I agree that he has talked about Dame's career arc, but honestly I think that's a bad way to look at things. A good team has a mix of veterans and young guys.
The Warriors have Curry/Green/Klay but they also have Livingston/Iggy/Bogut.
The Spurs have had Kawhi/Green/Patty to go with Parker/Manu/Duncan.
Cavs have LeBron and JR Smith to go with Kyrie and Love.
Trying to build a contender with a bunch of dudes who are all young is difficult to do and unrealistic. It's good to have a few older guys who have been there, done that. Guys who are hungry for a championship. If you keep Dame/CJ/Crabbe/Harkless/Davis, but you add (hypothetically) Gasol/Randolph, you've got a young core of guys but you also have a couple proven vets who can get shit done.
Dame
CJ
Harkless or Aminu
Randolph
Gasol
That's a serious contender. The only unreliable scorer in that lineup would be Harkless. I could live with that.