I guess that could be a matter of interpretation, but how many other NBA examples since the arrival of social media do we have of so many stories coming from a player's camp of not only a trade request but a demand to be dealt to one other team?
I'm just not really sure how anyone cannot see that part. We had Dame's agent making statements. We had the people in the media closest to Dame making statements. They all were aligned.
Dame, at any point, could have taken to Twitter and set it straight but never did. That seemed really telling. He couldn't help but be aware of what was going on. It goes, I think, beyond the realms of belief to think his surrogates were making inflammatory statements on his behalf either trashing the team ("he gave them his last 10 years and they owe it to him") or threatening the team ("if the Blazers don't trade him to the Heat he won't play for whoever he's traded to" or allusions that other information detrimental to the organization would be revealed) without Dame's direction or at least approval, especially as long as it went on.
Obviously, we don't know what the Heat were offering, although most of the speculation and reports had Herro going to a third team for a first-round pick, a couple of picks (1R down the road and 2R) and pick swaps, one young talent (probably Jovic) and a combination of dumps to match salary (Duncan Robinson, Lowry). Caleb Martin was speculated early on but that seemed to get quashed. We had many indications that the Heat didn't feel the need to spend any more in compensation because the Blazers owed it to Dame/Dame had the Blazers over a barrel, and that narrative was leaned into heavily by Goodwin, Fentress and Haynes.
Then we have that neither Cronin nor anyone in the Blazers fired any public shots at Dame in response. Everything was complimentary of Dame and what he did in Portland but also that the Blazers were committed to getting fair compensation but would try to send him to a contender -- which they did.
Looking at that last part, I guess I just can't see any way someone can say "both sides." Only one side made this messy.
Fans can speculate on what Cronin did, but we don't have to speculate about what Dame's camp did, because they did it for everyone to see for weeks.
I loved Dame as a player and the face of the organization. That said, I can look at all the facts here as we know them and admit what his people did was dirty pool and his silence through it all didn't speak well for him.
It just looks to me like some fans love for Dame the Blazer blind them to the behavior of Dame the Trade Prospect. They can't bring themselves to call it like it is for the latter because they're so invested in the former.
If that part's incorrect, I'm open to hearing you or Wiz enlighten me how you reconcile how else you can feel the way you do beyond just an unconditional trust in Dame that requires an unreasonable distrust of Cronin.
