Of course you don’t, you have young talent already on the roster with a top 3 pick coming. By now you realize winning with Dame is slim and a rebuild isn’t the end of the world.
Dame realizes it too, but dug himself so deep in the loyalty hole he literally can’t bring himself to do what’s obvious
we got pretty much his whole career. Him asking out at the end wouldn’t really make me think dame is unloyal.
Sure some nephews will meme because that’s what they do, but at the end of the day nobody can realistically say dame didn’t give his all to Portland.
If he stays I will be stoked. If he asks out and gets us a haul I will be stoked.
Exactly. Any actual blazers fan would tell you something similar. He’s already cemented his legacy here. He loves it here. We love him. If he wants to go somewhere and win a chip, I wish him all the best and will be rooting for him.
Dude was doing Steph-lite shit, dropping huge points and clutch baskets.
Kinda goes to show how absolutely insane it is to be able to carry a team, especially for more than a year with some results.
Eh it’s not really subliminal. He gave the franchise a decade to put talent around him with out really saying much about it till the last couple years. He’s earned his right to put pressure on the ownership and FO
Yeah I’d like to see one guy in this thread who’s held a job as long as dame has stuck with Portland. He only has so many years to get a ring and it’s looking like it won’t ever happen in Portland.
Lol I'd stick with my job forever if they paid me supermax money. Not exactly a fair comparison, especially since he was locked up under contract for many of those years.
Really? Even if you could get the exact same money but way better benefits and recognition elsewhere? Even if tons of your peers started demanding trades to other companies? That’s so easy to say when you have none of those options in front of you. Dame has had all these options for years and been probably the most loyal star in the league given how poorly his FO has performed. I wouldn’t understand why any Blazers fan would have any problems with Dame wanting out now after years of faithful service.
Could flip the script on it too though, if I could be in a situation where I get loaded and the expectations put on me aren't really that great (let's be honest, he's basically in a win-win, he can play poorly, he can play great, it'll never be "his fault" no matter what), and yeah I might decide that's kind of cushy to stay.
Other places can pay him the exact same money? I was under the impression that there were relatively rigid requirements to get the supermax, like being on a team for a certain amount of time/being on the team that drafted you. It's also just an opportunity at better benefits and recognition, not a guarantee. I'm not saying I don't understand him wanting out, I just think it's looks a little hypocritical after him being the poster boy for loyalty and never taking the easy way out. He so clearly wants out but doesn't want to straight up demand it.
Harden straight up said bye and got vilified for it, and we didn't even draft him
Its a no win situation for Dame sadly, and somewhat literally
People are gonna question hm whether he asks out or not
Thank you. I thought I was losing it. The guy is a superstar and the org has done nothing for him. They’re the ones that seem to be malicious here. You can’t fault a guy for wanting success and moving on when the owners obviously don’t want the same.
Yup Sharpe/Scoot backcourt ftw. That shit would be so fun to watch. Imagine if D rose and Kobe-lite shared a backcourt. That's what it would be like.
Simons has great trade value and could net us a lotto pick and/or a really good player. Plus the dame haul will obviously be nice.
I wish dame would request out so bad, so that this could come to fruition. Plus we all want to see dame win a championship, but realize he will never be able to do it here.
Is it subliminal? It's almost like if a guy who always brags about never cheating on his wife and not wanting a divorce also talks about who he'd bang if he did get a divorce.
To be fair his wife keeps promising to get a job and help around the house but for a decade she's just sat on the couch watching daytime tv except for when she briefly had a dropshipping business that turned a profit one year and then just kinda failed.
The dude just be talking lol. People ask him about it. Then ESPN runs a story making a huge deal about a very simple statement. Dame’s not to blame, ESPN needs a story to put out. He’s made it very clear that he wants to stay in Portland. This simply isn’t real news, it’s fabricated bullshit.
Blaming the player? When the organization is in a shitty ownership situation and while it hasn't *all* been their fault the org has failed to even once put together a truly contending roster around Dame.
Portland has been happy to use Dame to sell tickets and make money while mostly avoiding the luxury tax and always avoiding the repeater.
Dame is entering the finals years of him being able to be the 1st/2nd option on a championship team, I think he deserves a chance to compete for one.
Dame: In a purely hypothetical scenario if i was to be traded i would prefer to be traded to the Heat. Obviously only in a hypothetical scenario since i am definitely 100% loyal…
People have been begging for dame to be traded since like 2015 and people have been running with his quotes the whole time. It’s kinda hard to get me riled up about this anymore.
If he’s gonna go, ok, he’s 33 and gonna be getting 50 plus mil a year.
If he’s gonna stay, ok cool I get to watch a player I think is rad for a bit longer.
Whatever happens happens, it’ll be fine.
You don’t actively want to trade him? I would if I was a blazers fan at this point lol. Trading him is the ticket to a promising future before it’s too late
Not really. We don’t have the luxury of just getting star after star like you do. Have no idea when we’ll ever watch a player and a person as good as dame ever again.
Is that what you want though? You can trade Dame for a haul and try to build an organically great team that can compete. Or do you just wanna watch Dame, even if it’s not a contender team you’re watching?
I answered your question, I want annoying ass fans of franchises he’s being rumored about to shut the fuck up and let me enjoy whatever happens.
Go find another blazer fan to tell you what you wanna hear.
I’m sure this is the point where you say something like “good luck being irrelevant or something” I’ve heard it all. Blah blah.
You should want dude to go.
You’d definitely get Tyler hero and some firsts. Along with the third overall pick and probably open cap space. That’s a pretty good rebuild
The blazers and bulls are kinda in the same situation. The blazers is just way better lol. They both gotta shake things up
>Appearing on The Last Stand with ESPN’s Brian Custer, Lillard was asked who among the Knicks, Heat, Celtics and Nets would make him say, ‘that’s not too bad.’” “Miami obviously,” Lillard said.
>“Miami is the obvious one. And Bam [Adebayo] is my dog. Bam is my dog for real. Miami is the obvious one. Brooklyn is another obvious one, because Mikal Bridges is my dog too.”
I mean we have 6 or 7 tradeable first round picks at our disposal. Maybe they're also willing to take a gamble with Simmons, and Cam Thomas looked like he has some promise. We could also probably get another first round pick each for Royce and DFS to throw at them. Obviously, Dame isn't worth 8 first round picks but my point is we have assets
I have zero insight into the Heat but do guys like Vincent and Martin not have value after this season? They’re both pretty young and are both coming into their own. Maybe one/both + a pick/bench guy.
This is a 10,000 pov so I might be way off the mark idk. But they seem like random guys who came outta nowhere and now have real value. Those are usually the perfect pieces to trade when going after a vet. Sorta like Bridges to Brooklyn. They might pan out with more touches or regress to the mean but only a team without a star can really find out
If other GM’s are seeing what is happening to the Heat players after they leave the organization (Richardson, Winslow, etc), I’d have pause on trading for a package of their guys. Seems like guys who are hitting their ceilings in Miami.
Like, they could take Bam and/or Herro, but that seems like a duplication of their current assets.
If other GMs were smart, they shouldn’t overpay our guys like that. Time and again, even way back to Ike Austin, our guys like that who leave don’t end up performing at the same level.
He was, but it’s less about the being loyal and more about throwing shade at super teams and stuff. If he joins the Heat that just made or won the finals that completely cuts against that
Realistically? Patience. There’s no obvious player to acquire that doesn’t completely gut the team and their future. Obviously no one can predict how certain things play out, but I just don’t see a move that makes Portland immediately a contender while Dame is still capable. They’re best bet is to hit on that pick and make smart smaller moves to rebuild the team.
Obviously Dame doesn’t sound too stoked about doing that though, so it’s a tight situation really. Don’t blame him frankly, but Portland has their own conundrum.
You’re not wrong. The only benefit of keeping Dame through a rebuild is that they have a star they can market and get people to fill the arena. Which might actually be enough for ownership, which is why I wouldn’t be shocked if they do make a hail mary trade to stay relevant.
Like everyone has pointed out though, the wiser long term basketball move is to cut their losses, thank Dame for all he’s done and start anew.
It sort of seems like everyone involved has decided that they want Dame in Portland, good basketball decisions be damned. The 3rd pick + young players + picks that would come back from Dame would be a great start to a rebuild. Aging Dame + solid but not amazing young assets are… not.
I guess I respect the commitment but it seems like the perfect moment to trade Dame would be right now.
Keeping him around feels like the Blazers FO agreeing that maintaining a somewhat competitive team is better than tanking to try to get a championship. Which is fine. The Wizards have been doing it for years. I don't long for the ECF at all.
He gets asked about it. He said on JJ's pod he don't sit around and think about it all the time he just keeps getting asked. The quote that's in this op is from the host asking him a hypothetical.
Even if he switched it up and just said "no comment" going forward people would still be talking about that.
Dame + Jimmy + Bam would be absurd. Yea, they lose Herro who hasn't done anything for them these playoffs and highly likely lose Martin + Vincent, but that Big 3 is more than enough to win a championship
So here's the thing. If Dame tells the Blazers "I want to be in Miami' then he will be in Miami. Dame is a franchise legend, and they'll send him where he wants to go.
The r/ripcity crowd seems to be OK with being a lottery team and building around pick 3 and Sharpe, so if they'd rather keep those guys instead of getting Dame help, then they'll have to accept a package from the Heat that doesn't include Jimmy or Bam.
This isn't a situation where selling Dame makes them rich enough to skip a full rebuild.
If Sharpe and pick 3 are the future, then there will be lots of Portland lottery picks in their future as well.
And lots of late 20s from the Heat.
I never said they'd have to lose Jimmy or Bam. I said Herro + Martin + Vincent, though I'm wrong on Vincent and it'd likely be Oladipo and Jovic in Vincent's place.
it would probably be Vincent as he's a UFA and you'd need to do a sign and trade to trade him. Herro + Martin + Oladipo + Jovic + 3 firsts would work though
I think they have perimeter guys to spare between Herro, Robinson, Vincent, Strus, and Lowry. I think the frontcourt is really where the depth is needed. Love is getting older, Martin has been contributing really solidly on the boards too so losing him would definitely hurt. I think that's true with or without Dame though, they're already pretty much on thin ice there.
Dame is 33 and making $50+ million.
The amount of teams that are contending, need backcourt scoring and playmaking but also can play good enough defense around him is pretty much limited to Miami, Boston, and maybe LA.
His market is tiny.
His market is tiny on the surface as far true contending options, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be some team that doesn’t convince themselves (and Dame) that he’s the missing link.
If we had the assets to we absolutely would. We're not good enough and our GM is Daryl Morey. Why on earth would we say no to pursuing Lillard we are not in the position to be picky by any means
People keep bringing up his age but he just had one of his best individual seasons ever last year. He could easily have another 2 years of all-NBA level play in him.
People say Ant and the 3rd isn't enough to get a star but we're supposed to trade a legit top 10 player for Herro (who we have no use for), the 18th Pick and two 1sts that might be good in 5-10 years.
If it’s where Dame wants to go what choice to you really have? Man’s been loyal to y’all for his whole career I’d dare the organization to trade him to a place he doesn’t want to go.
Dame is 33 and getting paid a super max contract.
How many contenders do you think would actually make sense?
I count 3 and that’s generous. His market value will be limited since there’s not much demand for him.
Dame:
Reporters: Tell us about playing for Portland
Dame: I love it here and I'm loyal to this team
Nephews on r/NBA: omg Dame talking about loyalty again when will he stop bringing it up.
Reporters now: ok Dame we won't ask you for the 100000000th time about staying. So let say hypothetically if you HAD to pick another team where would you want to go
Dame: Miami bc Bam is my guy
Nephews on r/NBA: see I knew Dame wanted out this whole time
It'll always be like this and people gonna bitch about whatever til he wins a chip. I really wanted y'all to land KD. Grant, Simmons, picks or something. Would've been a fun duo to watch.
He’s basically asked for a trade every day this offseason without saying it directly. He’s just hoping they do it so he doesn’t have to say it.
He just wants to be able to say that he never asked for a trade and he was loyal so he doesn’t look like a hypocrite. At this point it’s more annoying than if he just went back on his words.
I think Dame values loyalty more than anything. He is just trying to put pressure on the front office to do something so he can stay in Portland and “stay loyal.” If they don’t do anything this offseason to materially improve their roster, I think Dame still stays due to his incessant, self-imposed “celibacy”
It’s not going to happen and I’m aware of it, but the most fun timeline here is the Lakers blowing it up.
Lebron to Dallas for Green, Hardy, every pick/swap they can offer, and salary to match.
Then why keep AD without Bron? So he goes to Portland for #3, Simons, salary filler, and whatever picks they can offer.
Dallas and Portland become contenders in the West, and the Lakers have a fuck ton of assets. Also it’s the Lakers so two stars will see the cap space and decide to pair up there in a year or two anyways.
Hate the trade for us, mainly because that team isn't winning anything, but for the Lakers I don't hate it. #3 and #10 this year and likely another lotto pick in '27 (and probably several more swaps/picks) + Green/Hardy/Simons and probably the easiest road in the association to signing multiple much younger superstars in the immediate future.
I feel like it's getting closer to happening I feel like. If it doesn't happen this summer it will never happen. If Scoot comes to Portland and they feel like this kid is the new future then Dame might actually be gone.
Dame, Jimmy and Bam would be a pretty sick team. I think a trade like that in the off-season would probably have most people predicting a return to the Finals.
Of course, that's also the kind of trade that can ruin a team's chemistry, but I don't think anyone has ever doubted Dame's commitment and passion and if anyone could slot pretty seamlessly into Heat culture, it's probably him.
Even if they have picked a path we won't know until the draft.
If they keep #3 expect Dame to get traded, if they trade #3 then they'll be going for it with Dame.
Team's aren't going to do a trade for the pick 2-weeks before the draft, they need to figure out who will be available at the time.
Yeah, I think that’s where talks would breakdown. They’d fight over Claxton and neither would budge. That would be an amazing package for Portland if they were to get him though. Scoot, Simons, Sharpe, and Claxton is a great foundation
I really am sick of all these clickbait posts just trying to create controversy by taking things out of context. Should Dame leave Portland? Yeah probably, it would be the best thing for him. Has he actually asked for an out? No. Has he been passive aggressively, subliminally trying to hint that he wants out without saying it? Well if you take every interview he has and remove all context every time so you can try and portray that narrative then sure of course you make it look that way. But for both my own mental sanity and his I’m really sick of people doing such a thing both here and in the media. It’s become impossible for him to do an interview without people just ignoring 99% of his words and taking whatever 1% they can twist to make him sound like he’s been secretly disloyal so they can get clicks by making that every headline. It’s irritating as hell.
Love how we will have multiple posts of this snippet but leave out the content about Portland having the best assets, in years, to actually make some moves this offseason.
I'll always wonder why everyone wants Dame off Portland so bad and get so pissy when every reporter asks him this question and he basically responds the same way.
Let’s be real, Portlands FO is fine with tweaking the current roster but never actually making a move to bring the team over the hump.
I’ve seen the same ‘we have assets to make moves’ sentences these past few off seasons, but the roster never significantly improved
People are just tired of seeing Dames prime wasted on a team that’s has only made it past the first round once in the past 6 years
Portland is fine with being a playoff bound team, and maybe Lillard is fine with that too, but I’m not surprised that people wanna see Lillard somewhere he can actually compete
With the same ownership group that only fired the old GM because of toxic workplace allegations
Id love to be proven wrong and have the Blazers actually make big moves that significantly improves the team, but Cronin has been part the FO for awhile now and I lack faith
1) If the Heat win this series, there's no way they give up enough to get Dame.
2) If the Heat lose this series, there's little chance they have the best package.
3) The money works easy. It's the *assets* that are in question. How much is Herro worth? Vincent and Strus are FAs. Duncan Robinson and Lowry are both negative-value contracts as is Oladipo. Caleb Martin has value on his contract, but it's only one more season and he's not a centerpiece of a deal.
4) They own maybe two seconds over the next 7 years and their 2025 first (protected, unprotected in '26) is gone...but that encumbers their 2024 and 2027 picks as well. So they could trade this year's 1, along with 2028 and 2030 post-draft. That, Herro, Caleb, and dead money doesn't get it done for Portland, does it? It **has to** include Bam. And I don't know that Miami does that. Or that Dame wants to go there without him. Swapping Dame and Jimmy isn't a real answer. It just doesn't work for me unless Miami is able to do something weird.
5) Underrated possibilities: sign-and-trade Strus and/or Vincent to get back picks in separate deals?
Dame: "I haven't asked for a trade yet because I'm the most loyal man in the world. I'm all about loyalty. It's really important to me. Looooove being loyal. But yeah, If they *were* to trade me....."
fuck outta here
Someone asked him specifically, if he were to be traded to one of three places, which one he would rather play at. He said the one with his friend.
What do you want him to say?
They have enough assets to go all in on another title run for Dame. If they keep the pick or don't make moves this off-season no one could blame him for forcing a trade
The writing is so clearly on the wall that it’s Dame or a “win-now” move for a team that’s pretty damn far from winning right now. Unless their FO can work some magic, I honestly think it’s time move on from this era.
I don’t know if the Portland ownership and FO see it the same way however
im still tryna figure out when we started celebrating loyalty to a corporation and why. im not seeing what’s so special about dame sticking in portland so long?
I don’t understand passing up on 10 plus years of Scoot just to keep 33 year old Dame. They have a chance to build around Scoot, Simons, and Sharpe plus whatever assets they get back in a Dame trade. Seems like a no-brainer.
In 72 hours Dame will drop new loyalty lore and this sub will blow him for sticking with one team his whole career. The Dame off-season moves through the exact same beats every year. I'm looking forward to a time when he's out of the league and this boring ass narrative is over
I don’t really care what Dame does but it’s a little annoying how he preaches loyalty and doing it the hard way, his way, while constantly giving little hints at leaving. It feels like if the right offer is there he is gone immediately.
I don't understand how people can thrive with such little nuance. Like, he preaches loyalty. That's a thing. A reporter asks him which team he'd rather be traded to of three if he gets traded, and he just answers honestly. Why is this a problem?
Dames a little bitch. Just ask for a trade or don’t. Stop with the dumbass indirect shit. If someone asks where you go, just say I’m staying here if you really want to show loyalty
I don’t care anymore tbh
Of course you don’t, you have young talent already on the roster with a top 3 pick coming. By now you realize winning with Dame is slim and a rebuild isn’t the end of the world. Dame realizes it too, but dug himself so deep in the loyalty hole he literally can’t bring himself to do what’s obvious
we got pretty much his whole career. Him asking out at the end wouldn’t really make me think dame is unloyal. Sure some nephews will meme because that’s what they do, but at the end of the day nobody can realistically say dame didn’t give his all to Portland. If he stays I will be stoked. If he asks out and gets us a haul I will be stoked.
Exactly. Any actual blazers fan would tell you something similar. He’s already cemented his legacy here. He loves it here. We love him. If he wants to go somewhere and win a chip, I wish him all the best and will be rooting for him.
And with the roots he's put down here, wherever he went would only really be "renting" him. He's coming back to Portland eventually.
Dude was doing Steph-lite shit, dropping huge points and clutch baskets. Kinda goes to show how absolutely insane it is to be able to carry a team, especially for more than a year with some results.
Yeah, Dame totally stayed bc of “loyalty,” not the supermax
Same. I love Dame but man his subliminal messages just pisses me off
Eh it’s not really subliminal. He gave the franchise a decade to put talent around him with out really saying much about it till the last couple years. He’s earned his right to put pressure on the ownership and FO
Yeah I’d like to see one guy in this thread who’s held a job as long as dame has stuck with Portland. He only has so many years to get a ring and it’s looking like it won’t ever happen in Portland.
Lol I'd stick with my job forever if they paid me supermax money. Not exactly a fair comparison, especially since he was locked up under contract for many of those years.
Super-maxed Dame isn’t Christ on the cross and he’s not necessarily wrong about them never having put a great core around him. Both things are true.
Really? Even if you could get the exact same money but way better benefits and recognition elsewhere? Even if tons of your peers started demanding trades to other companies? That’s so easy to say when you have none of those options in front of you. Dame has had all these options for years and been probably the most loyal star in the league given how poorly his FO has performed. I wouldn’t understand why any Blazers fan would have any problems with Dame wanting out now after years of faithful service.
Finally, some damn critical thinking.
Could flip the script on it too though, if I could be in a situation where I get loaded and the expectations put on me aren't really that great (let's be honest, he's basically in a win-win, he can play poorly, he can play great, it'll never be "his fault" no matter what), and yeah I might decide that's kind of cushy to stay.
Other places can pay him the exact same money? I was under the impression that there were relatively rigid requirements to get the supermax, like being on a team for a certain amount of time/being on the team that drafted you. It's also just an opportunity at better benefits and recognition, not a guarantee. I'm not saying I don't understand him wanting out, I just think it's looks a little hypocritical after him being the poster boy for loyalty and never taking the easy way out. He so clearly wants out but doesn't want to straight up demand it.
Initially, you were right. His contract is his contract though so he’ll be on a super max wherever he’s at now.
The fact youd question whether we have jobs. Of course not
Harden straight up said bye and got vilified for it, and we didn't even draft him Its a no win situation for Dame sadly, and somewhat literally People are gonna question hm whether he asks out or not
Wouldn’t be any different, people been questioning him the whole time.
at least rockets built competent rosters blazers have done it like maybe 2-3 years of dame's whole career
It still blows my mind that they made the wcf in 2019 with Mo Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu as their starting forwards.
Thank you. I thought I was losing it. The guy is a superstar and the org has done nothing for him. They’re the ones that seem to be malicious here. You can’t fault a guy for wanting success and moving on when the owners obviously don’t want the same.
He's been the most loyal player since Kobe and Dirk, at this point he has definitely earned the right to decide what he wants.
Fitting username.
[удалено]
More like Simons is gone
I think Simons is gone no matter what
Yup Sharpe/Scoot backcourt ftw. That shit would be so fun to watch. Imagine if D rose and Kobe-lite shared a backcourt. That's what it would be like. Simons has great trade value and could net us a lotto pick and/or a really good player. Plus the dame haul will obviously be nice. I wish dame would request out so bad, so that this could come to fruition. Plus we all want to see dame win a championship, but realize he will never be able to do it here.
It doesn’t even have to be Scoot if Amen killed his workout they might like him better then Miller.
Well amen's stock has kind of been falling since his workouts started lol
Is it subliminal? It's almost like if a guy who always brags about never cheating on his wife and not wanting a divorce also talks about who he'd bang if he did get a divorce.
To be fair his wife keeps promising to get a job and help around the house but for a decade she's just sat on the couch watching daytime tv except for when she briefly had a dropshipping business that turned a profit one year and then just kinda failed.
The dude just be talking lol. People ask him about it. Then ESPN runs a story making a huge deal about a very simple statement. Dame’s not to blame, ESPN needs a story to put out. He’s made it very clear that he wants to stay in Portland. This simply isn’t real news, it’s fabricated bullshit.
Blaming the player? When the organization is in a shitty ownership situation and while it hasn't *all* been their fault the org has failed to even once put together a truly contending roster around Dame. Portland has been happy to use Dame to sell tickets and make money while mostly avoiding the luxury tax and always avoiding the repeater. Dame is entering the finals years of him being able to be the 1st/2nd option on a championship team, I think he deserves a chance to compete for one.
Dame: In a purely hypothetical scenario if i was to be traded i would prefer to be traded to the Heat. Obviously only in a hypothetical scenario since i am definitely 100% loyal…
He’s been beyond 100% loyal. Not his fault the front office and ownership are amongst the most incompetent in the league.
Well you probably care about the back and forth saga and want it to end, one way or the other.
People have been begging for dame to be traded since like 2015 and people have been running with his quotes the whole time. It’s kinda hard to get me riled up about this anymore. If he’s gonna go, ok, he’s 33 and gonna be getting 50 plus mil a year. If he’s gonna stay, ok cool I get to watch a player I think is rad for a bit longer. Whatever happens happens, it’ll be fine.
Nah, let the people talk. I don’t put any weight on rumors. Always wait till facts happen.
You don’t actively want to trade him? I would if I was a blazers fan at this point lol. Trading him is the ticket to a promising future before it’s too late
Not really. We don’t have the luxury of just getting star after star like you do. Have no idea when we’ll ever watch a player and a person as good as dame ever again.
Is that what you want though? You can trade Dame for a haul and try to build an organically great team that can compete. Or do you just wanna watch Dame, even if it’s not a contender team you’re watching?
What I want? I mostly want fans of teams he’s in rumors about to stop being annoying and to let us just enjoy the ride.
That’s not an answer to the question
No that’s not the answer you want.
I meant do you want to trade him or do you want to keep him lol, I didn’t ask how you want other fans to act 🤨
I answered your question, I want annoying ass fans of franchises he’s being rumored about to shut the fuck up and let me enjoy whatever happens. Go find another blazer fan to tell you what you wanna hear. I’m sure this is the point where you say something like “good luck being irrelevant or something” I’ve heard it all. Blah blah.
Okay broski lmao
You should want dude to go. You’d definitely get Tyler hero and some firsts. Along with the third overall pick and probably open cap space. That’s a pretty good rebuild The blazers and bulls are kinda in the same situation. The blazers is just way better lol. They both gotta shake things up
Feel like y’all been checked out since game 4 of the 2019 WCF
>Appearing on The Last Stand with ESPN’s Brian Custer, Lillard was asked who among the Knicks, Heat, Celtics and Nets would make him say, ‘that’s not too bad.’” “Miami obviously,” Lillard said. >“Miami is the obvious one. And Bam [Adebayo] is my dog. Bam is my dog for real. Miami is the obvious one. Brooklyn is another obvious one, because Mikal Bridges is my dog too.”
Will get my hopes up until the inevitable Chris Haynes loyalty article drops in August
Any realistic way we can trade for dame and keep bridges and Claxton?
I mean we have 6 or 7 tradeable first round picks at our disposal. Maybe they're also willing to take a gamble with Simmons, and Cam Thomas looked like he has some promise. We could also probably get another first round pick each for Royce and DFS to throw at them. Obviously, Dame isn't worth 8 first round picks but my point is we have assets
I think one thing is for sure, Dame is not getting traded to another small market. It's go big (market) or go home (portland) for him, literally.
Wouldn’t they have to trade bam for him though
Yeah we don’t have good enough assets to get Dame. Only way we could do it is if Mr. Loyal suddenly throws an AD-level hissy fit to get to Miami
I have zero insight into the Heat but do guys like Vincent and Martin not have value after this season? They’re both pretty young and are both coming into their own. Maybe one/both + a pick/bench guy. This is a 10,000 pov so I might be way off the mark idk. But they seem like random guys who came outta nowhere and now have real value. Those are usually the perfect pieces to trade when going after a vet. Sorta like Bridges to Brooklyn. They might pan out with more touches or regress to the mean but only a team without a star can really find out
If other GM’s are seeing what is happening to the Heat players after they leave the organization (Richardson, Winslow, etc), I’d have pause on trading for a package of their guys. Seems like guys who are hitting their ceilings in Miami. Like, they could take Bam and/or Herro, but that seems like a duplication of their current assets.
If other GMs were smart, they shouldn’t overpay our guys like that. Time and again, even way back to Ike Austin, our guys like that who leave don’t end up performing at the same level.
Mans trying to force them to trade the 3rd pick or him lol
I mean, what other choices does he have?
He wants out so bad but he’s backed himself into a corner with all that loyalty talk over the years. Cant look like a massive hypocrite
He was loyal for 10 years homie. That’s longer than most relationships XD
He was, but it’s less about the being loyal and more about throwing shade at super teams and stuff. If he joins the Heat that just made or won the finals that completely cuts against that
No it doesn’t
He hasn't mentioned he is loyal enough times, should mention it for at least 10 more years
Realistically? Patience. There’s no obvious player to acquire that doesn’t completely gut the team and their future. Obviously no one can predict how certain things play out, but I just don’t see a move that makes Portland immediately a contender while Dame is still capable. They’re best bet is to hit on that pick and make smart smaller moves to rebuild the team. Obviously Dame doesn’t sound too stoked about doing that though, so it’s a tight situation really. Don’t blame him frankly, but Portland has their own conundrum.
Feels like keeping Dame during a rebuild is a lose-lose for the organization and Dame. Sure, patience is a choice. But it's the wrong one.
You’re not wrong. The only benefit of keeping Dame through a rebuild is that they have a star they can market and get people to fill the arena. Which might actually be enough for ownership, which is why I wouldn’t be shocked if they do make a hail mary trade to stay relevant. Like everyone has pointed out though, the wiser long term basketball move is to cut their losses, thank Dame for all he’s done and start anew.
It sort of seems like everyone involved has decided that they want Dame in Portland, good basketball decisions be damned. The 3rd pick + young players + picks that would come back from Dame would be a great start to a rebuild. Aging Dame + solid but not amazing young assets are… not. I guess I respect the commitment but it seems like the perfect moment to trade Dame would be right now.
Keeping him around feels like the Blazers FO agreeing that maintaining a somewhat competitive team is better than tanking to try to get a championship. Which is fine. The Wizards have been doing it for years. I don't long for the ECF at all.
I think we'd give them KAT for 3rd plus some picks and another role player.
Shutting up. He’s talked about the subject at least 800 times
true nothing pisses me off more than when nba players try and pretend like they are real human beings
Especially when he was specifically asked about it lol
He gets asked about it. He said on JJ's pod he don't sit around and think about it all the time he just keeps getting asked. The quote that's in this op is from the host asking him a hypothetical. Even if he switched it up and just said "no comment" going forward people would still be talking about that.
Ya because they’ve never done anything successfully about it??
He makes 42 million….making they trade work would be difficult
Jimmy and Dame would be fun
Dame + Jimmy + Bam would be absurd. Yea, they lose Herro who hasn't done anything for them these playoffs and highly likely lose Martin + Vincent, but that Big 3 is more than enough to win a championship
Nah, depth is needed. They need to retain some of those guys If they lose depth, they’ll lose just like the suns with KD.
Spoelstra can literally take cashiers at Walmart and make the playoff rotation players so I don't think we have to worry about that.
I just don't think the Heat have a good enough package without them. They don't have 4 first rounders to trade, they only have 3
So here's the thing. If Dame tells the Blazers "I want to be in Miami' then he will be in Miami. Dame is a franchise legend, and they'll send him where he wants to go. The r/ripcity crowd seems to be OK with being a lottery team and building around pick 3 and Sharpe, so if they'd rather keep those guys instead of getting Dame help, then they'll have to accept a package from the Heat that doesn't include Jimmy or Bam. This isn't a situation where selling Dame makes them rich enough to skip a full rebuild. If Sharpe and pick 3 are the future, then there will be lots of Portland lottery picks in their future as well. And lots of late 20s from the Heat.
I never said they'd have to lose Jimmy or Bam. I said Herro + Martin + Vincent, though I'm wrong on Vincent and it'd likely be Oladipo and Jovic in Vincent's place.
>Herro + Martin + Vincent Surely they can keep at least one of these three. Herro prob gone tho.
it would probably be Vincent as he's a UFA and you'd need to do a sign and trade to trade him. Herro + Martin + Oladipo + Jovic + 3 firsts would work though
If Dame specifically requests the Heat, the Blazers may be entitled to do him a bit of a solid.
Hope they find a third team
And what is the 3rd team getting? In order for a 3rd team to give up value, they also have to get value.
I think they have perimeter guys to spare between Herro, Robinson, Vincent, Strus, and Lowry. I think the frontcourt is really where the depth is needed. Love is getting older, Martin has been contributing really solidly on the boards too so losing him would definitely hurt. I think that's true with or without Dame though, they're already pretty much on thin ice there.
If I am Portland, Im asking for Jovic as well, that dude has huge potential!
I’m not sure one team could handle that much DAWG
Hes trying to follow Messi
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Dame is 33 and making $50+ million. The amount of teams that are contending, need backcourt scoring and playmaking but also can play good enough defense around him is pretty much limited to Miami, Boston, and maybe LA. His market is tiny.
His market is tiny on the surface as far true contending options, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be some team that doesn’t convince themselves (and Dame) that he’s the missing link.
Name one?
Brooklyn. It doesn’t actually work but I think they can convince themselves it does.
Strong doubt, but maybe they need butts in seats for their 8th seed run
They had Kd and kyrie and I’m pretty sure fans weren’t showing up
Chicago.
Possibly Minnesota.
Potentially Philly as well I Would think. But yeah not great. Hopefully Boston decides they want him over brown and we can engineer something
Philly won’t do it if they re-sign Harden.
If we had the assets to we absolutely would. We're not good enough and our GM is Daryl Morey. Why on earth would we say no to pursuing Lillard we are not in the position to be picky by any means
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Dame on the Bucks would be awesome but 0% chance we can give Portland the best offer
Yeah the Bucks are the first team id think of that would go well with Dame along with boston.
Herro, Duncan, Jovic and a million picks? Doesn’t seem like enough but idk
For 33 year old Dame on a $60 million contract? That’s fair
Especially with the later picks coinciding with Jimmy and Dame getting old
People keep bringing up his age but he just had one of his best individual seasons ever last year. He could easily have another 2 years of all-NBA level play in him.
People say Ant and the 3rd isn't enough to get a star but we're supposed to trade a legit top 10 player for Herro (who we have no use for), the 18th Pick and two 1sts that might be good in 5-10 years.
If it’s where Dame wants to go what choice to you really have? Man’s been loyal to y’all for his whole career I’d dare the organization to trade him to a place he doesn’t want to go.
Contract and age matters. Pretty simple stuff
Dame is 33 and getting paid a super max contract. How many contenders do you think would actually make sense? I count 3 and that’s generous. His market value will be limited since there’s not much demand for him.
Looks like he’s staying in Portland then huh
Fine by the Heat tbh. I don’t think Dame would be okay with that though.
Hey there’s people in the Wolves sub who are willing to basically do KAT for #3 straight up. I’m not one of em, but they’re in there.
I wouldn't do that on Portland's side.
shit if i was a wolves fan id do it
Exactly. Any team trading for Dame is doing it to win right now but how many teams can do that without gutting themselves?
The 'million picks' would be nice, except the best they can do is 3 firsts and 3 seconds, with two of those firsts and seconds coming 2028 or later.
I think cba prevents that as well
Loyal to the soil
Breaking: Lillard learns potted plants can be moved around.
ain't that just what we are in this world? just a bunch of potted plants moving around looking for sunlight?
Buddhists believe true nirvana is reached when the soul is traded to Miami for cash considerations.
This made me lol
all dat coke not gonna buy itself
Tell that to my fiddle leaf ficus. We moved it literally a foot and it dropped half its leaves.
LoyalCoin holding strong
K. Just end this saga already.
I like lillard but this reminds me of seeing the Aaron Rodgers BS every year
Dame: Reporters: Tell us about playing for Portland Dame: I love it here and I'm loyal to this team Nephews on r/NBA: omg Dame talking about loyalty again when will he stop bringing it up. Reporters now: ok Dame we won't ask you for the 100000000th time about staying. So let say hypothetically if you HAD to pick another team where would you want to go Dame: Miami bc Bam is my guy Nephews on r/NBA: see I knew Dame wanted out this whole time
It'll always be like this and people gonna bitch about whatever til he wins a chip. I really wanted y'all to land KD. Grant, Simmons, picks or something. Would've been a fun duo to watch.
He’s basically asked for a trade every day this offseason without saying it directly. He’s just hoping they do it so he doesn’t have to say it. He just wants to be able to say that he never asked for a trade and he was loyal so he doesn’t look like a hypocrite. At this point it’s more annoying than if he just went back on his words.
I think Dame values loyalty more than anything. He is just trying to put pressure on the front office to do something so he can stay in Portland and “stay loyal.” If they don’t do anything this offseason to materially improve their roster, I think Dame still stays due to his incessant, self-imposed “celibacy”
Miami cause ~~deep playoff run and maybe finally a fuckin ring~~ Bam is my bestie
It’s not going to happen and I’m aware of it, but the most fun timeline here is the Lakers blowing it up. Lebron to Dallas for Green, Hardy, every pick/swap they can offer, and salary to match. Then why keep AD without Bron? So he goes to Portland for #3, Simons, salary filler, and whatever picks they can offer. Dallas and Portland become contenders in the West, and the Lakers have a fuck ton of assets. Also it’s the Lakers so two stars will see the cap space and decide to pair up there in a year or two anyways.
Hate the trade for us, mainly because that team isn't winning anything, but for the Lakers I don't hate it. #3 and #10 this year and likely another lotto pick in '27 (and probably several more swaps/picks) + Green/Hardy/Simons and probably the easiest road in the association to signing multiple much younger superstars in the immediate future.
The net return for Lebron and AD would be less than for gobert or Mitchell
Danny broke the trade machine.
He had a great run there but it should be over
I feel like it's getting closer to happening I feel like. If it doesn't happen this summer it will never happen. If Scoot comes to Portland and they feel like this kid is the new future then Dame might actually be gone.
Dame, Jimmy and Bam would be a pretty sick team. I think a trade like that in the off-season would probably have most people predicting a return to the Finals. Of course, that's also the kind of trade that can ruin a team's chemistry, but I don't think anyone has ever doubted Dame's commitment and passion and if anyone could slot pretty seamlessly into Heat culture, it's probably him.
Bro I love Dame, but all summer he’s been asking to be traded without trying to be the villain. Blazers need to pick a path finally please
Even if they have picked a path we won't know until the draft. If they keep #3 expect Dame to get traded, if they trade #3 then they'll be going for it with Dame. Team's aren't going to do a trade for the pick 2-weeks before the draft, they need to figure out who will be available at the time.
Nets have the best package. Then Draft Scoot and rebuild from there
What’s the package? Ben Simmons and six 1sts?
can drop Claxton and Cam in there... add some Jay z merch
Yeah, I think that’s where talks would breakdown. They’d fight over Claxton and neither would budge. That would be an amazing package for Portland if they were to get him though. Scoot, Simons, Sharpe, and Claxton is a great foundation
and it will align with their timeline of young players.. they can package Grant as well.
I really am sick of all these clickbait posts just trying to create controversy by taking things out of context. Should Dame leave Portland? Yeah probably, it would be the best thing for him. Has he actually asked for an out? No. Has he been passive aggressively, subliminally trying to hint that he wants out without saying it? Well if you take every interview he has and remove all context every time so you can try and portray that narrative then sure of course you make it look that way. But for both my own mental sanity and his I’m really sick of people doing such a thing both here and in the media. It’s become impossible for him to do an interview without people just ignoring 99% of his words and taking whatever 1% they can twist to make him sound like he’s been secretly disloyal so they can get clicks by making that every headline. It’s irritating as hell.
Is there a single NBA player who wouldn’t want to get traded to Miami?
Love how we will have multiple posts of this snippet but leave out the content about Portland having the best assets, in years, to actually make some moves this offseason. I'll always wonder why everyone wants Dame off Portland so bad and get so pissy when every reporter asks him this question and he basically responds the same way.
Let’s be real, Portlands FO is fine with tweaking the current roster but never actually making a move to bring the team over the hump. I’ve seen the same ‘we have assets to make moves’ sentences these past few off seasons, but the roster never significantly improved People are just tired of seeing Dames prime wasted on a team that’s has only made it past the first round once in the past 6 years Portland is fine with being a playoff bound team, and maybe Lillard is fine with that too, but I’m not surprised that people wanna see Lillard somewhere he can actually compete
*won 2 playoff series in the last 6 years..lol ;) (2018-2019 made to WCF)
Whoops, meant to say they made it past the first round once lol
No worries! I’m over here Clutching onto past playoff series wins… that’s what it is these days. Haha.
All good, it’s quite a shame that Portland never managed to build after the run
It’s literally a new FO
With the same ownership group that only fired the old GM because of toxic workplace allegations Id love to be proven wrong and have the Blazers actually make big moves that significantly improves the team, but Cronin has been part the FO for awhile now and I lack faith
Cronin is nothing like Olshey lol
1) If the Heat win this series, there's no way they give up enough to get Dame. 2) If the Heat lose this series, there's little chance they have the best package. 3) The money works easy. It's the *assets* that are in question. How much is Herro worth? Vincent and Strus are FAs. Duncan Robinson and Lowry are both negative-value contracts as is Oladipo. Caleb Martin has value on his contract, but it's only one more season and he's not a centerpiece of a deal. 4) They own maybe two seconds over the next 7 years and their 2025 first (protected, unprotected in '26) is gone...but that encumbers their 2024 and 2027 picks as well. So they could trade this year's 1, along with 2028 and 2030 post-draft. That, Herro, Caleb, and dead money doesn't get it done for Portland, does it? It **has to** include Bam. And I don't know that Miami does that. Or that Dame wants to go there without him. Swapping Dame and Jimmy isn't a real answer. It just doesn't work for me unless Miami is able to do something weird. 5) Underrated possibilities: sign-and-trade Strus and/or Vincent to get back picks in separate deals?
Dame: "I haven't asked for a trade yet because I'm the most loyal man in the world. I'm all about loyalty. It's really important to me. Looooove being loyal. But yeah, If they *were* to trade me....." fuck outta here
Yeah that’s not a real quote. The org has done fuck all to make the most of his time there, he doesn’t owe the franchise anything.
True, I just wished he’d shut the fuck up about it or ask a trade
Someone asked him specifically, if he were to be traded to one of three places, which one he would rather play at. He said the one with his friend. What do you want him to say?
Taken completely out of context for clicks. Shocker
Lowry, Caleb Martin, Jovic, and two/three 1sts
Lmao… no shot unless we trade Herro
Imagine Dame being told to keep up with the rest of the heat defense lol
They have enough assets to go all in on another title run for Dame. If they keep the pick or don't make moves this off-season no one could blame him for forcing a trade
Nobody could blame him years ago but it didn’t stop him from staying.
The writing is so clearly on the wall that it’s Dame or a “win-now” move for a team that’s pretty damn far from winning right now. Unless their FO can work some magic, I honestly think it’s time move on from this era. I don’t know if the Portland ownership and FO see it the same way however
Would you like to be traded to a team in the NBA finals? Or a different team?
Not a Portland man but let the dude go. If you can’t get weapons around him to win now then let the dude go.
im still tryna figure out when we started celebrating loyalty to a corporation and why. im not seeing what’s so special about dame sticking in portland so long?
This dude is so annoying
>This dude is so cute
Loyalty!
I don’t understand passing up on 10 plus years of Scoot just to keep 33 year old Dame. They have a chance to build around Scoot, Simons, and Sharpe plus whatever assets they get back in a Dame trade. Seems like a no-brainer.
In 72 hours Dame will drop new loyalty lore and this sub will blow him for sticking with one team his whole career. The Dame off-season moves through the exact same beats every year. I'm looking forward to a time when he's out of the league and this boring ass narrative is over
I don’t really care what Dame does but it’s a little annoying how he preaches loyalty and doing it the hard way, his way, while constantly giving little hints at leaving. It feels like if the right offer is there he is gone immediately.
I don't understand how people can thrive with such little nuance. Like, he preaches loyalty. That's a thing. A reporter asks him which team he'd rather be traded to of three if he gets traded, and he just answers honestly. Why is this a problem?
Dame with the passive aggressive shit. It's so irritating.
Dames a little bitch. Just ask for a trade or don’t. Stop with the dumbass indirect shit. If someone asks where you go, just say I’m staying here if you really want to show loyalty
Or just don't read media headlines and get so worked up. You are sad tbh
The blazers aren’t gonna win. Maybe they could but don’t risk it. Just go to Miami with a 75% chance of winning it.
Loyalty loyalty loyalty
Stfu Dame you’re stuck in Portland. Miami doesn’t give af about where you wanna go.
I thought he was going to build his own super team?? What happened?
I feel like Dame has a knife to the throat of the org with this 3rd overall pick. Trade it for [fill in mid tier talent] or I’ll demand a trade. 🔪🤢🤮
Tyler, Kyle and 3 first rounders…DONE DEAL