Yes, but Miami would have had to expand the deal in order to accommodate the Suns. The Bucks chipped in Grayson Allen.
What are you not understanding? Herro to a 4th team that chips in the rotation piece for PHX and the 1st for Portland. You don't think they could have negotiated that if they talked?
Lillard has never got to play sustained big ball. Portland has always toyed around with 3 guard lineups, and swing up small forwards. Injuries and unfortunates have always plagued the Blazers frontline during Dame's tenure. The Bucks bigs department is STACKED !!
I've accepted that Dame's gone, but this shit still hurts. The team CHOSE Scoot + new regime over Dame, not the other way around. They have been showing practices through social media over the last two weeks but didn't show Dame even though he was there. But you should know that they the ones who chose another mission
I mean... yeah. We weren't going to be able to build a contender around Dame. He's 33. He's due a ton of money. It made zero sense to keep him at this point. It was time to rebuild, and we happened to have an exceptional replacement fall into our laps. This was the logical decision. The pragmatic decision. If you remove all the emotions and the memories, this is a business and it's supposed to be about winning a championship. We were not going to win a ring with Dame. That ship sailed.
https://theathletic.com/4908586/2023/09/28/damian-lillard-trade-how-it-happened-bucks-suns-blazers/ Tons of details here:
You're buying into the Goodwin damage control. This is all shit coming out AFTER the trade and it's coming from Goodwin. He's trying to save face. Shams? Goodwin shill. Haynes? Goodwin shill. Fentress? Goodwin shill. Show me a source that hasn't been continuously shown to be a mouthpiece for Dame/Goodwin.
Sam Vecenie - "Jrue is still probably the best player on the market right now, so you still dictate the market in a real way, and you also get Deandre Ayton plus this draft capital and I want to focus on this draft capital." "I think this draft capital is the best I'd seen from all of the other teams. You get the 2029 pick that is unprotected, I believe... you get the two 28 and 30 pick swaps. And this is all after this Bucks core ages out. Brook Lopez is 35. Khris Middleton is 32 and his deal goes through 2026. Damian Lillard is 33 and his deal goes through 2027. Giannis turns 29 in December, but like, I don't know how he's gonna age. You talk to people around the league and there's real question about how that physical, brutish style where he's taking contact, taking bumps every single play down the court without having really improved as a shooter throughout the course of his career, is going to mature as he gets into his early 30s. How long does his prime extend out? He's always going to be a good player but like, there's a tangible difference if Milwaukee has Giannis at 33-34 years old, which he'd be at the end of where these picks are trying to come through, and he's like a top 40 player in the league as opposed to a top 3 player in the league." "I feel like the picks are more valuable than the Miami picks and Toronto picks because of the way that Milwaukee's roster is currently set." https://open.spotify.com/episode/3B5l5D67isdpWaqZcZr13t?si=ee51142b36fe48ff
For those wondering why Goodwin isn't a highly sought after agent ... here is Exhibit A with Exhibit B being the way the Gary Payton situation was handled and yet we still have one of his few clients in Matisse.
it was a factor, but I think a lot of people are seriously exaggerating how much of a factor it actually was Dame (33) - 4 years @ 54M/year Curry (35) - 3 years @ 56M/year Durant (35) - 3 years @ 52M/year Jokic (28) - 5 years @ 55M/year Embiid (29) - 4 years @ 53M/year Beal (30) - 4 years @ 52M/year Butler (34) - 3 years @ 49M/year Giannis (28) - 3 years @ 49M/year Booker (27) - 5 years @ 51M/year KAT (28) - 5 years @ 51M/year Jaylen Brown (27) - 6 years @ 53M/year Dame - 216M (includes P.O.) Jokic - 276M Embiid - 231M Beal - 208M Young - 178M Doncic - 178M LaVine - 178M Booker - 259M KAT - 259M Zion - 197M Morant - 197M Garland - 197M Brown - 320M Sabonis - 217M Anthony Edwards - 219M Lamelo Ball - 216M Haliburton - 212M Desmond Bane - 201M look at that first list; Butler is paid the least annually. A year older than Dame. Butler's annual salary is 36% of the current salary cap; Dame's is 39%. Front offices are not going to seat that small a percentage, especially not when the player fits what they need. Besides that, each off-sesaon will see more giant salaries coming online. Next summer, Siakam, AD, and Klay will likely all be looking at new contracts Dame's extension effectively made his contract a 4 year deal. After the stink his agent made about Miami, I'd say Dame's value was enhanced by having a 4 year deal rather than a 2 year deal. teams wouldn't have to worry so much about him walking or threatening to walk and it's not like the Miami-or-bust stink is the only wart on those lists. Ja Morant looks like a head case. Several of those players have extensive injury histories. Booker has averaged 20 missed games/year over the last 6 seasons my take is the biggest negative factors in Dame's value were his size (6'2), his age (33), and his poor defensive reputation. I think teams are already baking in the realization that top-10ish players with 10 years of experience will be carting max deals around
that Toradol toasting Blazer hater can roll around is his Warriors are the new Clippers, too old to compete at high levels yellow and blue bedspread.
