's effectively eliminated stars moving in free agency, it's now always done in trades.

Also why its now asinine to try and setup a team to have cap space. Cap space means you have less players on your roster to trade and actually have LESS flexibility to add a star.

I agree

every once in a while, cap-space works....almost always for big market teams. Lebron-->Lakers; Kawhi-->Clippers; Butler-->Heat

but those are exceptions that don't make the rule. Cap-space can be useful to teams starting a rebuild because they can leverage their space to take on bad salary in exchange for draft picks. Other than that though, which seems like circumstantial cap-space rather than deliberate, it doesn't mean much for most teams. TPE's have a lot more value and you can't generate TPE's without salary to trade

 

[blazerfan11]

It's not Dame. Players don't want to live here.

That doesn't matter. Players care about their salary and playing time above all. Then, whether the team is a dumpster fire, good, or really good.
Do you see any players looking forward to playing with the Houston Rockets (besides James Harden), which should be high on the list if you're just talking about the city.

Here's a quote from John Wall:

"My first year in Houston, we were tanking - we were trying to lose on purpose,'' said Wall in a recent interview with the Run Your Race podcast, adding that he advised teammates, “This is not how the NBA is. It's a bad organization right now. They've got to fix some s***.”

 

[blazerfan11]

I don't see players clamoring to play for the Chicago Bulls. It is NOT a free agent destination. When people pete and repeat that Portland isn't a free agent destination, they should include all the other teams/cities that aren't free agent destinations, which is most of the league.

 

[blazerfan11]

 

[Tince]

Hasn't it been previously reported there were offers on the table to get Jimmy Butler when he was in Chicago and Paul George, but Olshey didn't want to move off CJ?

Hard to put that on Dame.

 

[wizenheimer]

Hasn't it been previously reported there were offers on the table to get Jimmy Butler when he was in Chicago and Paul George, but Olshey didn't want to move off CJ?

Hard to put that on Dame.

Olshey was busy making offers for both players, but he refused to include CJ for either. In other words, they weren't serious offers at all, just Olshey wasting the time of other GM's

 

[blazerkor]

This thread isn't thoughtful and posting bullshit like this doesn't make you a heretic... it just continues the downward spiral of your ever dwindling credibility.

 

[riverman]

You mean stars who are now playing in Taiwan like Dwight Howard? Whole lot of stars are well....not exactly stars anymore...one thing for sure..Dame is still a star...as a matter of fact look at who was picked first by Giannis to play on his Allstar team. Dame said he knows 5 guys who want to play in Portland but only two are obtainable as it stands. I'll take his word for it. There's nobody that's not an undersized point guard who doesn't want to play with Dame. There are plenty of players who in the past did not want to play with Mario Herzonjia or Anthony Tolliver though.

 

[Strenuus]

Hasn't it been previously reported there were offers on the table to get Jimmy Butler when he was in Chicago and Paul George, but Olshey didn't want to move off CJ?

Hard to put that on Dame.

CJ was bandied about for a lot of big name trades but our GM was an absolute fucking moron.

 

[Mediocre Man]

High taxas
Shitty weather (during the season)
Zero nightlife for young black millionaires

 

[PDXFonz]

Mods please merge this with the Melo thread in due time

 

[GoBlazersGo]

Dame said he knows 5 guys who want to play in Portland but only two are obtainable as it stands. I'll take his word for it.

When/where did he say this, @riverman?

 

[riverman]

When/where did he say this, @riverman?

early interview after the season ended...he was asked if he knew any needle movers who wanted to play with him in Portland...he answered that he knew of 5 if I remember correctly but only 2 were gettable at this time.