Zombie Damian Lillard to request trade in coming days (nope, he's not.)

I think there are a few flaws with this question:

1) It requires me to say Portland could've got someone to sign for the TPMLE or the full MLE (there was a way for them to have the full MLE as I understand it). It's impossible to know who might've been willing to sign, so any name I throw out turns into an unprovable debate of if it could've happened or not.

2) It implies that free agent signing in the only way they could've improved the roster in the last week/month. As I mentioned in my last post, we're seeing other teams with equally as bad cap situations manage to improve their rosters.

3) Our poor cap situation and players on a team friendly deal is the reason it's difficult for us to make a significant move. The person responsible for EVERY player on this roster and our lack of draft picks is Olshey, so if he can't get anyone better than Cody Zeller this summer, that's 100% his fault.

 

Why would it be something he tells his brother to completely lock down? There's no massive revelations or actionable secrets here. If it's true, all his brother said was that Lillard is extremely unhappy and it sounds like his brother thinks Lillard is all but done. That's not a particularly strange conversation, if it happened.

 

Lakers and Nets still get first pick on ring chasers though, so Dame is still checking down on FA targets in that situation.

 

Weren't you the one who supposedly had some stories about Dame that suggested he's not the genuine guy we all think he is?

 

im telling you, neil olshey might be reluctant to trading cj mccollum as he doesnt have dames commitment, as its possible that he trades cj mccollum and lets say gets siakam or simmons and dame demands the trade regardless and that would mean team wouldnt be competitive and it would lead to full rebuild... but if dame asks out, this team can still fight for the playoffs... im closer to the belief that blazers wouldnt go into full rebuild if dame gets traded and thats why neil olshey wont go all-in without dames commitment

 

You're kinda talking out of both sides here (like you're critical of Dame about doing), but I get what you're saying.

The NBA is a business. What players say about loyalty, their teams fans being the best in the NBA, etc. is part of the business. Do I think Dame wants to be loyal to Portland more than almost all other NBA players? Yes. Does it mean he should be forced to stay in an abusive relationship forever? I guess that's where we disagree; I can cut him some slack if we don't even give a real effort to improve this team.

 

He would play with the best player he has ever played with. I'm sure Dame would be upset but know he tried since it sure as hell doesn't seem like we have any chance to get anyone near as good as Embiid for him. Injury prone or not. Dame is at that age now where regret is on his mind. Dude really wants to win one.

I still would prefer to try to work something out with Boston for Jaylen Brown instead if Simmons.

 

If you trade CJ for a comparable player you can trade that player for youth and/or picks if you decide to blow it up

 

A better analogy would be the loyal spouse who married someone they thought was going to be Beyonce someday but turned out to be an aging Wanda Sykes.

Like, seriously, people are acting like the Blazers had all this draft capital and trade resources and frittered them all away and that Portland was this free agent destination and we blew it with all the guys who wanted to come here.

There were bad moves, of course, but most organizations make bad moves. There's less room for error with the Blazers, but, at the same time, the team hasn't been trash, either.

And, FTR, I'll say I'm skeptical of this latest rumor, too.

 

I'm starting the rumor that Dame has told Jody he's buying the Blazers with Lebron, Melo, CP3, Charles Barkley and a few other notable NBA greats....don't worry about the short term picture...we'll sell you the team and Paul Allen's recording studio in Hollywood...by the way Dame...the team comes with a yacht and a submarine

 

Who is responsible for the Blazers lack of draft capital and trade resources? They were frittered away by Olshey in the past, so why should this be used as an excuse for him now? He made this bed, so he must lay in it!

 

yes, but my belief is that the blazers wouldnt want full rebuild, they would want to remain competitive

they would be able to do so without dame, but not without dame and cj mccollum and thats why i dont believe cj mccollum trade will happen without dames commitment to the team

 

Again, your blind anger makes you miss the point. You're acting like the Blazers have alllllllllll this going for them that they can just trade for difference-makers and sign difference-makers and good role-players are going to come to Portland for less money.

Want to be disappointed with Olshey? OK, I can get that. Acting like Olshey destroyed the organization, though, that's ridiculous. He made a lot of lukewarm moves. However, no one can seriously believe there were a lot of big moves the Blazers had the options to make, either.

If Dame really is upset about this, and I have my doubts that he is, then he's living in a fantasy world, too, and all that loyalty stuff was just rampant fakeness and he plays a role in the bed that was made, too. I don't think he's as unrealistic as the fans ... being disappointed and pretending he married something he didn't are two vastly different things. I'm not an Olshey fan, either. I've criticized him a lot. I just tend to be more realistic.

I'm tired of board meltdowns every other day that we get a new rumor from random Twitter account or Dame's chef's uncle's neighbor's cousin. Dame said he piece. If he's lying publicly, then that speaks poorly for him.

 

Maybe not but he would have a better chance with Embiid than with us.