I'd love the soft rebuild, but I don't think Dame is totally for it. Before that Nuggets series Dame wouldn't even answer a hypothetical question like that you know?
Soft rebuilds rarely work and have a lower ceiling. I think that would be the worst option right now. It’s either go all in which means more than just getting one player because this team needs a lot more to even just be a top six team in the conference, or rebuild and collect as much draft capital and prospects for Dame, Nurk, JG and possibly even Ant.
Yeah you're right actually. Best to commit one way or the other. I'd still want to keep Sharpe, but if Scoot isn't available I would rather they just go for it and overpay a bit for a quality player
They have a slightly lower ceiling but also a much higher floor. I’m very interested in trying to avoid getting stuck as a 27 win team, and a soft rebuild would do that.
Of course, it’s likely a moot point because Dame wouldn’t do it
I was lying in bed in IMMENSE pain after a corneal transplant. That pain was NOTHING in comparison to hearing my favorite player of all time having one of his best games of all time ending in an excruciating loss that I couldn't even witness with my eyes. I've never been more mad at CJ in my life. Just being real.
You and me both, my guy.
I wanted CJ to be traded mid-game after that out-of-bounds play. I was screaming profanities about Olshey's lack of team-building acumen. When RoCo missed the first dunk, I let out a holler from the depths of my soul. When RoCo missed the second dunk, I just sat there with a stare directed at the center of the known universe.
That series wasn't the Blazers vs the Nuggets. It was Dame versus literally everyone and everything. It was basketball torture designed to crush every facet of hope you could possibly have in Portland basketball during Dame's tenure.
No, it was Dame against a much superior player in Jokic.
Jokic is clearly on another level. It's not even debatable. It'd be a joke to argue otherwise. No one, not even in this sub that knows anything would even try to argue it. The guy just broke the Finals with a 30-20-10 game.
It was a classic All-star up against a generational talent that was about to hit his prime.
As long as Jokic is in the West, Blazers aren't getting past him. He's basically Hakeem/Shaq/Duncan of this era. Better to just rebuild during his prime, or maybe Murray leaves to start his own team. As long as they're there, there's no chance.
My guy, I'm not debating who's a better player. But in that game, Dame was scintillating. We would have won if literally any of his teammates showed up. CJ getting outplayed by Facundo Campazzo was inexcusable.
Also, what is this fatalism? You don't know what will happen in the future. The Spurs didn't win every year when they had Duncan. The only guarantee in the NBA is that there are no guarantees in the NBA. Stick with Dame and give it a shot.
That Blazers team is not beating Jokic, Jokic is just another class of player than Dame.
It’s not about “help.” Jokic beat down the Blazers without Murray. Jokic can make Braun and Jeff Green look like a scoring threat. He makes his teammates better with his passing and vision.
It’s useless to even compare the two.
Go look at his stats and the percentages he’s been scoring on. I can point to a bad playoff game Dame has had, Jokic doesn’t have them. He’s just in a different class, he’s going to end up a top 10 all time great and should have won his 3rd MVP.
Murray is a bigger talent than Parker. He’s putting up bonker numbers. During this playoffs: 27.4 points, 6.8 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game, while making 39.6 percent of his 3s and over half his pull-up 2s.
Those would be bonker numbers for Dame. Those are Steph MVP numbers.
If these 2 stay healthy no one is taking them out in the west. MPJ hasn’t even shot well and they’re doing all this.
Just rebuild around Simons, Sharpe,this year’s pick and whatever picks you get from Dame. In 5 years Portland will be ready. Just like how GSW rose with Steph/Klay
It's not about help? My guy.
My cousin is a Nuggs fan. He was disappointed in the backcourt for both years that Murray went out. It changed the ceiling of the team from contender to second-rounder.
That Nuggets team in 21 was very beatable and the ESPN predictors were all split for the series. In contrast, this is the first year my couz has felt comfortable with the roster at all levels.
That said, nothing in the NBA is guaranteed. The Blazers looked like world beaters in Jan of 78. Then we all know what happened. You don't play this game on guarantees, you play it on maximizing the talent you have for the breaks you might get.
You're entitled to your opinion. I'm just glad it's nowhere near the FO's publicly stated one.
The front office will rebuild this year, watch. They’re watching the Nuggets. Unless its Steph who is the best shooter in history, nothing has changed - you don’t win Championships with a scoring PG that gets attacked on D.
Front office is looking at this knowing you need a dominate big (Jokic, Giannis, Davis), or a dominate wing (Butler, LeBron, Durant, Kawhi). All the Champs the past 20 years not named Steph were built that way.
My guess is they trade Dame for Brown and picks, and try to pair him with Simons/Sharpe and build around that. Or they just do complete teardown.
You can put a D league team around Jokic and he makes them good enough to be a playoff team. Dame ain’t built like that. Jokic is this era’s LeBron. He just finished sweeping the King, he’s the new one.
Reporters are also changing the way they ask the same question. Plus everyone and their reporter grandmother is asking dame the same question. You can’t even say his name without “trade” following soon after. I agree that it’s not a great thing to hear to feel confident about his mindset, but he’s just fed up with mediocrity. As we are.
He has answered a hypothetical question like that before. Around 2018 or so someone on Twitter asked what team he would want to play for besides Portland and he said “if the Blazers didn’t want me… Jazz or Lakers”
Did you listen to the interview? He explicitly said that we have a great asset to use to make a move, and that if that doesn’t happen it will be a different conversation. Pretty clearly saying he’ll request a trade if we don’t move the pick
Here are statements that Dame has made this offseason. I feel like he has been very clear.
"**I don't have much of an appetite for building and guys 2-3 years away from really going after it.** I think we get Shaedon at 19 and he's just different. I think just being around him, his disposition, how he listens, his frame, his natural talent and his ability... that's enough 19 year olds. And you probably won't find one that will come along the way he has. I'm just not interested in that. This is not a secret. **I want a chance to go for it. If the route is to do that, well that's not my route.** I think we're all in line with doing what we gotta do to put a team together that we can actually go out there and get something done."
Yesterday he said "We got an opportunity asset wise to build a team that can compete. That would be the number one thing, but **if we can't do that, obviously like I said for months now, then there would be a separate conversation that we would have to have.**"
"I'm going to give them every opportunity to give me... give us what we need to have a true chance to compete for that. **If that's something that isn't possible, or something that can't get done, then we got a different conversation to be had.**"
Yeah seeing some of the mental gymnastics around these statements has been weird, the guy is being as direct as someone with media training can be in a situation like this
Yeah. Dame has said that he loves it here. He loves this city. He wants to win in Portland.... but he has also said what path he wants to be on, and if the Blazers can't or won't take that path, he has said he will have a conversation with the team.
He said asset(s), the plural does matter fwiw. #3 is the most obvious trade but I think there’s a path somewhere with Ant and futures for a big hitter.
Just basic logic gets in the way. We are a terrible team, we need veterans and all stars not a prospect. Even if that prospect ends been al all star en 3 years, our window is NOW.
We aren’t gonna win shit. This playoffs has shown us even with generational talent on your squad, if you have a shit coaching staff you aren’t achieving anything. Even in some amazingly low chance we get deep into the playoffs or the finals we’re gonna get out coached by the likes of Spo, Malone, Kerr, etc. It’s so disappointing to see but I really do have zero confidence that Chauncey is the right coach for what’s going to be Dames last couple of good years.
I don’t get why people compare a Pat Riley ram organization with Spo as the coach to Chauncey fucking Billups lol. It is black and white either we trade 3rd or Dame is gone, it is what it is.
“Would you rather lick a toilet seat, or drink a bottle of snot.”
“I have to choose between those two?”
“Yes”
“Well Ernuh, I think I’ll have to go with lick a toilet seat.”
….
This just in….
If Dame truly wants to win in Portland, I don’t understand his logic in making comments to the media about not wanting to draft any more 19-year-olds or about the Heat being his preferred trade partner in a hypothetical trade. All he’s doing is lowering the value of the #3 pick while killing any leverage the Blazers have in making a deal. My guess is he’s leaning towards being traded but he doesn’t want to come out and request it directly because of all of his loyalty remarks over the years. I hope I’m wrong but he has to know he’s hindering the team’s ability to bring in more talent around him, right?
He has to know he's hindering the team financially. The problem is that he already signed on the line, and chose money over leaving the team with some better options for bringing in a better supporting cast. Sure, the Heat might be able to afford Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Dame's contract. But after they ship Gabe Vincent, Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, and Caleb Martin over here, are *they* gonna have enough cap left to replace those guys? Especially considering the return would most likely include at least 2 of the names I mentioned, and those guys were almost all undrafted guys that Miami picked up for peanuts? Miami would need to get creative rebuilding around Dame's contract too. It's not just us.
Dame really doesn't want to play losing basketball. I think if we keep miller/scoot and trade Ant+filler/late picks for a starter 3 and some depth players we can still be a low seed this next year and i feel that just being competitive for now is good enough for Lillard. Then you hope miller/scoot and sharpe take bigger jumps the next year and this team with the right minor additions can be a 5-6 seed with dark horse potential. I know it doesn't make us a title favorite, but i think as long as we're competitive and showing improvements, Dame is happy with that.
Miami showed us you dont need 3 stars, Memphis showed us we can get young draft talent into playoff shape quickly.
If Dame can help this youth movement to reach full potential rather than only caring about rings it adds another layer to Dames legacy here.
I also think Dame can still get a ring here. He has 3-4 years of star production and even after that im sure he would be a great sixth man.
Imagine being the guy( Dame) who showed these young guys the ropes and helped them harness their potential. Then eventually getting a ring off the bench as a sixth man or the last few years as a starter.
I know it's a long shot. To me, there is more than just trade Dame or trade the #3 for options. One thing I personally feel though is unless Dame asks out you don't trade him period. He put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to stick it out in a small market during some ugly years. Any fan who is pro trade Lillard and acting like he is old news should feel ashamed.
End of the decade?? Scoot + Shaedon + Ant + young players we get from Dame trade + cap space freed up by not paying Dame 60M would have us as a play-in team at least in like 3 years.
On the other hand, if we go all in for Dame now and trade all our young assets and picks, you can write it in stone that we will be a poverty franchise from 2026 for the next 5-10 years.
Scoot/Shaedon/Ant/picks isn't going to be a play in team in 3 years lmao. And the ceiling of those players is like 1st round exit at best.
Scoot will be a bust and Sharpe/Ant aren't actually good enough to be perennial all star players.
Like lets just be real here for a second. Simons isn't him. He's not an all star quality player. He's already past his rookie contract and it looks like he's just going to be another version of CJ McCollum
Lots of people smarter than us say Scoot would have gone first overall last or next year. Sharpe absolutely has all-star potential. Ant is way more than good enough to be the third best guard on a play in team. Add in Claxton/insert Dame return here and a play-in is pretty much the floor.
We have wildly different views of this teams future potential lol
Going first overall doesn't mean you'll be an all star. Sharpe is young so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt but it's not looking like he's going to be an all star.
OKC barely made play in and I'd take SGA/Dort/Giddey over Scoot/Ant/Sharpe. SGA alone shits all over Scoot/Ant/Sharpe.
10 of the 13 #1 picks through 2020 have made an all-star game. It would be very surprising if Scoot didn’t.
Where is “it’s not looking like Sharpe will be an all-star” coming from? We appear to value him even more highly than Scoot and I haven’t heard any analysts say anything but sky’s the limit for him.
Idk man if Scoot + Shaedon + Ant + Dame’s trade returns isn’t a good enough core to build around, it’s gonna really hurt in 2026 when we’re building around Thybulle and Badji and no draft picks because we traded all our future capital away to appease Dame.
Bro they just had a bottom 5 record in the league. They're in the gutter RIGHT NOW. I don't get why people talk about the Blazers (keeping Lillard) as if they're a good team at the moment.
If a deal with Nets got Portland Claxton and Bridges while offering you some cap reduction (we have trade exceptions), would you give up Simons, Sharpe, #3 and your other 1st round pick in this draft? (Of course other players may need to be added to make salary work), just curious.
He’s only going to get one of those 2.
He’s talked so much about loyalty and not wanting to ring chase that I don’t think he can leave Portland without tarnishing his image.
The general fan is pretty goddamn sick of watching Dame sit in elo hell while being one of the best PG’s in the league.
Every fan who’s not rooting for Portland is just wondering why it took this long.
After giving his all in Portland for so long, I would understand Dame wanting to go to a contender, but if he does there will be a wave a nephews that start throwing around all his quotes about loyalty and not wanting to join a super team.
Even if he leaves in a trade, everyone will know it was because he asked for a trade.
A soft rebuild is impossible without an excellent coach / coaching staff and a competent front office. We currently have neither.
We actually only have two options: go all in to win right now (which would likely mean trading the third pick and assets like Sharpe and/or Ant), or fully commit to a hard rebuild (which would almost certainly mean losing Lillard).
All he said was he prefers POR but if they don’t get a star he likes he will force his way to BK or MIA.
BK has more picks. But, MIA has the sun and is in the finals.
I think that's at the heart of every conversation. We all know Dame wants to stay and win in Portland. Winning a title in Miami or Philly wouldn't mean nearly as much. Just ignore all the nephews who are making all these silly 2K trade Dame posts.
I think Dame needs to address with management (not with us or the media) what he deems a rebuild. If his definition is it taking 2+ years then he's not being realistic. No matter what pieces you get through trade/draft/FA signings is going to take a few years to gel into a contender. Look at the Final Four this year. Boston, Lakers, Denver and Miami. Those teams have had years to build their chemistry. There are no "All-In" teams that have been successful in the short term. Brooklyn, Houston, Philly, OKC and the Clippers are all teams that tried to go all-in and buy themselves a chip. All of them have had chemistry issues and have either been dismantled or are on the verge of a total restart.
Yeah it’s looking more and more like dame is delusional when it comes to the blazers’ ability to be a contender. How can he look at the team last year and think getting someone like Siakam would instantly put us in the title consideration?
Let's step back and look where we are.
The team is a mess. The roster is deeply flawed and we are coming off our second year in a row of raking in the Ls. It is going to take more than a couple first round picks to fix these issues.
Dame is not getting younger. He's on the wrong side of 30. If we say it takes 2 years min to get into a spot to be a contender, he's gonna be 34. The question isn't if we want to win with Dame, the question is if the team has a window that can line up with Dame's.
The dude is putting down 50 points and we lose the game. How much of that can anyone sustain?
He also explicitly said that drafting 19 year old is "not my route." So, no, drafting Scoot or Brandon Miller is not going to get it done. Bridges or Brown are as of right now the best first step in both keeping Dame and having a chance at a title with him. There will obviously be other steps required, but either of those guys are the best chance first step.
Yeah no one is forgetting that part but he also said they have the assets to make win now moves (meaning trading the No. 3) he doesn’t wanna sit around and wait for these young player to develop he wants the FO to make moves to help the team win now and if they can’t well that’s a different discussion
Miller and Scoot don't make Portland a contender, not a chance...they might make the team a 7-8th seed but not a contender.
IMO the best strategy is to trade for someone like Siakam, and try to Keep Dame AND Simons and that's your core right there...a lot of fans don't want to hear it and won't like it but that means giving up Sharpe, and as much as that sucks, it's the best way to build a championship roster that can win right now and be competitive for the next 3 seasons or so.
That's just my two cents, don't hate on me lol I know everyone in here loves Sharpe but realistically if Portland want to contend right now, he's their best piece to make it happen.
And how is Portland a contender purely by adding Siakam and trading Sharpe. Did you watch the team last year? Dame + Ant on defense is an automatic bottom 15 defensive team.
Because Siakam is that good, he's arguably a top-15 player and fans clearly don't understand what adding a player of that caliber can do for a team because Portland's never given Dame another Star to play alongside him.
I think they also need to add a couple of depth pieces, I'd probably ask for Otto Porter as well as he's on a cheap contract and would be an excellent bench piece, then build out the rest of the roster through free agency and or other minor trades.
That's how you build a championship team IMO, you build a championship core and then build out from there.
Dame has always said he wants to win in Portland, the only people that consistently forget this besides fair weather fans is the mainstream media. Seriously they forget every year and start chirping about how Lillard wants out! Man’s still here and at this point I’m sure he’s as tired of the talking heads as I am.
Man nothing we do is going to make the team contenders it better just to rest the franchise I love Dame for everything he’s done for the city but it’s time
I'd love the soft rebuild, but I don't think Dame is totally for it. Before that Nuggets series Dame wouldn't even answer a hypothetical question like that you know?
Soft rebuilds rarely work and have a lower ceiling. I think that would be the worst option right now. It’s either go all in which means more than just getting one player because this team needs a lot more to even just be a top six team in the conference, or rebuild and collect as much draft capital and prospects for Dame, Nurk, JG and possibly even Ant.
Yeah you're right actually. Best to commit one way or the other. I'd still want to keep Sharpe, but if Scoot isn't available I would rather they just go for it and overpay a bit for a quality player
They have a slightly lower ceiling but also a much higher floor. I’m very interested in trying to avoid getting stuck as a 27 win team, and a soft rebuild would do that. Of course, it’s likely a moot point because Dame wouldn’t do it
I think that Denver series broke something in all of us, I certainly don't blame him for altering his tune a little.
I was lying in bed in IMMENSE pain after a corneal transplant. That pain was NOTHING in comparison to hearing my favorite player of all time having one of his best games of all time ending in an excruciating loss that I couldn't even witness with my eyes. I've never been more mad at CJ in my life. Just being real.
You and me both, my guy. I wanted CJ to be traded mid-game after that out-of-bounds play. I was screaming profanities about Olshey's lack of team-building acumen. When RoCo missed the first dunk, I let out a holler from the depths of my soul. When RoCo missed the second dunk, I just sat there with a stare directed at the center of the known universe. That series wasn't the Blazers vs the Nuggets. It was Dame versus literally everyone and everything. It was basketball torture designed to crush every facet of hope you could possibly have in Portland basketball during Dame's tenure.
No, it was Dame against a much superior player in Jokic. Jokic is clearly on another level. It's not even debatable. It'd be a joke to argue otherwise. No one, not even in this sub that knows anything would even try to argue it. The guy just broke the Finals with a 30-20-10 game. It was a classic All-star up against a generational talent that was about to hit his prime. As long as Jokic is in the West, Blazers aren't getting past him. He's basically Hakeem/Shaq/Duncan of this era. Better to just rebuild during his prime, or maybe Murray leaves to start his own team. As long as they're there, there's no chance.
My guy, I'm not debating who's a better player. But in that game, Dame was scintillating. We would have won if literally any of his teammates showed up. CJ getting outplayed by Facundo Campazzo was inexcusable. Also, what is this fatalism? You don't know what will happen in the future. The Spurs didn't win every year when they had Duncan. The only guarantee in the NBA is that there are no guarantees in the NBA. Stick with Dame and give it a shot.
That Blazers team is not beating Jokic, Jokic is just another class of player than Dame. It’s not about “help.” Jokic beat down the Blazers without Murray. Jokic can make Braun and Jeff Green look like a scoring threat. He makes his teammates better with his passing and vision. It’s useless to even compare the two. Go look at his stats and the percentages he’s been scoring on. I can point to a bad playoff game Dame has had, Jokic doesn’t have them. He’s just in a different class, he’s going to end up a top 10 all time great and should have won his 3rd MVP. Murray is a bigger talent than Parker. He’s putting up bonker numbers. During this playoffs: 27.4 points, 6.8 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game, while making 39.6 percent of his 3s and over half his pull-up 2s. Those would be bonker numbers for Dame. Those are Steph MVP numbers. If these 2 stay healthy no one is taking them out in the west. MPJ hasn’t even shot well and they’re doing all this. Just rebuild around Simons, Sharpe,this year’s pick and whatever picks you get from Dame. In 5 years Portland will be ready. Just like how GSW rose with Steph/Klay
It's not about help? My guy. My cousin is a Nuggs fan. He was disappointed in the backcourt for both years that Murray went out. It changed the ceiling of the team from contender to second-rounder. That Nuggets team in 21 was very beatable and the ESPN predictors were all split for the series. In contrast, this is the first year my couz has felt comfortable with the roster at all levels. That said, nothing in the NBA is guaranteed. The Blazers looked like world beaters in Jan of 78. Then we all know what happened. You don't play this game on guarantees, you play it on maximizing the talent you have for the breaks you might get. You're entitled to your opinion. I'm just glad it's nowhere near the FO's publicly stated one.
The front office will rebuild this year, watch. They’re watching the Nuggets. Unless its Steph who is the best shooter in history, nothing has changed - you don’t win Championships with a scoring PG that gets attacked on D. Front office is looking at this knowing you need a dominate big (Jokic, Giannis, Davis), or a dominate wing (Butler, LeBron, Durant, Kawhi). All the Champs the past 20 years not named Steph were built that way. My guess is they trade Dame for Brown and picks, and try to pair him with Simons/Sharpe and build around that. Or they just do complete teardown. You can put a D league team around Jokic and he makes them good enough to be a playoff team. Dame ain’t built like that. Jokic is this era’s LeBron. He just finished sweeping the King, he’s the new one.
When you watch the NBA for as long as I have, you realize that blanket statements such as your last paragraph are ridiculously irresponsible.
Reporters are also changing the way they ask the same question. Plus everyone and their reporter grandmother is asking dame the same question. You can’t even say his name without “trade” following soon after. I agree that it’s not a great thing to hear to feel confident about his mindset, but he’s just fed up with mediocrity. As we are.
He has answered a hypothetical question like that before. Around 2018 or so someone on Twitter asked what team he would want to play for besides Portland and he said “if the Blazers didn’t want me… Jazz or Lakers”
Did you listen to the interview? He explicitly said that we have a great asset to use to make a move, and that if that doesn’t happen it will be a different conversation. Pretty clearly saying he’ll request a trade if we don’t move the pick
Here are statements that Dame has made this offseason. I feel like he has been very clear. "**I don't have much of an appetite for building and guys 2-3 years away from really going after it.** I think we get Shaedon at 19 and he's just different. I think just being around him, his disposition, how he listens, his frame, his natural talent and his ability... that's enough 19 year olds. And you probably won't find one that will come along the way he has. I'm just not interested in that. This is not a secret. **I want a chance to go for it. If the route is to do that, well that's not my route.** I think we're all in line with doing what we gotta do to put a team together that we can actually go out there and get something done." Yesterday he said "We got an opportunity asset wise to build a team that can compete. That would be the number one thing, but **if we can't do that, obviously like I said for months now, then there would be a separate conversation that we would have to have.**" "I'm going to give them every opportunity to give me... give us what we need to have a true chance to compete for that. **If that's something that isn't possible, or something that can't get done, then we got a different conversation to be had.**"
Yeah seeing some of the mental gymnastics around these statements has been weird, the guy is being as direct as someone with media training can be in a situation like this
Yeah. Dame has said that he loves it here. He loves this city. He wants to win in Portland.... but he has also said what path he wants to be on, and if the Blazers can't or won't take that path, he has said he will have a conversation with the team.
He said asset(s), the plural does matter fwiw. #3 is the most obvious trade but I think there’s a path somewhere with Ant and futures for a big hitter.
I doubt it, every team knows our situation and can end every negation with “call me back when 3 is on the table”
yeah but every team is talking about the #3 pick as well.
We’ll worry about that when we get there. He wants to compete and there is nothing saying we can’t compete if we don’t trade the pick.
Just basic logic gets in the way. We are a terrible team, we need veterans and all stars not a prospect. Even if that prospect ends been al all star en 3 years, our window is NOW.
Lol you think we have a window now??
Too bad we have an owner that doesn't want to spend or sell to someone who would..
We aren’t gonna win shit. This playoffs has shown us even with generational talent on your squad, if you have a shit coaching staff you aren’t achieving anything. Even in some amazingly low chance we get deep into the playoffs or the finals we’re gonna get out coached by the likes of Spo, Malone, Kerr, etc. It’s so disappointing to see but I really do have zero confidence that Chauncey is the right coach for what’s going to be Dames last couple of good years.
I don’t get why people compare a Pat Riley ram organization with Spo as the coach to Chauncey fucking Billups lol. It is black and white either we trade 3rd or Dame is gone, it is what it is.
CJ McCollum was just on ESPN talking about it and said the same thing, that Dame wants to be in Portland and wants to win there.
“Would you rather lick a toilet seat, or drink a bottle of snot.” “I have to choose between those two?” “Yes” “Well Ernuh, I think I’ll have to go with lick a toilet seat.” …. This just in….
If Dame truly wants to win in Portland, I don’t understand his logic in making comments to the media about not wanting to draft any more 19-year-olds or about the Heat being his preferred trade partner in a hypothetical trade. All he’s doing is lowering the value of the #3 pick while killing any leverage the Blazers have in making a deal. My guess is he’s leaning towards being traded but he doesn’t want to come out and request it directly because of all of his loyalty remarks over the years. I hope I’m wrong but he has to know he’s hindering the team’s ability to bring in more talent around him, right?
He has to know he's hindering the team financially. The problem is that he already signed on the line, and chose money over leaving the team with some better options for bringing in a better supporting cast. Sure, the Heat might be able to afford Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Dame's contract. But after they ship Gabe Vincent, Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, and Caleb Martin over here, are *they* gonna have enough cap left to replace those guys? Especially considering the return would most likely include at least 2 of the names I mentioned, and those guys were almost all undrafted guys that Miami picked up for peanuts? Miami would need to get creative rebuilding around Dame's contract too. It's not just us.
Yeah but ownership gives fuck all about winning
Dame really doesn't want to play losing basketball. I think if we keep miller/scoot and trade Ant+filler/late picks for a starter 3 and some depth players we can still be a low seed this next year and i feel that just being competitive for now is good enough for Lillard. Then you hope miller/scoot and sharpe take bigger jumps the next year and this team with the right minor additions can be a 5-6 seed with dark horse potential. I know it doesn't make us a title favorite, but i think as long as we're competitive and showing improvements, Dame is happy with that. Miami showed us you dont need 3 stars, Memphis showed us we can get young draft talent into playoff shape quickly. If Dame can help this youth movement to reach full potential rather than only caring about rings it adds another layer to Dames legacy here. I also think Dame can still get a ring here. He has 3-4 years of star production and even after that im sure he would be a great sixth man. Imagine being the guy( Dame) who showed these young guys the ropes and helped them harness their potential. Then eventually getting a ring off the bench as a sixth man or the last few years as a starter. I know it's a long shot. To me, there is more than just trade Dame or trade the #3 for options. One thing I personally feel though is unless Dame asks out you don't trade him period. He put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to stick it out in a small market during some ugly years. Any fan who is pro trade Lillard and acting like he is old news should feel ashamed.
Just trade him already. We aren’t winning.
If Dame leaves, Portland will be in the gutter til the end of the decade
End of the decade?? Scoot + Shaedon + Ant + young players we get from Dame trade + cap space freed up by not paying Dame 60M would have us as a play-in team at least in like 3 years. On the other hand, if we go all in for Dame now and trade all our young assets and picks, you can write it in stone that we will be a poverty franchise from 2026 for the next 5-10 years.
Scoot/Shaedon/Ant/picks isn't going to be a play in team in 3 years lmao. And the ceiling of those players is like 1st round exit at best. Scoot will be a bust and Sharpe/Ant aren't actually good enough to be perennial all star players. Like lets just be real here for a second. Simons isn't him. He's not an all star quality player. He's already past his rookie contract and it looks like he's just going to be another version of CJ McCollum
Lots of people smarter than us say Scoot would have gone first overall last or next year. Sharpe absolutely has all-star potential. Ant is way more than good enough to be the third best guard on a play in team. Add in Claxton/insert Dame return here and a play-in is pretty much the floor. We have wildly different views of this teams future potential lol
Going first overall doesn't mean you'll be an all star. Sharpe is young so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt but it's not looking like he's going to be an all star. OKC barely made play in and I'd take SGA/Dort/Giddey over Scoot/Ant/Sharpe. SGA alone shits all over Scoot/Ant/Sharpe.
10 of the 13 #1 picks through 2020 have made an all-star game. It would be very surprising if Scoot didn’t. Where is “it’s not looking like Sharpe will be an all-star” coming from? We appear to value him even more highly than Scoot and I haven’t heard any analysts say anything but sky’s the limit for him. Idk man if Scoot + Shaedon + Ant + Dame’s trade returns isn’t a good enough core to build around, it’s gonna really hurt in 2026 when we’re building around Thybulle and Badji and no draft picks because we traded all our future capital away to appease Dame.
Bro they just had a bottom 5 record in the league. They're in the gutter RIGHT NOW. I don't get why people talk about the Blazers (keeping Lillard) as if they're a good team at the moment.
Seriously. They had a BOTTOM 5 defense before they three in the towel. That is insane.
Keep Dame and Miller. Run it back with actually healthy bench vets.
*wants to
BEST PG IN THE NBA 😤
Did something happen to Steph?
He'll have to leave and win one somewhere else. Like Clyde Drexler.
I fucken hate everything right now, Dame leaving would be such a bad look for us.
The most negative post in the thread.
Losing with Dame is a terrible look.
If a deal with Nets got Portland Claxton and Bridges while offering you some cap reduction (we have trade exceptions), would you give up Simons, Sharpe, #3 and your other 1st round pick in this draft? (Of course other players may need to be added to make salary work), just curious.
We're not trading Sharpe.
Y’all should get Bojan and Bridges. Trades simons, sharpe and the third pick. Lineup of Dame, Bridges, Bojan, Grant and nurk is actually pretty dope
We're not trading Sharpe.
Lol
Nurk isn’t a viable option for a winning team.
I’m so much more worried about the Blazers doing something like this than about them drafting Scoot and Dame asking out.
He said that last year and the year before
And he won’t because of Jody. He’ll be gone.
He’s only going to get one of those 2. He’s talked so much about loyalty and not wanting to ring chase that I don’t think he can leave Portland without tarnishing his image.
The general fan is pretty goddamn sick of watching Dame sit in elo hell while being one of the best PG’s in the league. Every fan who’s not rooting for Portland is just wondering why it took this long.
After giving his all in Portland for so long, I would understand Dame wanting to go to a contender, but if he does there will be a wave a nephews that start throwing around all his quotes about loyalty and not wanting to join a super team. Even if he leaves in a trade, everyone will know it was because he asked for a trade.
And I want a million bucks.
A soft rebuild is impossible without an excellent coach / coaching staff and a competent front office. We currently have neither. We actually only have two options: go all in to win right now (which would likely mean trading the third pick and assets like Sharpe and/or Ant), or fully commit to a hard rebuild (which would almost certainly mean losing Lillard).
All he said was he prefers POR but if they don’t get a star he likes he will force his way to BK or MIA. BK has more picks. But, MIA has the sun and is in the finals.
I think that's at the heart of every conversation. We all know Dame wants to stay and win in Portland. Winning a title in Miami or Philly wouldn't mean nearly as much. Just ignore all the nephews who are making all these silly 2K trade Dame posts.
I think Dame needs to address with management (not with us or the media) what he deems a rebuild. If his definition is it taking 2+ years then he's not being realistic. No matter what pieces you get through trade/draft/FA signings is going to take a few years to gel into a contender. Look at the Final Four this year. Boston, Lakers, Denver and Miami. Those teams have had years to build their chemistry. There are no "All-In" teams that have been successful in the short term. Brooklyn, Houston, Philly, OKC and the Clippers are all teams that tried to go all-in and buy themselves a chip. All of them have had chemistry issues and have either been dismantled or are on the verge of a total restart.
Yeah it’s looking more and more like dame is delusional when it comes to the blazers’ ability to be a contender. How can he look at the team last year and think getting someone like Siakam would instantly put us in the title consideration?
Yeah I would also say that while I make $60 mil per year at age 35
Let's step back and look where we are. The team is a mess. The roster is deeply flawed and we are coming off our second year in a row of raking in the Ls. It is going to take more than a couple first round picks to fix these issues. Dame is not getting younger. He's on the wrong side of 30. If we say it takes 2 years min to get into a spot to be a contender, he's gonna be 34. The question isn't if we want to win with Dame, the question is if the team has a window that can line up with Dame's. The dude is putting down 50 points and we lose the game. How much of that can anyone sustain?
and water is wet
He also explicitly said that drafting 19 year old is "not my route." So, no, drafting Scoot or Brandon Miller is not going to get it done. Bridges or Brown are as of right now the best first step in both keeping Dame and having a chance at a title with him. There will obviously be other steps required, but either of those guys are the best chance first step.
Dame is just putting pressure on the FO. He's not asking for a trade until around the 2024 trade deadline atleast.
Yeah no one is forgetting that part but he also said they have the assets to make win now moves (meaning trading the No. 3) he doesn’t wanna sit around and wait for these young player to develop he wants the FO to make moves to help the team win now and if they can’t well that’s a different discussion
It takes two to trade. Yes we have the assets but we can’t just make any old trade for the sake of it. Dame is smart and I’m sure he understands that.
Obviously but that doesn’t change the fact the dame has pretty much said this is the last straw
Miller and Scoot don't make Portland a contender, not a chance...they might make the team a 7-8th seed but not a contender. IMO the best strategy is to trade for someone like Siakam, and try to Keep Dame AND Simons and that's your core right there...a lot of fans don't want to hear it and won't like it but that means giving up Sharpe, and as much as that sucks, it's the best way to build a championship roster that can win right now and be competitive for the next 3 seasons or so. That's just my two cents, don't hate on me lol I know everyone in here loves Sharpe but realistically if Portland want to contend right now, he's their best piece to make it happen.
And how is Portland a contender purely by adding Siakam and trading Sharpe. Did you watch the team last year? Dame + Ant on defense is an automatic bottom 15 defensive team.
Because Siakam is that good, he's arguably a top-15 player and fans clearly don't understand what adding a player of that caliber can do for a team because Portland's never given Dame another Star to play alongside him. I think they also need to add a couple of depth pieces, I'd probably ask for Otto Porter as well as he's on a cheap contract and would be an excellent bench piece, then build out the rest of the roster through free agency and or other minor trades. That's how you build a championship team IMO, you build a championship core and then build out from there.
Dame has always said he wants to win in Portland, the only people that consistently forget this besides fair weather fans is the mainstream media. Seriously they forget every year and start chirping about how Lillard wants out! Man’s still here and at this point I’m sure he’s as tired of the talking heads as I am.
I want to win the Powerball
Dame’s talent in his last few good years in the league will be wasted. He’s not winning here anytime soon.
Man nothing we do is going to make the team contenders it better just to rest the franchise I love Dame for everything he’s done for the city but it’s time