Oh, forgot to respond to this. I definitely said that he didn't resemble anything close to a point guard in the past. Not sure I called it a failed experiment. Under Stotts it WAS a failed experiment. They ended up just sticking him in the corner to shoot threes, which he actually did very well. Nevermind. Here you go. I actually stand by that statement. Simons at point guard under Stotts was a disaster. He has been significantly better as a point guard under Billups. "But I still think the experiment of Simons at point guard has failed miserably and I have always hated having CJ play point guard with the second unit because he just decides that it's MeJ Time and passes maybe one in four or five possessions." Trade Ideas Thread
Blazers fans needing to see with their own eyes that you can't build a contender with ~80 million $ going to 2 point guards is the exact sort of reason why Olshey and Stotts were allowed to stick around as long as they did.
The ONLY correct answer that has no valid argument against it because it's LOGIC is he comes back and we see how he fits Anything contrary is wrong and thats just common sense.
The answer is obvious guys. Dame gets two or three more years. If we cant get it together by then, then we look at trading him because he will be close to the end of his contract, and on the downward slope of his career. Until then, he is the best thing to happen to this franchise in 30 years and when you get a player like him you do everything you can to make it work.
No harm in trying it, I mean the trade deadline is in the middle of the season. Most likely get the max return at that time anyway, if necessary.
Two or three more year?!? Nah, if it's obvious that they don't work together starting this season when Dame comes back you should probably trade him this off season but at the latest if it's still not working by the trade deadline next season you have to make that move then. Right now Dame is a bona fide superstar and would yield a high impact return. In two or three seasons he'll be either on the cusp of a decline or a declining all star instead of a steady all nba player. The fact is we don't know the answer to the original question but with how competitive we've been, it's almost a sure fire thing that Dame gets in a few weeks of play at the end of the season and play in and hopefully playoff games and that should answer the question. Between Dame/CJ and how fast we've seen how the pieces we have right now meshed, we now know that waiting seasons to see if talent complements each other is quite foolish.
Oh if Dame fits with what we have going on I want him to retire a Blazer for sure. I think he's going to age really well. That being said Ant has a decade or a little more before his prime will be over and I don't think he has the trade value Dame does. So there's no way I wait very long at all to trade Dame if he doesn't fit in with this personnel and system. I never thought I'd be saying that ever and I'm hoping it's a nonissue because Dame fits in just as seamlessly as the guys we just added.
Dame bought into Chauncey's system more than any of the guys that left and from what I've seen him and Ant play unselfishly well together. Obviously different matchups will cause problems defensively but I think Ant can play the two guard much better than CJ. IMO you won't have to wait long to see how well they'll work together, and be staggered.
Let's examine the upside potential of Dame, who is 31 and one of the top 75 in the NBA and an iconic last moment game winner with extraordinary swish3 talent and range. Dame is likely to return after the surgery and physical therapy with talent that continues to ramp up for another 5 years, and further popularizing DameTime. If Lebron and others can be a star at age 37, so can Dame. Dame has been coaching Simons, teaching him talents, and grooming him to play along side and deserves a lot of credit for Simons development. With the defense added by Hart, Winslow, Nurk, Watford, Brown, and Nas, the Blazers are on a track to develop into a playoffs winner and future contender for the NBA Championship. Dame will now get the chance with a much improved defense, offense, communication, and emerging team energy to lead the Blazers to the Championship. Let's imagine this outcome with Dame's upward trajectory moving ahead for the next 5 years and enjoy it. Go Blazers!
Dame is younger than Harden, and look at the haul the Nets just got for him. I hope this works out, but there is a lot of precedent for it not working given their styles, size, and lack of defense. Maybe this will be one of the rare exceptions. Otherwise, Dame is up for $50,000,000/year and that will be a massive amount of the cap even with it going up....as he gets older. I really want him to win a title hear. That is my heart talking. My head has concerns about how this is going to happen given some of the same duplication issues we've dealt with for years. Perhaps we are able to add a Collins or Grant....that will certainly help. But shot dispersal will have to have a fairly significant change in that case.
Nate Jones reposted this on IG. And GoodwinSports (dame's agency) re-tweeted this. It's not an accident-- remember what Jones said back in the summer in response to Abbot's hit piece about Dame asking for a trade about how if this was going to happen, they'd all be in Neil's office together to get it done. Those accounts reposting this is intended to get Dame's message out while he's on his social media hiatus. I dunno why Dame feels the need to reaffirm this every two weeks, but getting this message out will do nothing to stop the talking heads on ESPN from continually posting bullshit about how he should leave.
Dame will fit just fine in Chauncey's style surrounded by Billups Ball Ballers. I have not a single doubt. Dame and Chauncey got this.
this might be aimed at Blazer fans more than national media. A "not trivial number" of Blazer fans (as seen in this forum) are incessant in their narrative that Dame is over the hill and unwilling to change or adapt. He's simply saying he's committed to the team, which, IMO, means he's committed to Billups, Ant's emergence, and Cronin's management. That's a very good thing
yup and i want him fully invested before free agency starts so he can go on a legitimate recruiting tour. (never mind that the FAs suck this year, but still... even MLE level guys need reassurance that the team's best player isn't gonna bounce).
Who are "not trivial number" of Blazer fans who are incessant that Dame is over the hill, unwilling to change or adapt? Haven't seen anything like that. Have seen some saying he is at the peak of his prime and the inevitable downhill portion is getting closer. (seems true enough, especially given the money that is coming) Have also seen people showing legitimate concern about how he will fit into something that is entirely different than what he has done his entire career, but not incessant that he is unwilling to change or adapt. Must have missed those posts. I would take issue with those as well.
it was from a tweet...by Richman I think and LOL, some of those "concerns" you've seen people express...was that from reading your own posts? relax...I'm just giving you a hard time
