Dame all but demanding vet roster

I don't feel bad for the guy. Dame has given him an out if he needs to take it by saying that he (Dame) doesn't want to be here if we can't get into contention. So I believe Cronin when he says his first option is to keep Dame and make the team relevant but I also believe him when he says he won't take a bad deal. I hope and expect that if GMs around the league try to bully him into taking a bad deal he'll say he has other teams that he can deal with, some of whom have the kinds of guys available that Dame wants to play with here and others that want Dame to play for them. I would tell every GM that all of the options are open even if we do have a preferred option.

Our team doesn't have to pay a premium on the preferred option because the less preferred option of a youth rebuild is just as viable as the preferred option of building a win now team around Dame. Some in this forum think that the second option is far more viable and is the way they want to go. I don't think Joe has to let people twist his arm and he just seems like the kind of calm guy that would just say that stuff very flatly to other front offices. I could just see him saying, "Trading Dame isn't the way we would choose to go but if it's the best way forward for the team, it's the way we will go... so I'm not taking this deal that I think is bad for my team. We have other options."

The more I hear him talk and the more moves I see him make, them more I'm convinced that the Clippers trade was not one he wanted to make but one that he at least felt like he was being forced to make by ownership before he had the standing he has with them now. You can call that wishful thinking and we'll all see how this shakes out but it's the impression that I get.

 

Yeah I think the answer to your last question is pretty evident because Dame said so. Dame said he's not on board with 19 year olds besides Shaedon... I think in earlier interviews he was asked about Wemby and Dame said he thinks Wemby is different but he doesn't see anyone else in this draft that way.

Could Dame's mind be changed during the pre-draft workout process? I guess anything is possible but Dame's patience seems to have worn thin, so I think if we end up with any pick besides the first, he might not be open to hearing about a bunch of different prospects that could maybe contribute as early as next season.

One thing is for sure, Dame has been less cryptic this time around and he wants win now players period. That doesn't back the team into a corner, it tells them what their options are. They can go after win now players and if those deals aren't there or aren't worth it to the team, then they can trade Dame.

 

Jarace Walker looks like Jabari. Go watch Jabari's highlights at CU. Jabari actually looks like a better shooter. Pass on Jarace.

 

One was a top 5 prospect and the other was the 57th pick in the draft, but yes, they look exactly the same

 

What? Jarace Walker is like 40lbs heavier and a MONSTER defensively.

Jabari was also in his second year.

 

He kind of reminds me of Noah Vonleh in college, to be honest. I'm not enamored with him.

 

For 10 years the majority have been begging for a bigger guard to pair with Dame. Enter Shaedon, who will within the year exceed anyone's expectations of who the Blazers could get to solve that problem. The Blazers have a 45% chance of getting a top 5 pick in this draft. A 30% chance of a top 3 pick. If we end up at 1 or 2, that player will be as near to plug and play as you can get and free up multiple assets and future firsts to use in trade for a star level vet, and most likely without having to lose Grant. (Or keep Ant and trade Scoot, depending on the market.) If it's a lower pick, we still have assets to keep and to trade that will result in, at a minimum, a playoff caliber team. I just don't share the gloom and doom some feel about keeping Dame.

 

I think a lot of Blazer fans think as you do

the other side of that is that Dame may not be somebody who thinks that way and he knows his clock is ticking. Olshey spent a decade shitting in Dame's bed and Dame's patience with the Blazers and loyalty to Portland may be at an end. I know some posters here will celebrate that, many secretly, but I won't be one of them

 

God Dame can be annoying sometimes.

A wise man once said, “speak plainly.”

 

he also has a life outside of basketball. why do you assume this has anything to do with hoops?

 

lol, why would anyone assume otherwise, give me a break.

 

Basketball or not, why constantly make cryptic posts all the time? Speak your mind or don’t.

 

I think Dame only does that when he's either trying not to give someone he's trying to insult any publicity or in this case when if he said something it could screw up a deal that he knows about that's going down. The guy speaks his mind when he can but I think he feels like he needs to share his feelings even when he doesn't want to explain them. I get why some don't like it but it's Dame's life, he can live it how he wants to and if this is our biggest complaint about our superstar's off court behavior we're pretty fucking lucky.

 

Dame did not write the post himself, he only shared it. There is a difference.

 

Decent chance it does

Could be him threatening to leave….AGAIN

Could be him knowing it will take Sharpe to get a player that will help us get to the 1st round

Could be about Nurk and knowing he’s not the guy to help this team succeed deep into the playoffs

Could be about Jerami Grant going somewhere else

 

yes those who dare hold an opinion other then yours are underhanded, even dastardly!

Good grief what a load of crap. Everyone here is a big fan of Lillard. The end of Dame's loyalty to Portland isn't something anyone (even secretly) would be happy about. Hell, he loves Portland and I don't think that changes no matter what happens with the business of basketball. It truly sucked (for me) watching Olshey shuffle the deck chairs each offseason while most of this board cheered him on... as he signed Evan Turner & Crabbe to huge deals or brought on Derrick Jones or some other one step forward one step back move. That was all wasted Dame time that won't go back on the clock. The team is seasons away from competing & there isn't much Dame time left, their timelines are just mismatched. This loyalty stuff being thrown out by you and others that fans need to be for trading away the future for a snowballs chance in hell of winning Dame a chip in PDX or they're doomsday evil is emo-gibberish.

I'll continue to root for the team first over any player and I'm rooting for championships. Good or bad, I'm for management paying attention to the team's reality. Dame is paying attention and is smartly letting fans know he is considering his options. Hopefully the immediate future in Portland gets a whole lot brighter mid-May.

STOMP

 

I am guessing like the rest of you, but the first thing that popped into my mind was that a friend of his has to be sacrificed for the team to move forward. Ant is a friend with a much needed matching contract. Maybe Nurk as well, but I doubt it is Sharpe or Grant.

 

I read Dame’s post as totally neutral. Improving the Blazers is going to require painful choices, whether it’s Simons and Nurk leaving in a trade or the Blazers deciding that a rebuild is a better option and moving Dame. You can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t painful for those involved.

 

This just tells me Nurkic is being traded.