Lillard took the money and ran. BOOOOO! ummm... Damian earned that contract, and somebody else has to pay him if/when he's traded.
It surprises me you think that. It surprises me anyone, even those who put this all on the Blazers, think that. He and his agent took every bit of negotiating power away from Portland
Not sure what one has to do with the other? Also not sure what “true colors” I’m showing? Did Dame and his agent not do that?
if that were actually true, I'd think we wouldn't be hearing all these rumors about Toronto and other teams being interested right from the start you've put 100% of the blame on Dame (that after advocating for months for Portland to trade him). I didn't like the tactics of Riley's puppet, aka Dame's agent, but I know that didn't happen in a vacuum. Olshey, Cronin, and the Vulcans were the primary engineers of Dame's demands. And contrary to the notion it was completely unprecedented, I remember that Deron Williams was all-in on the Nets; Melo was all-in on the Knicks; KG was all-in on the Celtics. Dame's camp just took it one step further and it wasn't as big a step as people imagine. Pretty clear Dame feels the Blazers mislead him. And divorces can be ugly
But I never said I put this all on "The Blazers". Unless by "The Blazers" you mean the collective of all players, coaches, and front office that are employed by "The Blazers", then yes, I am blaming it on "The Blazers". I would agree Goodwin/Dame hurt Portland' negotiating power. I would disagree that they took "Every bit of negotiating power away", that would be hyperbolic. In fact, I think if Cronin truly felt had had zero negotiating power taken away from him, he would've made a deal by July 4th, not leaked info to Woj, and burned an entire off-season. Did Dame play a role in the situation where in today? Of course! I can't believe you think this is 100% on Dame and nobody else. I get people going with the tribalism play, but this would be one notch further.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Garnett Deron Williams and Melo were D-bags. Did Garnett demand a trade, let alone to One Team? From what I'm reading, Minnesota "was shopping him." During the 2007 off-season, Glen Taylor admitted that although he planned on retaining Garnett, he finally listened to trade offers.[27] Garnett's name was mentioned in various trade rumors involving the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, and Dallas Mavericks.[28][29][30][31] Garnett later confirmed that his preferred trade destinations were the Lakers, Celtics, and Suns.[32] He had initially contacted Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant about joining the team as the Lakers were his initial top choice but Bryant didn't answer or return the calls. Garnett stated, "I'm just being honest with everybody. I wanted to link with Kobe. Kobe and I had a different connect. When Kobe-Shaq went on their little thing, a lot of people went with Shaq. A lot of people didn't even fuck with Kobe. You know, Kobe, whatever. One of the very few to just stay with him. I was a neutral guy, anyway. I show everybody love. I tried to link with him, and I couldn't get him on the line."[32] The Lakers originally had a trade framework in place that involved Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum.[32] https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/...ice-for-2007-trade-was-kobe-bryant-and-lakers Kevin Garnett didn’t have a no-trade clause when the Timberwolves were shopping him in 2007. But because he could either sign an extension with his new team or opt out in 2008, Garnett had massive leverage over where he went. Effectively, he could swing whether it was worth a team’s while to deal for him. Four primary suitors emerged: Celtics, Lakers, Suns and Warriors. Garnett’s initial top choice? Joining Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles.
Garnett has said for years that he does not want to leave his beloved "Sota," as he calls it, consistently refusing to push for a trade even with the Wolves missing the playoffs each of the past three seasons. https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=2954127
Garnett's team was horrible with a bad roster and nothing to show from it in the draft. Minnesota traded Brandon Roy for Randy Foye in the 2006 draft. Well done! In 2007 the Timberwolves drafted Corey Brewer in the first round. Yay! Very different from Dame's situation. The Blazers probably added more talent from draft in 2022 and 2023 than they have since the Brandon Roy days. Here's KG's roster in 2006-07, his last season with the Timberwolves. 2006–07 Minnesota Timberwolves roster Players Coaches Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From C 30 Blount, Mark 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1975-11-30 Pittsburgh SF 31 Davis, Ricky 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1979-09-23 Iowa PG 4 Foye, Randy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 213 lb (97 kg) 1983-09-24 Villanova PF 21 Garnett, Kevin (C) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 253 lb (115 kg) 1976-05-19 Farragut Academy (IL) PF 41 Griffin, Eddie 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1982-05-30 Seton Hall SG 23 Hassell, Trenton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1979-03-04 Austin Peay PG 16 Hudson, Troy 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1976-03-13 Southern Illinois PG 13 James, Mike 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1975-06-23 Duquesne SG 55 Jarić, Marko 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 224 lb (102 kg) 1978-10-12 Serbia C 35 Madsen, Mark 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1976-01-28 Stanford SG 1 McCants, Rashad 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 226 lb (103 kg) 1984-09-25 North Carolina PF 9 Reed, Justin 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1982-01-16 Mississippi PF 5 Smith, Craig 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 272 lb (123 kg) 1983-11-10 Boston College SG 6 Wright, Bracey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1984-07-01 Indiana
