Exclusive Vote - If Dame is on the roster - where do you want him opening night?

Yes, Fentress is accurate that some fans made that argument, but I thought the replies were also pretty accurate:

"Dude, I'm not seeing anybody that has a problem with a trade request or doesn't want him on a contender. The Blazers still have the right to get the best return. Dame's agent probably misplayed this and delayed anything getting done. You're making strawman arguments to troll fans"

 

I know sev

Im not convinced this GM or ownership can do it?
We’ll see.

 

Agreed, I'm very concerned Jody or Cronin can ever have this team take the final needed steps to contend. Primarily Jody being a cheapskate is the main issue, but also allowing the Vulcan's to meddle in decisions is bad. Jody selling the team would help the Blazers more than any Cronin/GM/Dame trade/Dame stay/Billups actions ever could.

But at least the Blazers now appear to be doing this part of the process correctly. They seem to understand how critical draft picks are - especially if they continue to have such strict spending restrictions.

Also if the team builds up the talent the next few years at least that would put potentially better decision makers in the future in a position to take good final steps.

 

The difference one solid NBA player that is experienced and is willing to do what it takes to win can be the difference between Lotto and 6th seed very easily.

 

It seems Jody somehow got around Paul's wishes of selling the team promptly. She's clearly got lawyers able to delay until the TV deal. When is that again? 2025 or something?

 

Pretty you you made this post to get me to think about this! Lol.

 

I read comments that keeping Dame wont stunt Scoots growth.
If like to clarify the above statement.
It will stunt Scoots growth with Sharpe. I want both of them spending every minute on the court… together. i dont see us playing all three at the same time and Dame wont come off the bench so that means splitting scoots and sharpes minutes up to play with Dame.

I want scoot and sharpe playing every minute together so their growth together is not stunted.

 

I clarified in another post, but i meant scoots development with Sharpe. Not on his own. I want scoot and sharpe to develop as much synergy as quickly as possible. I dont see how keeping Dame doesn't slow this down.

 

I don't fault Dame for the trade request. But he's going to have to go to whoever offers the best deal, assuming somebody does offer enough.

He signed the contract. That's what that means.

I don't think there was a better player we could have added than Grant, Sharpe, or Scoot since Dame signed that contract.

So I think Joe is doing what he said.

 

New ownership will change nothing. The Blazers suck and they're gonna suck for the rest of my life. The deck is stacked so strongly against them that hoping for success is a pointless endeavor. What they need to do is concentrate on being entertaining.

 

Dame probably knew if Miami wasn't possible he could drop back and punt. Neither Dame or Blazers have to be in panic mode. Plus, Joe, Chauncey and Dame could regroup.

 

I don’t think Dame playing ups his value, so I would rather he stay home. Eventually, an Eastern conference team is going to be desperate.

Dame staying home is better overall for the team. Without Dame out and Scoot in, I think Ant has a career year. If we want to maximize Ant’s trade value, we can’t have three 6’3 guys on the roster playing heavy minutes.

 

Scoot Henderson didn't join the G League at 17 years old so he could fuck around once he got to the NBA. He was wants to win games now.

The Blazers will win more games with Dame playing. More wins puts the teams in a better position to make the playoffs if and when a trade happens.

 

Yes I agree, Dame has a decade proving he is an elite PG. If this was last summer you could make an argument Dame would need to prove he is health and back from injury. But that is not the case at all right now, Dame showed he was completely recovered last year and had his best statistical season ever.

If Dame played next month and was at an elite level I do think it would help his trade value a small amount, but not very much. However if he is not dominant it could drastically hurt his trade value. If he gets injured his trade value would tank. I think the risk of his trade value going down is much greater than the tiny reward of it maybe going up. Thus from a pure asset perspective it clearly makes sense for the Blazers to have him sit out.

 

I hope the Blazers aren't trying to position the team to make the playoff this season, that would be extremely shortsighted.

I'm not saying they need to intentionally tank. But the team needs to prioritizing player development and acquiring long term talent or assets. Not moves to win right now. If they surprisingly back into the playoff then that's fine. But there shouldn't be any immediate goals or actions to take that step right now, that ship sailed years ago.

 

I think that's that's totally false....it's opinion on both sides, yes, but it's false for several reasons IMO

besides, it won't be about Dame's assumed value, it will be about Portland's leverage. Those are two separate issues, and that's where this is at now. And Portland's leverage, already at as low ebb, will get significantly worse if Dame sits out.

 

You are absolutely correct.

Adding Jerami Shaedon and Scoot was the best outcome of the past 18 months given the limitations of the team.

No one is mad Dame requested a trade, we're critical of his Miami only condition.

To me Dame's loyalty reputation should be publicly exposed as that one team only request is not the most loyal thing to go about the situation.

 

His loyalty reputation is certainly taking a big hit.

 

I hope that's not the attitude he's going to come in with. Getting better at basketball everyday, building rapport with guys that will be here for the foreseeable future, and learning good habits from vets is not "fucking around". Of course, all rookies players should want to win right away, but rookies really care about being in a good situation and getting paid. If you really think Scoot is going to care about winning games like that year 1, then you are just projecting as a fan.

Making the playoffs without Dame wouldn't be the end of the world. Our young guys would get meaningful experience being the focal point of a playoff team right away. Making the playoffs WITH Dame would be disastrous for these reasons:

1) It stunts the growth of Scoot. There are 96mpg at the guard spot. So are Dame/Scoot/Ant going to split 96mpg and Shae spends the entire year at SF? If you were one of the ones that didn't think Dame/CJ or Dame/Ant would work, how are you going to justify the thought that Dame/Scoot/Ant could win anything?

2) We lose our pick. If we make the playoffs with Dame playing, we will know the reason why we got there. If that reason why is gone, we lose one on a young player that could be a cornerstone AND the the guy that got us to the playoffs. We don't get FAs. So at this point, how do we add to a core of Scoot and Shae without a lotto pick?

3) It depreciates Ant's trade value. I don't know if Ant is any better defensively with Scoot in and Dame out, but I want to say I can almost guarantee Ant will be worlds better on offense. Dame is a great offensive talent, but so much of the offense is centered around him operating PnRs and shooting tough 3s. I've seen enough from one SL game to be confident Scoot will be much better at moving the ball.

 

Precisely. The last two years, fans of other teams have been talking about trashy deals for Dame because "He'S oLdEr He CaN't StAy HeAlThY". They're only going to get worse with a potential Dame injury, and not much better even if he played and averaged 35ppg.

Ideally, I think we should sit Dame and wait for the best deal to come to ship him and Nurk out. Hopefully, we are getting at least one guy we can build around with Ant and Shae, expirings, 3-4 1sts.

Then we should be playing to win. Let Shae and Scoot play in meaningful games and build Ant and Grant's trade value. In this situation, I DO think wins matter. If both guys are gone before the AS break, there will be enough games for us to lose to increase the odds. At some point, I'm hoping Ant is worth 2 1sts and maybe a young player. And I do think the probability of a Grant for Allen swap with the Cavs is pretty high if the Allen/Mobley front court flames out--I think the swap is a seamless fit for both sides.