Can the Blazers effectively keep Dame Jrue Scoot Shae next 2 years?

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Can the Blazers effectively keep Dame Jrue Scoot Shae next 2 years?

  • Total voters
    42
  • Poll closed .
I think what people are overlooking is that we're going to be an offensive-challenged team this season playing in a brutal Western Conference.

We'll be a better team this season but not win as many games. There'll be a lot of competitive losses and opponents are going to hate facing us.

However, the result will be a high lottery pick. We'll then find a way to unload Grant, replace him with Dybantsa when we win the lottery, and we'll be good to go ....
 
Scoot and Sharpe will extend the careers of Holiday and Lillard by playing big minutes and learning on the fly how to navigate double teams or be a pt of attack defender. When Dame and Jrue move to the bench they can learn the coaching game while retiring as Blazers. What’s not to like? Also I don’t think superstar contracts will be as cap sucking in the future. The days for overpaying an Alan Crabbe level talent are over!
 
Everything Beagle said:
Short answer: yes, but you gotta trade Grant to make it happen.

Long answer: If I were running lineups, I'd insist no player on our team play more than 32 minutes in a game. Billups did this last year, and I think he'll continue to do that going forward. A good team doesn't over-work their players.

Even in 2026-27, neither Dame nor Jrue should be getting more than 24 minutes in the regular season, for their continued effectiveness in the playoffs if nothing else. Neither are iron men in 2026. Between the both of them only one season of 70+ games since 2019, and Jrue's minutes even as a starter have dropped to 30 last season.

Also, I see a lot of 3-guard lineups in our future, with defensive wings and centers to absorb their defensive liabilities. That could give the two starters 32 minutes each while keeping the two backups at 24 minutes.

I think this means you have to trade Grant for an old SF/PF vet willing to play 16 minutes and mentor the kids.
You play center by committee, riding hot hands and taking advantage of matchups.

Something like:
Guard Minutes (96): Scoot (32) / Dame (24) / Jrue (24) / Sharpe (16)
Forward Minutes (96): Toumani (32) / Deni (32) / Sharpe (16) / Murray?? (16)
Center Minutes (48): Clingan (20) / Yang (16) / Reath (12)

I think this lineup, well coached and hungry, can win 50 if they get a little lucky on Dame's recovery.
If they get really lucky, 60 wins is possible.
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Reminds me of the Spurs teams of the past, Pop always had the most stellar bench's and would run them as long as possible.
 
Keep? Sure.

But would it make more sense to keep three?

At the end of the day, this is only an issue for one season, which is the season after this season. The season after that, both Dame and Jrue are able to opt out, even if it’s likely that only Dame would be inclined to opt out that season. This season, Dame is really more an extension of the coaching staff than a player, so we’re still effectively expecting one good-great season out of Holiday while Dame rehabs.

I still definitely think we need to trade Jrue if he plays up his value again. Jrue is a player you can get an unprotected 1st from if he is the same player he was two years ago, and you need to capitalize on that value. I think this is a serious talk with Dame at the end of this season once we assess the growth the team has made and see if Jrue has played up his value. If Dame feels like he would want to be the backup PG here until he retires because he thinks he can win a chip here, capitalize on Jrue’s trade value.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
I think it will ultimately come down to how well Scoot performs this year, and not how well anyone else performs. With Dame and Jrue both being 14 years older, I can't see how either will affect Scoot long term with this team. If he takes another jump, then he will be the Blazers' starting PG for another 7-10 years. If he does not take a jump, then yeah, they will probably move him next summer.

Obviously, they did not know Dame was going to get bought out when they traded for Jrue. So I don't think they have lost faith in Scoot, they just took the opportunity to bring back a player that is beloved by the community.

Jrue and Grant are the wild cards next summer IMO based on age and contracts.

They will probably try to keep only one of Thybulle or Rupert, but not both.

Williams will probably not be resigned either unless something happens to Clingan.

As long as the youngsters keep working hard and continue to get better, I am keeping Scoot, Shae, Tou, Deni, Clingan,
and Hansen. (Hopefully Rupert as well)
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Here’s the rub…. I don’t think Dame signed up to come off the bench. I would wager he expects to start in 2026. So what happens if Scoot shows massive improvement? Who comes off the bench? It’s a nice problem to have but it would be a problem. I’m less worried about Jrue.
 
Natebishop3 said:
Here’s the rub…. I don’t think Dame signed up to come off the bench. I would wager he expects to start in 2026. So what happens if Scoot shows massive improvement? Who comes off the bench? It’s a nice problem to have but it would be a problem. I’m less worried about Jrue.
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I think we know what happens then - we had a decade of two starting level PG in the Dame era. Which one came off the bench?
 
Games played last two years
Dame 73 58 = 131, 65.5avg
Jrue 69 62 = 131, 65.5avg
Scoot 62 66 = 128, 64avg
Sharpe 32 72 =104, 52avg

So that average 81 games missed per season. So if they got injured always at different times we'd have ONE SINGLE game the 4 of them play together during the season.

Now you might say unlikely they are always out at different times. But in that case those would all be games that two or more of them are out and we have no backup guard.
 
PCmor7 said:
Do you really think so? By the time Dame comes back from the injury, the other three might be clearly better than he is. Maybe Jrue doesn't want to be here or doesn't vibe with his teammates like Scoot and Shae. Maybe the Blazers play with better chemistry with the younger guys.

This is part of what I was avoiding talking about the other night because so many people were thrilled about Dame coming back. One of the factors in Dame forcing the trade two years ago, depending on who you talked to, was that Dame felt slighted about the Blazers drafting his heir apparent. Is it really that far-fetched to be unsure if he'll be willing to relinquish the reins to "his team" if it turns out by the time he's back that either he's been surpassed by one of the younger guys or he just didn't recover his greatness after the injury and being advanced in age?

That's the question facing the Blazers now. If we can be one or the other, are the team's decision-makers (and the fans, for that matter), prioritizing being fun and interesting or being good, if the former is a little easier path?

IMO, no one has earned a spot. Maybe they've earned a little extra leash in earning a spot or confidence that they can handle it, all other things being equal, but the spot itself, I'd say not. Not if your goal is being good, at least. No one is saying Jerami Grant should be starting ahead of Deni and Tou because he's owed it for what he did in the past. This is the same, at least to me. The players that make the rotation work the best and make the team perform better should be playing based on what they do on the floor, not what they did on the floor, if you are trying to win, at least.

If the paths are mutually exclusive, do the Blazers and their fans want to err or the chance of watching Damian Lillard add another signature game to his career (like Brandon Roy did late in his run), or do they want to have a better chance of making it to the WC Finals? Are we looking at nostalgia and entertaining or winning?

That's one of the things that concerned me. When the Dame trade drama went down two years ago, I think we found our fanbase to an extent got divided into Blazers fans and Dame fans. The latter were about giving Dame whatever he wanted because "he earned it" and to heck with what the Blazers were getting back. We read all this stuff about Cronin being a horrible GM and person, which is a lot harder sell right now considering the roster around Dame. I remember Dame's proxies putting out stories in the national media about how he gave everything to Portland and now the Blazers were being awful by not trading him to Miami for scraps. Maybe it's OK to overlook or forgive that, but I think it's a mistake to forget it.

What happens if by the time Dame is ready to play again, Scoot's made this "his" team? Are we really sure Dame will be fine with that? Will the fans?
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Lol this is why when we signed dame I was like "... okay?" I didn't get caught up in the nostalgia because it doesnt make any sense fit wise lol.

And this is my favorite blazer of all time. But realistically it was not the best move. Both can be true.
 
Natebishop3 said:
Here’s the rub…. I don’t think Dame signed up to come off the bench. I would wager he expects to start in 2026. So what happens if Scoot shows massive improvement? Who comes off the bench? It’s a nice problem to have but it would be a problem. I’m less worried about Jrue.
Click to expand...

Seems like a problem we should worry about next summer, but of course we won't wait.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
I agree there's nothing wrong with talking about it now....... assuming we don't talk about it every day for the next 15 months
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Not much else to talk about until we see some results.

How does Scoot do?
How does Shae do?
How does Jrue do?

And then how is Dame's recovery going?

So I think this will be an ongoing conversation.
 
Natebishop3 said:
In 2026 we are right back in the same situation we were in two years ago.

Ant/Scoot/Shae/Brogdon
Dame/Scoot/Shae/Jrue

96 minutes
4 guards who should play 30+ minutes
We will be short about 25 minutes per game.
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Which is so much better than having 3 guards who should be playing 24 minutes, but are forced to play more than they're ready for.

I think the biggest difference between now and 2 years ago is the rest of the roster had much bigger holes to fill and the argument could've been made then that having those 4 assets at guard wasn't optimal. Feels to me the forward situation is in a much better position now than it was two years ago.
 
Assume for the moment that Lillard returns to form albeit at age 36 in 2026. Also assume Jrue is still on the team and playing well at about starter minutes. These would be excellent outcomes. Now assume Sharpe and Scoot take a good-sized leap forward this coming season. Assume all 4 occur -- which is likely-ish, I suppose -- and then there will be a logjam at guard in the summer of 2026.

I do not want Shaedon Sharpe playing SF minutes if at all possible -- especially not with Dame, Scoot and Jrue getting most of the guard minutes in 2026-27; positional size is a good thing. Scoot's D will have to be a whole lot better by then for him to play alongside both Dame and Jrue (especially if it's for around 12-15 minutes with Dame ... Dame getting 30 leaves 18 for Scoot at PG with 12 or so at SG with Jrue at about 30 ... 6 minutes to others).

That's if good things happen for all 4 and all 4 are Blazers in a year. Otherwise, there's no minutes crunch because one of the young fellas or Jrue would be gone. Jrue has value to a contender. Young guys are tradable. Now, if Scoot is playing well and Dame is healthy, it does make for a couple years with Scoot and Dame playing some minutes together, which may be doable. Maybe. And certainly more of a logjam than if Scoot is moved and Shaedon is the young guy retained.

The upshot of these what-ifs and assumes, IMHO, is that there's no logjam now, nor do I expect there will be one in a year. It will work itself out, and Cronin will have some work to do.
 
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When abundance and logjams, go to war against injuries, the title almost always goes to the injuries.

I hope that the Blazers are challenged in figuring out what to do with the wealth of starting guards in the future.
 
I like the mindset that say we should HOPE this becomes an issue next summer.

That mean Scoot developed well, Sharpe improved significantly, Jrue regained his form, and all 4 guys are healthy. Those would all be very good things

Any one of those doesn't happen and there is no issue with all these guys next season. I'm hoping that is the case - but if I had to bet unfortunately I'm estimating that's more likely to not be the case.
 
PCmor7 said:
I think what people are overlooking is that we're going to be an offensive-challenged team this season playing in a brutal Western Conference.

We'll be a better team this season but not win as many games. There'll be a lot of competitive losses and opponents are going to hate facing us.

However, the result will be a high lottery pick. We'll then find a way to unload Grant, replace him with Dybantsa when we win the lottery, and we'll be good to go ....
Click to expand...
This sounds incredible
 
I hate to say it, but players get hurt and then there isn’t a “logjam.” Having all 4 players healthy and playing great is probably a pipe dream and that is why depth is a good thing.
 
Phatguysrule said:
Lol. What are they offering?
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they could offer Vincent or Kleber + draft assets. It's the draft assets that could make the trade appealing to Portland

on the other hand, it sure looks like Cronin wants to push all of his chips into the playoff/play-in pot and a healthy Timelord can be a valuable chip. It's just seems that a healthy Timelord is fiction
 
wizenheimer said:
they could offer Vincent or Kleber + draft assets. It's the draft assets that could make the trade appealing to Portland

on the other hand, it sure looks like Cronin wants to push all of his chips into the playoff/play-in pot and a healthy Timelord can be a valuable chip. It's just seems that a healthy Timelord is fiction
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The tweet was in reference to Holiday.

But I would trade RWIII for Kleber + Thiero.
I really like Thiero as a prospect...
 
Kind of depends on how deep the pockets of new ownership are and how willing they are to dip into the luxury tax
 
riverman said:
Kind of depends on how deep the pockets of new ownership are and how willing they are to dip into the luxury tax
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What is this in reference to?

Portland's new ownership?

Or Lakers? The Lakers are hard-capped at the first apron, and they are effectively at the hard-cap right now. They cannot take on any additional salary regardless of the owner's desires
 
CJ_is_Gone said:
What is this in reference to?

Portland's new ownership?

Or Lakers? The Lakers are hard-capped at the first apron, and they are effectively at the hard-cap right now. They cannot take on any additional salary regardless of the owner's desires
Click to expand...
I was referring to the thread title
 
CJ_is_Gone said:
What is this in reference to?

Portland's new ownership?

Or Lakers? The Lakers are hard-capped at the first apron, and they are effectively at the hard-cap right now. They cannot take on any additional salary regardless of the owner's desires
Click to expand...
Yeah the new CBA kind of makes owners willingness to spend more irrelevant than it's ever been. Luxury tax cash penalities are actually close to insignificant at the 1st apron. There are advantages to lower payroll but those are more about roster flexibility than cash savings. The 2nd apron has huge penalties that teams avoid regardless of owners wealth.

Deep pocketed owners do help with coaches, nice arenas, fancy practice facilities, etc.

Going forward it doesn't seem like owners wealth will impact money spent on the roster.
 
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