In this article it talks about how year before last with the CJ/Pelicans trade CJ had say in where he went when he was traded. Especially given that the trade package was less than appealing with one first rounder likely in the 20’s (two with the flipping of josh hart) and the main draw being a large trade exception. Regardless this was seen at the time as Cronin getting fleeced. This is I think the same treatment Dame expected from the front office. That when he finally requested his trade he would get to choose his spot as a reward for everything he has given the franchise. And to be honest I think he earned that as well, the guy is pretty much seen as the consensus greatest blazer of all time. He has made no fuss through tons of god awful rosters (seriously look at that WCF roster compared to the warriors it’s laughable) and has put his head down and did what he could with it. Now he was essentially asked by the franchise to tank these last two years, two years of his late prime, and once again he did as was asked of him. But he did so with the idea that we would flip the assets from this tank to build a contender for him, something he made very clear was the expectation. Then the draft lottery comes around and we don’t move the pick and beyond that we use the pick to draft an undersized guard. Now don’t get me wrong I think you have no choice but to draft Scoot at 3 with him available but if you are a franchise point guard who has stuck by the franchise through thick and thin having your seeming replacement drafted and expected to play with him on a roster with hopes for the first round at best when you had been promised a contender would probably feel like a slap in the face. I think Dame finally actually making the request on some level took Joe and Jody by surprise, because of the Dame loyalty trope and they expected him to remain with the team because of that regardless of if they made moves or not. And they decided to not make moves because scoot’s value was almost certainly better than the value of players offered. Which in a vacuum I get as a decision for a team, you don’t want to undersell an asset especially one that may end up being a superstar, but at the same time these decisions don’t exist in a vacuum they have consequences the consequence of keeping scoot and doing so when you said you wouldn’t is that it’s going to disappoint the current actual confirmed superstar to the point where he will request a trade. For Joe and Jody I think it came down to asking: What changed between us putting together a shitty roster in the summer of 2016 and us putting together a shitty roster in 2023? Why would this now be the straw to break the camels back? So let’s just trot out the same mid team again good enough to sell tickets because of Dame but bad enough to keep our draft pick because it puts butts in seats and we don’t have to leverage future draft picks and end up like the late 2010 nets. The difference between 2016 and now is Dame is 33 and is seeing that these next two to three years are his last real chance to compete for a ring as the first or second best player on a team and he wants to do that, he wanted to do that with us but we didn’t want to for the aforementioned risk it presents and how it may leverage our future. I think not trading is a fair decision to make because even the best moves probably only make us a dark horse for contention. But I also think Dames decision to ask out is similarly fair, I think it’s even fair he wants a say in where he goes as he seeks out the contender he was promised. He has continuously sacrificed for this franchise why shouldn’t he put himself first in the twilight of his superstardom?
I think that Miami largely has a package that while obviously underselling Dames value is relatively on par to the McCollum trade. And frankly I think we do owe Dame this after all of our consistent mismanagement. I think we already have an incredibly strong core and two more first round picks will not be the life and death difference for our future contention I think that just comes down to investing in our development moving forward. We have superstars in the making they just need the space to learn. This Dame drama is not gonna go away until a trade happens and I think having that looming over the team will cost us more in the development of the young guys than the extra picks we may get by playing ‘hardball’. Not to mention the minutes that get freed up with a Dame trade and the effect that will have on development.
TL;DR: Dame asking for Miami is fair we gave CJ say in his trade and should do the same for Dame cause he has been fucked over consistently by our front office and the extra picks likely won’t matter
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CJ didn’t have his agent publicly announce he only wanted to go to NOLA and would be unhappy anywhere else.
Love me some Dame and support his desire to compete elsewhere but he and his camp have not handled this well.
Did not read all that. But the difference between the CJ trade and Dame’s request is that we fielded offers from multiple teams, and let CJ choose where he wanted out of that. Or at least gave a list of multiple places he would like and we worked out a deal from
that list. Dame and his agent have made it very clear he wants Miami and nowhere else. Fuck that.
Field offers, let teams bid against each other. Send Dame to his favorite of the group that wants him. Take back less than the best offer to let Dmae choose amongst his suitors. That’s all fair. Dame and his agent forcing 1 and only 1 option is working in bad faith. If he wanted that much freedom he shouldn’t have signed that super-max extension.
1) Google what a paragraph is.
2) Blazers are in a bad spot and need every single asset they can get, saying extra picks won’t matter is beyond moronic.
No one earns being able to leave. Hey I’ve been a good husband, please allow me to peacefully choose a new partner and you dare not interfere or fuss.
If Paul Allen we’re still alive Dame would’ve probably of been traded to Miami as soon as he asked to go there. When Drexler asked for a trade Allen asked where he wanted to go and sent there. Jody don’t give a fuck so why would Cronin
There is nothing in that article that says there was a better offer for CJ on the table – just that we let CJ give his preference. If Miami offers everything (they haven’t) and it’s the best offer they’ll get Dame. But if Miami wants to keep offering Herro plus 2 picks or if there’s a significantly better offer Dame will go somewhere else and that’s the deal he took when he pushed for the extension (and I believe the reporting is that Dame pushed for that extension even before Olshey got fired, locking up the most money was a priority for him).
Nobody will read this use paragraphs
Use some paragraphs man.
Wall of death text.
One point you didn’t mention is one of the reasons Dame has gotten so much push back is because he literally clowned other star players for feeling the need to have a championship ring to validate their career and kept saying that that wasn’t who he was, and literally did the same thing.
Lolno. He doesn’t deserve that. That’s what the money is for. He also is not the concensus best blazer ever. He especially is not now. I have always put Walton and Drexler over him
oh this looks interesting……
oh, its a solid block of words with no paragraph breaks.
No thanks
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I have notes:
Use the return key. Makes your ideas easier to understand.
Dames made an insane amount of money to play for us. Cronins job is to make this team a contender, not to make sure Dame is happy.
He has been fucked over by front office? Are you retarded? Blazers gab e him a $200 million extension! Jfc. Paid his cousin to sit on the bench. Have literally brought in player after player and yet dame still has learned defense! If he wanted to be a free agent and go to Miami then don’t sign the dam extension! So blazers don’t owe him shit. Don’t trade unless blazers get equal value. And it’s been posted drexler is still better player
Giving CJ a change to pick which team of the deals we have and take back 85% of his value is different than Dame choosing 1 spot, scaring away any other teams and demanding we take back 30% of his worth. Most fans will be fine taking a small hit to get Dame to a contender but won’t give him away for peanuts and be bullied.
Edit: Well I fucked up in that because I added a link I cannot edit the text of the post, and while I don’t mind walls of text y’all made it clear that is not the average case which is totally fair. Grammar and formatting have never been my forte so hopefully this is a bit better.
Also I edited some sentences to fit that better but content is the same.
So here is it hopefully better formatted if you care to read it.
In this article it talks about how year before last with the CJ/Pelicans trade CJ had say in where he went when he was traded. Especially given that the trade package was less than appealing with one first rounder likely in the 20’s (two with the flipping of josh hart) and the main draw being a large trade exception. Regardless this was seen at the time as Cronin getting fleeced.
I think Dame expected the same treatment from the front office. That when he finally requested his trade he would get to choose his spot as a reward for everything he has given the franchise. And to be honest I think he earned that as well, the guy is pretty much seen as the consensus greatest blazer of all time. He has made no fuss through tons of god awful rosters (seriously look at that WCF roster compared to the warriors it’s laughable) and has put his head down and did what he could with it.
Now he was essentially asked by the franchise to tank these last two years, two years of his late prime, and once again he did as was asked of him. But he did so with the idea that we would flip the assets from this tank to build a contender for him, something he made very clear was the expectation.
Then the draft lottery comes around and we don’t move the pick and beyond that we use the pick to draft an undersized guard. Now don’t get me wrong I think you have no choice but to draft Scoot at 3 with him available but if you are a franchise point guard who has stuck by the franchise through thick and thin having your seeming replacement drafted and expected to play with him on a roster with hopes for the first round at best when you had been promised a contender would probably feel like a slap in the face.
I think Dame finally actually making the request on some level took Joe and Jody by surprise, because of the Dame loyalty trope and they expected him to remain with the team because of that regardless of if they made moves or not. And they decided to not make moves because scoot’s value was almost certainly better than the value of players offered. Which in a vacuum I get as a decision for a team, you don’t want to undersell an asset especially one that may end up being a superstar, but at the same time these decisions don’t exist in a vacuum they have consequences the consequence of keeping Scoot and doing so when you said you wouldn’t is that it’s going to disappoint the current actual confirmed superstar to the point where he will request a trade.
For Joe and Jody I think it came down to asking: What changed between us putting together a shitty roster in the summer of 2016 and us putting together a shitty roster in 2023? Why would this now be the straw to break the camels back? So let’s just trot out the same mid team again it’s good enough to sell tickets because of Dame but bad enough to keep our draft pick because it puts butts in seats and we don’t have to leverage future draft picks and end up like the late 2010 nets. The difference between 2016 and now is Dame is 33 and is seeing that these next two to three years are his last real chance to compete for a ring as the first or second best player on a team and he wants to do that, he wanted to do that with us but we didn’t want to for the aforementioned risk it presents and how it may leverage our future.
I think not trading is a fair decision to make because even the best moves probably only make us a dark horse for contention. But I also think Dames decision to ask out is similarly fair, I think it’s even fair he wants a say in where he goes as he seeks out the contender he was promised. He has continuously sacrificed for this franchise why shouldn’t he put himself first in the twilight of his superstardom?
I also think that Miami largely has a package that while obviously underselling Dames value is relatively on par to the McCollum trade. And frankly I think we do owe Dame this after all of our consistent mismanagement.
I think we already have an incredibly strong core and two more first round picks will not be the life and death difference for our future contention I think that just comes down to investing in our development moving forward. We have superstars in the making they just need the space to learn. This Dame drama is not gonna go away until a trade happens and I think having that looming over the team will cost us more in the development of the young guys than the extra picks we may get by playing ‘hardball’. Not to mention the minutes that get freed up with a Dame trade and the effect that will have on development.
TL;DR: Dame asking for Miami is fair we gave CJ say in his trade and should do the same for Dame cause he has been fucked over consistently by our front office
CJ is a zero time all star making top 30 money. It’s a bad contract. There are only so many superstars in the NBA. Dame’s been one since day one. It’s not the same, at all.
The CJ trade should be a prime example of why we SHOULDN’T just trade players to where they want to go.
I’m not opposed to getting Dame to Miami. If that’s where he wants to go, fine. Wish him well. But we need to get something worthwhile in return.
Damian Lillard is one of the top 5 highest paid players in the league. His contract extension was offered to him with the expectation that he would finish his career in Portland, which is why it didn’t include a no trade clause. Lillard signed the fucking contract. With the amount of money the Blazers have paid to keep him around while building a decent team around him in 2019 that was competitive late in the playoffs, we don’t owe Damian Lillard SHIT. Do we have front office issues? Yea. Do I hope Jody sells the team to a more ambitious owner? Absolutely. But I’m not a fucking cuck Damian Lillard fan like the writer of this post. I’m a Trailblazers fan. It’s a team sport and I want Cronin to do what’s best for the TEAM. I have a ton of respect for Dame as a teammate and as a player, but if he doesn’t get his way in this trade, it’s 100% his own damn fault.
There is a couple ways this shit goes down, the most beneficial for the team when trading a franchise icon is to straight up work behind the scenes with them and their people to find a good spot and get a reasonable return. The other side is doin harden/Kyrie/KD/Ben Simmons shit. I never thought Dame after everything would choose the latter and it’s jarring.
Dame didn’t tank for 2 years.
The team tanked in 2021 – 2022 after Dame’s injury and later surgery. He was given the rest of the season to recover.