This year is a wash, just like last year. I ain't no fortune teller but next year probably won't be much better when you trot out Dame, Ant, Grant, Nurk, and Nas/Shae/Cam?Justise all over again. Until the ownership gets serious about winning things won't change. It is what it is. I still love the Blazers, call me crazy.
We're in a transitional phase where most executive members and players of the Blazers will not be around much longer and are simply a blip on the timeline of the team. The only thing most people will remember is Dame's scoring record and wasting another year of Dame's career - which ultimately will be the summary of his career.
So you're quitting until dame retires since you already know how the rest of his career is going to go? That's how that last sentence read. Why even watch the games at all?
Would have to be an incredible offseason from an acquisition and development standpoint, combined with some injury luck with some of the top contenders.
So even with everyone in agreement that we are nowhere near contention we still don’t entertain a Dame trade this summer or next deadline? Do we wait until when/if he requests one? If someone offers us 5 1s we say no? Even though every year we waste another season of his career it makes it more and more unlikely we win a championship with him. Not advocating for a trade just curious what the general view is now that we all know we are nowhere close to being a contender.
Cronin is going to have to convince Dame this is the last year of 'retooling'. If they don't make the Playoffs, they could have a Lottery pick and another 1st, say around #20 from the Knicks. It they do make the Playoffs, their pick goes to the Bulls but then they package the Knicks pick with their own future picks which they would then finally have control over. I'd like to see what Schmitz could do with 2 1st round picks, but likely they would package those together with a young player (some of them could get a lot of time and build some stats) and go take a BIG swing at a difference maker.
They reportedly never interviewed anyone else for the job. It kind of leads me to believe: A.) ownership and the powers that be are too incompetent to know what to look for in a candidate. or B.) Joe is just the kind of yes man they wanted. Middle man if you will.
Waiting until he demands one and the return value will be considerably lower. There’s talk that we once could’ve got Paul George for CJ. Instead we got back Josh Hart. Shit or get off the pot.
C. he was available for cheap because he has 0 experience. I would venture he's the lowest paid GM in the league.
sharpe popping is literally the ONLY way. we don't have the contracts or picks to make any meaningful deals without including Ant. maybe we can S&T jerami but what's the point of that? there are literally no avenues to trade for a player making ~30 mil without giving up Ant or Sharpe.
I mean trading Ant should absolutely be on the table. 1.) He has actual value. 2.) Sharpe has starter+ potential. The ideal scenario is that Sharpe pops and Ant builds enough value to where we can actually move him + assets for a true all-star level wing. Lowe said on his podcast today there are a few (star) names that are teams are actively monitoring and likely to shake loose in the summer. No reporting from me, but Jaylen Brown? Siakam? KAT?
i'm thinking of this stuff in the context of us truly elevating to contender status. and my thinking is that the only way is to trade for another borderline all star while keeping the core (dame/ant/jerami/sharpe) intact. exchanging one of ant or jerami or even sharpe for a similar caliber player but a better positional fit will not elevate us to contender level even if we improve from our current level. yes, i'm sure guys will shake loose. you mentioned the one i'm keeping my eye on a guy and have been wanting to pair with dame for years: KAT.
