A long time reader, opened an account especially for this post. Trading Ant and the 3rd pick to get Lillard help as you call it would only make us mediocre and absolutely destroy our future. When you consider age and talent, both Ant AND the 3rd, each are more valuable to us than Lillard. On the other hand, we can get an excellent package for Lillard, think Franz Wagner, Cole Anthony and the 6th from Orlando. That would give us a talented future up to par with teams like the thunder. To me, it's a no-brainer but since so many people here don't seem to get it, I went through the trouble of opening an account. Trading our future for mediocre success next year would be devestating. Especially when the writing is on the wall. Please make the right decision and let go of Lillard
First let me say: welcome to the board. I'm glad you signed up, and I hope you choose to remain engaged in the community for many other threads besides this one (except the OT section--trust me, just stay out of that cesspool). As to your premise, I don't disagree that trading Dame for a package like you describe would be the best move for the franchise. However, I question the claim that the Blazers could, in fact, get a package of that nature. Any team dealing for Dame would need to do so with the expectation that his addition makes them a contender within the next two seasons, if not immediately. Do you believe that Orlando is in that position? Personally, I do not. Looking around the league, are there any other potential destinations which could offer similar future-building packages to us while retaining enough talent/assets to be contenders after a Lillard acquisition? I have trouble finding them. Furthermore, it's important to remember that Dame cannot be traded until July 10th. Yes, it is possible for a deal to be agreed-upon in advance and then not consummated until that date. However, given that leaguewide, the vast majority of roster-altering transactions occur between the day before the draft through the five days after the moratorium, it seems unlikely that teams would commit to dealing for a contract like Lillard's until they know what the rest of their roster is expected to look like. So to sum up: as easy as it is to say, "The Blazers need to let go of Lillard," I don't believe that it is as easy as your post suggests. If Orlando wants to offer Wagner/Anthony/6, then it's certainly worth consideration, but offers like that seem unlikely to be available.
Not to mention the fallout that the franchise would have to endure. It would be even more unpopular than trading Drexler with no guarantee they could build a winner with players that have never won anything. No. You don't trade Dame at this point. Now next summer this conversation might come back around or even as soon as the trade deadline but you don't move away from Lillard until you give him at least one last shot.
Thank you for the warm welcome! Of course it depends on what we can get in a trade but a Lillard trade could get us more or at least as much as trading the 3rd with Ant and I think we need to set our priorities to looking to trade Lillard first. We all watched the games, we know Ant is much better without Lillard and that his numbers are actually deflated because of that and if you ask do I blame Lillard? I blame Lillard! He passed him the ball maybe once a game. He was never a player known to making the players around him better and with all of his talent you could argue he's a stat padder, selfish, puts himself above the team and making himself (and not winning) the first priority... I know this last paragraph would get me under fire but that's my opinion of him. That he's extremely talented but not a winning basketball player (befote even once mentioning his non existant effort on defense...) and that's what he's been since his Weber State days. We wouldn't be doing him a favour by making him also the de-facto GM because if we trade Ant and the 3rd it would come back to haunt us so badly it would also tarnish Lillard's career.
Heh heh... yeah, "under fire" seems likely. Given your view of Dame, it's understandable why you want him dealt. Almost even sounds like you view his eventual departure as an addition-by-subtraction situation. Hopefully, the other prospective acquiring GM's don't see the same things you see, otherwise a worthwhile trade package is unlikely to be forthcoming.
First thought. So he's a stat padder but yeah lets get great value from trading him. This thread is gonna go nowhere but bad from here.
Lol as soon as Cronin says “Magic” to Dame, Dame would laugh and say “no thanks”. It’s been talked about a million times. There is probably around 5 legitimate suitors for Dame (that he would actually go to) and none of them really have assets.
Dame's trade value is going to start taking exponentially bigger drops from here on. There is nothing this team can do this offseason makes them a contender next year. The only path this team has, and ever has had, is to build through the draft. With the current pick and the picks that would be acquired from trading Dame and a couple others, the team would be in the best position it has been in a number of years. For all the guys that want to put Dame before the team, the best shot he has at a ring is going somewhere else.
I question that if we actually do put the team before Dame, it would help Dame get a ring elsewhere. Not if we actually care about getting a decent player back in return.
Dame is going nowhere! So enough of this pure speculation and wannabe gm stuff. Dame & Joe have made it clear what the path is for this team. Enough is Enough, right!
I think more fans than you think are coming around to the realization that it’s probably time to deal Dame
Welcome to the board...my 2 cents...this is a post not a thread that should have been posted in one of the existing "trade Dame" threads....I firmly disagree about trading Dame for several reasons but first and foremost now, it's because there's no "Gobert" package out there for him and you don't send the GOAT to a bottom feeding franchise either...you give him a chance to win if you trade him which I'd never do. The Blazers won't find another Dame in my lifetime, and I don't want to be the Kings or Wolves wallowing in playoff droughts for over a decade...I'm too old for that.. You build around Dame and if that means trading Ant or other players to do it you do it. Ant can't shine Dame's shoes at this point in his career and it's because he doesn't have any Alpha dog in him. He's our best trade piece beyond the 3rd pick. I'd keep Dame and the 3rd pick if we could and trade other pieces or the 23rd pick first. We'll see. Dame is healthy for the first time in about half his career and just had a career year...good things to come behind a healthy Dame. I'll never understand the logic unless the person proposing trading Dame is actually a Laker or Knick fan. Their big market media teams are going to sow seeds of a disgruntled Dame and give a million reasons why he should be a Knick or Laker...which ain't happening...sorry to burst your bubble. I'd believe you were a longtime Blazer fan if your first post cheered for the team but you didn't ...in fact your first post is a doom and gloom Dame thread..reading it we clearly disagree. It's a pretty telling troll thread.
