Since Neil is an arrogant douche, I am fully on board with the thought that he doesn't think Dame will request a trade.
If all of these fools and I'm not talking about anyone in here necessarily, want to think that Dame is lying about considering being elsewhere or he doesn't have strong enough opinions on things to keep them in the face of a meeting with Neil and Chauncey... I don't think you've been paying attention to who Damian Lillard is. So if the front office thinks they can continue to abuse Dame's loyalty and the fans think they'll get away with it... we'll see the highest character superstar in the league on another team within the next year.
lol this melo thing is a yr old from the bubble when the two were locked up in hotel rooms and Skip Bayless was beefing with Dame on a daily basis.
How exactly is the front office abusing Dame’s loyalty? Dame said that going into free agency Olshey discussed with him the guys they wanted to target, including Kelly Ounre. Dame said he even had a conversation with Oubre about coming here. In the end, Oubre and other targets chose to sign elsewhere. It’s not as if Olshey had tons of cash or big exceptions to use to entice guys here. I don’t see any abusing of Dame in that process. I guess the “abuse” you’re referring to is not trading CJ yet. There could be a deal in the works, but we don’t know. OTOH, how do you know that Dame is down with trading CJ? They’re good friends and CJ is the second best player on the roster. Seems likely to me that Dame isn’t keen on trading CJ unless it brings back a player who is significantly better(or a better fit) AND who wants to be here. I’m not sure I’ve seen a realistic deal discussed yet that meets those criteria. I’m really not seeing any abuse, but maybe I’m missing something though.
Abusing his loyalty is my way of saying that we (right now) are looking at another very conservative off season that I can't tell if it made the roster better or worse. Dame has said that he needs the team to urgently make changes to make us a contender. If the team doesn't think that Dame will demand a trade because of his loyalty, so they can take their time when he's called for urgency... that's them abusing his loyalty.
I'd think that Olshey would have to be on some sort of uppers to doubt what Dame said about urgency. I think that Dame is a pretty smart guy though. He knows the position that the Blazers are in with no cap space and only the TPMLE and vet min exceptions available. Other than a package that includes CJ, there's no trade that's going to bring in another upper tier player. The fact that Dame didn't demand a trade outright means, IMO, that he recognizes that this isn't a one year fix. I can't imagine any scenario where Dame and Olshey haven't had conversations about which players Dame is comfortable moving in order to upgrade the roster. I think that Olshey did enough, given what he had to work with, in re-signing Norm and getting decent bench guys so that Dame doesn't feel any regression. That should be sufficient to buy Olshey time to get to the deadline and see where the team is at. After that, he's going to have to fish or cut bait when it comes to finding a move that pushes the team towards true contention.
Did you guys catch Fentress' new report on his pod where he said he talked to Norm? "Powell told me, one of the reasons he came back was cuz he knew Dame would be around."
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CSdklS4nCkM/?utm_medium=copy_link Dame just shared this on his IG story. Advise you to listen since it’s very unlike him to post random dudes talking about him but he may have done this because it probably reflects his actual thinking…
Jeez it's sinking in...he's really going. It hurts, won't lie. With Portland, even the city as a whole, it was always, at least we have Dame. Now???
Dame's not going anywhere....this thread is a jinx thread...get over the Blazer's Edge panic mode...enjoy the changes and cheer for the guy...he's a Blazer under contract who's not demanded a trade period...folks are actually buying into the Dan Marang Koolaid..S2....be better!
If Dame wants out, I've been in favor of getting Simmons in return, just because nobody else is offering a legit star. But the more I look at Simmons, the less I like everything except his skillz. The thing about Dame is that he's an amazing person - thoughtful and with a genuine leader's gravitas. Simmons just seems prickly, defensive (maybe that explains his talents) and in general, a lot more like LaMarcus than Dame. Only with added James Harden Kardashian tendencies. Who would be the team leader if we swapped Dame for Simmons? CJ? So maybe we should say to Philly: look: you have to trade Simmons. You're salivating for Dame. Okay, so work out a deal that gets us back what WE want and we'll sign on. What we want includes: A young star prospect like Jalen Suggs or maybe Jonathan Kuminga Matisse Thybulle AT LEAST two picks that have a strong likelihood of being lottery picks ...? Maybe Golden State would do that deal that Philly asked for if they dropped one or two of the extra picks. So Philly sends Simmons to GState and gets Wiggins, Wiseman, Kuminga and Moody. Okay, give us Kuminga, Moody, Thybulle, and flip Wiggins and Wiseman for something we like more and we'll talk. I'm literally the only one who'd like this particular version (I like Harris much more than Wiseman or Wiggins, and the advanced stats are with me), but something along these lines:
No need....I've already won..Dame signed a max contract and will be a Blazer...all the rest is just click bait and lobbying from agents around the league. It's bullshit. Pop humbled Dame in the Olympics by holding him accountable...he knows his days of being a partnered coach are over now.....CJ too....the days of 13 dribble chuck are over in Portland. I heard Norm talk about how excited Dame is to have him back...all this other stuff is just blowing smoke up his ass. The day Dame demands a trade I'll support it....I only want players here that want to be here. He has said repeatedly this summer that he wants to be here...good enough for me.
No way you trade Dame now and no way he demands a trade. Besides Dame is worth a more proven super star than Ben. Watch the netlfex doc on him.
Having just trashed Simmons, it might just be that he's a very quiet, introverted guy (which I think is true of LaMarcus) and he hasn't had a coach that really reached out to him. Doc, in particular, is kind of old-school. But maybe that's Chauncey's forte? At any rate, I bet Olshey's already gone to Billups and asked him if he would like to have a crack at coaching Simmons. Or maybe he IS just an immature asshole.
