Rookie Press Conference

I had the sinking feeling as soon as I started comparing Oden and Durant. I think a lot of us saw the parallels between Bowie and Jordan as soon as we won the lottery.

 

I agree if after Dame/Joe "have the conversation," and if they decide to explore Dame trades, Grant is done in Portland. My question is how do sign and trades work with the new CBA? Anyone? Can Portland really get any value for Grant or is it better to just let him walk? Thanks in advance to anyone that has the answer.

 

Picking in the top 3 changed a lot for the FO.

New CBA rules are making rookie scale contracts even more important as well.

And at least in Scoot and Kris, I think we have guys that have a chance to be rotation level or better right away.

 

If teams that want Grant have expirings, young prospects and or picks then it would be very worth it to us. It will hard cap whatever team Grant goes to but if they think Grant is an important piece he seems more worth hard capping a team than GP2weeks.

 

Those players have to payoff before we can say "we hit the jackpot". A little premature Gronk. If they do, with Dame still on the team, then we likely will have a trophy in a few years. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Joe keeps his word.

 

wasn't that comment first made before we ended up with #3?

 

Exactly. If I am on vacation in another country the last thing I want is the repetition of the life I am escaping for a few days. I am sure when Joe last saw Dame, he told him to enjoy the time away and that he looked forward to updating him on how things at the ranch went while he was gone. I see it as respect. When my employee's are out, they are out. If they call me though, then we might discuss a little work.

 

Initially, and then reiterated in the interview on Showtime.

 

I think sign and trades are easier BEFORE the new CBA kicks in on July 1, so it would likely be easier to move Grant NOW vs later so a decision may need to be made soon

 

Heard that interview and the commentator had Dame regurgitate what he said initially.

 

I don't think we know if he has been dishonest.

All reports indicate that we tried to trade the pick. There was a report that we still offered #3 and Simons to Brooklyn on the day of the draft. So I don't think he was dishonest at all. I think Joe is TRYING to improve the team to meet Dame's requests. But I also think Joe caught a lot of heat for his shitty trades at the deadline a couple years ago, and he's being much more conservative about taking a loss on a deal. He wasn't going to sell the farm to bring in a guy like Siakam or Bridges.

The Zion trade wasn't real. NO offered some crappy deal centered on the 14th pick and Murphy.

So I don't think it's fair to call him dishonest when all indications are that he is trying to do what he said he would. It might just be impossible to do what he wants to do. Woj even said it. It would be malpractice to short sell the third pick. Joe is making the smart decisions right now.... but those decisions are not in line with that Dame wants, what a lot of the fans want, and maybe even what Joe wants. Sometimes you have to do the smart thing, even though you wish it was something else.

Our team does not get a lot of chances to bring in superstar talent. Hell, we are stage 5 clinging to Dame because we don't want to lose our superstar. So when you have a chance to draft a potential superstar, you have to take it. You have to.

 

I don't know about you but I don't have to train for my job when I'm on vacation. I'm not obsessed with my job the way Dame is. My job isn't as high stakes.

I guess it's possible that Dame vowed to himself not to talk to anyone about work during this small stretch but it wasn't the whole time he was in France because Dame was in France when he reportedly talked with Joe on Tuesday. So I don't think him not talking to Joe and having Goodwin do the talking is just a matter of Dame taking time off. If Joe is talking to Goodwin constantly I can't imagine Goodwin is making that constant communication without having something from Dame.

 

Dame has said it twice publicly. We have heard similar comments recently from reports as well. But I'm not sure why it would be earth shattering. The team drafted his eventual replacement. Why wouldn't he at least talk to the team and say, "is it time for me to leave?"

 

I don't think we can S&T Jerami before the new CBA begins regardless because contracts can't be signed before then.

 

my hunch is that if Grant has any hint Dame may ask out he won't re-sign with Portland unless they grossly overpay. And Grant will likely know what Dame's intentions are by the time free agency starts

 

These are wonderful young men. I hope they all succeed for us. Good Vibes all around from these guys.

 

Jerami probably knows right now, he's who Dame is vacationing with.