No reason to "ugh" yet. The Bucks did the right thing and brought in an all star level player at a position of need that got Giannis back on board. For as much as I can't stand Neil, he did pull off the Chris Paul to the Clippers trade once upon a time without giving up Blake or DeAndre. So I know he's capable of getting done what's needed to get Dame back to being committed to staying. I just don't know if Neil will.
Bingo. This is the strategy, and he knows he can't be bluffing for it to work. He's been the good soldier, now he is playing the heavy with all of the leverage he has. He's not bluffing, IMO. But that's good. There is no reason not to have a 2nd all star on this team. I think if Olshey can make that happen while making us a legit contender Dame will be here for the long haul. Otherwise Olshey will be fired. Dame is doing everything he can to give us fans what we want. I think it's incredibly hard for him to do this, and I'm grateful he is up to the challenge.
The Bucks winning is the best possible result for us. CP3 will be another year older next year and Dame just saw what it's like and what the buzz is around an AUTHENTIC Championship built the old way, not the Superteam bullshit of cowards like Durant. Olshey simply has to trade CJ this summer. Unless he somehow fleeces another team of a top shelf 3 or 4 (Siakam, Kawhi, PG-13 etc.) without giving up CJ, then CJ simply must go. I believe Dame came to terms with this when CJ stepped out of bounds. I could see the moment of clarity in Dame's face when CJ did that. I saw him look at CJ like he had never truly seen him before. That gives me hope and I believe a lot of his loyalty vs. preparation talk was about CJ, Stotts and by extension Olshey.
Remember when Nik fucking Stauskas was Neils first offseason signing after getting swept by New Orleans
I'm just saying Giannis was talking seriously about not returning for his first max extension and in fact initially turned it down until they got him Holiday. Dame signed that extension as soon as he could and then when the next extension came around he signed that one ASAP as well. So I don't want to hear about how Giannis has more loyalty than Dame. Giannis made demands and got them and if he wouldn't have, he would've walked. Up until now Dame has never made demands and in his interview he said he wants to win a championship for this team and this city. Putting in the work Dame has and letting Olshey and Stotts ride on Dame's sense of urgency while Dame waited for them to learn from him got old. So Dame had to teach Olshey and do it publicly. If Olshey won't give his job the same attention and urgency that Dame gives his... why would Dame stick around? I fucking guarantee Giannis wouldn't because he's already played that game.
Dame is a patient man! Thats not a bad thing either. Patience is a person's ability to wait something out or endure something tedious, without getting riled up. ... Having patience means you can remain calm, even when you've been waiting forever or dealing with something painstakingly slow or trying to teach someone how to do something and they just don't get it.
Giannis <3's David Stern? For real though mad respect for Giannis. HE IS a champion, dudes an absolute beast. No discredit to the team.
I don't want Dame to come to his decision based off what another NBA player says in a post game presser. It might be good in this case, but there certainly will be a lot more of his peers who could have the exact opposite influence down the road. I trust that Dame will do what he feels like the right thing to do. If we can't get one of the most loyal guys in the NBA to stay in Portland, that's on us, not him.
I don't think what Giannis said is making Dame come to any decisions. I'm sure Dame is still committed to winning a title and if Neil won't work towards that with the urgency Dame is demanding, I'm sure Dame will still demand a trade. However seeing what Milwaukee did and hearing the joy from Giannis was probably just a reminder of what Dame really wants, which is to win a title here.
