Poll: If Dame Doesn't Ask Out

[wizenheimer]

several posters have been calling for Dame to be traded, repeatedly, even though his loyalty to Portland has been incredible and his leadership and character have been exemplary. Not to mention being arguably the greatest Blazer player ever

so I'm wondering what gauge those posters, and others, are putting on those qualities that Dame has displayed for 11 years. What value his loyalty has in the minds of fans. How far the loyalty stretches from the Blazers to Dame

seems like a pretty simple question of if the Blazers should trade Dame if he doesn't want to be traded. Ergo...

 

[illmatic99]

lol i misread the poll. i meant to choose the first one.

 

[BassPlaya]

Can we trade some of the fans whether they want it or not?

 

[Tince]

The only trade packages I'd even consider for Dame seem highly unlikely to be offered from the other trade partner, so I simply voted to not trade him. I have zero interest in giving up the best player in franchise history, who also happens to be incredibly loyal, for a discount.

 

[Chris Craig]

You don't trade Dame unless he asks out period.

 

[Phatguysrule]

You have to have a player of Dame's caliber to win a title. Getting rid of the only player like that we've had in over 30 years seems counterproductive if winning a title is your intention...

 

[KingSpeed]

Too many trade Dame threads. This poll wasn’t necessary.

 

[julius]

You have to have a player of Dame's caliber to win a title. Getting rid of the only player like that we've had in over 30 years seems counterproductive if winning a title is your intention...

And it's not like these kinds of players are getting handed out like candy. Especially since there are very few examples of when trading a superstar has ever worked out for both teams.

The only times I can think of are Kwahi Leonard to the Raptors and KG to the Celtics.

And San Antonio didn't benefit from the trading of their superstar, and the Minnesota Twolves didn't exactly get a decent haul when they traded KG (thanks to Kevin McHale for gifting KG to the Celtics).


I know Boston got Tatum and Brown through trades, but neither one was in a trade that included a superstar traded. At the time the Celtics traded for what turned into Jaylen Brown (in 2013), KG was pretty much done, Paul Pierce was a shell of himself and the Nets were stupid desperate to win a title, and that pick was 3 years out.

I'm sure I'm missing some trades, but not sure there are any obvious ones.

Kyrie has been traded twice and neither haul helped the team he left.

Durant was traded for a lot of future firsts, but we don't know how well those will be.

 

[Mediocre Man]

The question is what SHOULD they do. Trade Dame is what they SHOULD do

 

[Everything Beagle]

You don't trade Dame unless he asks out period.

We're not going to be a contender anytime soon if we do trade him, because nobody is going to give us prime players for him (we'll get Raef Lafrenz-style contracts and a couple of overpaid A- players). Might as well enjoy him while he can still give us spectacles.

 

[Propagandist]

lol i misread the poll. i meant to choose the first one.

I was super surprised you were in the trade dame camp, haha. Makes sense now.

 

[Natebishop3]

Fuck it. We can’t trade this man.

 

[blazerkor]

There is one superstar that has been outspoken and backed it up in regards to his dedication to this franchise and this city and some of you want to or think we "should" trade him. Shameful. What we should do is put a team around him that makes sense. The best team possible to compliment his game and give all of us the best shot at our team winning a title as soon as possible.

 

[Phatguysrule]

The question is what SHOULD they do. Trade Dame is what they SHOULD do

 

[julius]

The question is what SHOULD they do. Trade Dame is what they SHOULD do

I think what you mean is YOU think they should.

Trading him doesn't guarantee them anything.

 

[MickZagger]

I think what you mean is YOU think they should.

Trading him doesn't guarantee them anything.

At the same time keeping him isn’t either.

 

[MickZagger]

I dunno, I’m just not into the sentimental part of being a fan.

Just win, baby

 

[julius]

At the same time keeping him isn’t either.

true, but what it does do (hah, I said does do...wait, that doesn't work) is create stability.

trading him away doesn't mean they'll get a great haul, doesn't mean they'll have a chance at another star. They might go through a long stretch of massively bad seasons.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I think what you mean is YOU think they should.

Trading him doesn't guarantee them anything.

You are so correct, but keeping Dame absolutely guarantees we won’t win. He makes too much now and we don’t have enough assets and cap room to get what we need around Dame

 

[MickZagger]

true, but what it does do (hah, I said does do...wait, that doesn't work) is create stability.

trading him away doesn't mean they'll get a great haul, doesn't mean they'll have a chance at another star. They might go through a long stretch of massively bad seasons.

I mean any worse than the stretch of bad seasons we’re currently on?

And I’m not trying to be smart ass. I just think I’m a jaded Blazer fan at this point. I have no faith in anything regarding this franchise. At least with sucking there’s the hope of lottery and luck and change.

 

[Mediocre Man]

true, but what it does do (hah, I said does do...wait, that doesn't work) is create stability.

trading him away doesn't mean they'll get a great haul, doesn't mean they'll have a chance at another star. They might go through a long stretch of massively bad seasons.

Some could argue knowing we had no chance at winning and no chance at a difference maker in the lottery for a decade was a long stretch of massively bad seasons

 

[Phatguysrule]

You are so correct, but keeping Dame absolutely guarantees we won’t win. He makes too much now and we don’t have enough assets and cap room to get what we need around Dame

Disagree. It's well worth a shot, IMO.

 

[Phatguysrule]

I mean any worse than the stretch of bad seasons we’re currently on?

And I’m not trying to be smart ass. I just think I’m a jaded Blazer fan at this point. I have no faith in anything regarding this franchise. At least with sucking there’s the hope of lottery and luck and change.

Disagree. You'll need good management to build from a bad team to a winning team.

I'm not interested in doing that with Jodi. With Dame we always have a shot. We are already closer than we'll get in a 10 year Jodi rebuild, IMO.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

If we had a GM like Ainge I would consider it but we don't so we shouldn't.

 

[MickZagger]

Disagree. You'll need good management to build from a bad team to a winning team.

I'm not interested in doing that with Jodi. With Dame we always have a shot. We are already closer than we'll get in a 10 year Jodi rebuild, IMO.

A shot at what?

 

[wizenheimer]

You are so correct, but keeping Dame absolutely guarantees we won’t win. He makes too much now and we don’t have enough assets and cap room to get what we need around Dame

"he makes too much"

how much should a top-10ish player make?

Dame makes 34% of the current salary cap. The projection for the cap next year still has him at 34% of the cap. 10 NBA players make as much as Dame or more; 10 other players make within 6M of Dame which is still over 30% of the cap. 20 players paid at least 30% of the salary cap while Jokic and Embiid will join them next season

as for cap-room....LOL...when has that ever mattered for Portland. The last time Portland had cap-space they spent it on Evan Turner, Allen Crabbe, and Festus Ezeli....after striking out on Chandler Parsons

Blazers don't have good assets because of shitty management over a decade. Dame had nothing to do with that. But sure, lets make it his fault now to try and rationalize trading him away

 

[wizenheimer]

lol i misread the poll. i meant to choose the first one.

sorry...I guess I failed to allow people to change their votes

 

[Natebishop3]

If we had a GM like Ainge I would consider it but we don't so we shouldn't.

Wait… I thought you were the GM? Isn’t your real name Joe Cronin???

 

[robe]

"he makes too much"

how much should a top-10ish player make?

Dame makes 34% of the current salary cap. The projection for the cap next year still has him at 34% of the cap. 10 NBA players make as much as Dame or more; 10 other players make within 6M of Dame which is still over 30% of the cap. 20 players paid at least 30% of the salary cap while Jokic and Embiid will join them next season

as for cap-room....LOL...when has that ever mattered for Portland. The last time Portland had cap-space they spent it on Evan Turner, Allen Crabbe, and Festus Ezeli....after striking out on Chandler Parsons

Blazers don't have good assets because of shitty management over a decade. Dame had nothing to do with that. But sure, lets make it his fault now to try and rationalize trading him away

This Dame's salary is really confusing for me. So, I've got one question. If we put aside all the discussion about "how much he deserves", "we could only spent it on Evan Turner" and other things... If we put it aside and hypothetically assumed, that he make 20 millions a season. What would change in that situation?

 

[Propagandist]

Fuck it. We can’t trade this man.

I think you’re right. I recently had my Come to Dame moment. There is no trading this guy. Never have we, nor will we again, have a player like Dame.

At this point. If I had to choose between Dame retiring a Blazer and a championship, I’d take Dame. Yeah, I said it.

(That doesn’t mean that what’s been happening is okay. The city, and Dame, deserve a competitive team.)