Notice Do. Not. Trade. Shaedon

[julius]

I was at the game. If it was 96% full, then about 8000 people were weaing camouflage to look exactly like empty seats.

For the year, not the individual game

 

[Natebishop3]

Last night is exactly why I have this .005% doubt of Sharpe being elite. Last night Pelicans fronted Sharpe the 1st 3 quarters and Sharpe was content to stand around. Does he have that fire that makes players like Kobe, MJ, and and Dame special? They might have bad games but they give max effort at all times and they take tough challenges like last nights defense as an opportunity to prove something.

Please don’t take this wrong I’m not ripping on him he’s a kid and will have to learn. But if there is any red flags for me with this kid that would be one.

Ok.... here's the thing..... you just listed arguably the best player to ever play the game, another guy who is on many people's top 10 to ever play, and then Dame who is a top 75 of all time.

Sharpe can have a very very very good career without being Jordan.... or Kobe..... or even Dame.

Dame isn't MJ but he's one of the best to ever play and we're extremely lucky to have him. If Sharpe isn't as good as Dame, that's fine. He can still be an extremely good player without being driven to be the greatest ever.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

You overlooked my main point. The truth about whether the refusal to go into the LT this year was due to frugality or instead to maintain maximum flexibility to improve the team this summer will be revealed in how the Blazers use their assets this summer. Until then, we all have our opinions, but the team’s actions next summer will speak much more accurately than our springtime suppositions.

This is what people said last season. Then here we are, below the luxury tax again and in the lottery again.

If the team is under the luxury tax next February we will probably hear the same story; "yes they were cheap and under the tax again this yeat, but it's so they can improve the team even more for the 2024-25 season without having to pay extra tax"

 

[tykendo]

Last night is exactly why I have this .005% doubt of Sharpe being elite. Last night Pelicans fronted Sharpe the 1st 3 quarters and Sharpe was content to stand around. Does he have that fire that makes players like Kobe, MJ, and and Dame special? They might have bad games but they give max effort at all times and they take tough challenges like last nights defense as an opportunity to prove something.

Please don’t take this wrong I’m not ripping on him he’s a kid and will have to learn. But if there is any red flags for me with this kid that would be one.

He has some passiveness that does alert me as well. I'd like to see a little more fire in his demeanor. People can say, he's young. But when i was in my teens, i hated to lose anything, period. That fire has never changed. I wish i had been born with his God given gifts. The skills are there. But is the heart. Big question.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Wemby and Sharpe

Gen Z Shaq and Kobe

 

[Hoopguru]

He has some passiveness that does alert me as well. I'd like to see a little more fire in his demeanor. People can say, he's young. But when i was in my teens, i hated to lose anything, period. That fire has never changed. I wish i had been born with his God given gifts. The skills are there. But is the heart. Big question.

Thats why I hope they have him in the summer league as it's an opportunity for to be dominate and be aggressive.

 

[wizenheimer]

Ok.... here's the thing..... you just listed arguably the best player to ever play the game, another guy who is on many people's top 10 to ever play, and then Dame who is a top 75 of all time.

Sharpe can have a very very very good career without being Jordan.... or Kobe..... or even Dame.

Dame isn't MJ but he's one of the best to ever play and we're extremely lucky to have him. If Sharpe isn't as good as Dame, that's fine. He can still be an extremely good player without being driven to be the greatest ever.

those 3 guys had/have incredible handles. An ability to break down a double team with the dribble. Sharpe doesn't have that yet so of course he'll have difficulty breaking away from a suffocating defense, especially when the coach and his teammates don't seem to have a clue, or the handles themselves, about how to help him

 

[e_blazer]

This is what people said last season. Then here we are, below the luxury tax again and in the lottery again.

If the team is under the luxury tax next February we will probably hear the same story; "yes they were cheap and under the tax again this yeat, but it's so they can improve the team even more for the 2024-25 season without having to pay extra tax"

The Blazers aren’t going to be under the LT next season barring a decision to trade Dame. The fact that Dame’s contract extension kicks in virtually ensures that. But, as I said, the results this summer will tell the tale. If Cronin doesn’t spend the non-taxpayer MLE you can say that the tax savings was the driving factor.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

Ok.... here's the thing..... you just listed arguably the best player to ever play the game, another guy who is on many people's top 10 to ever play, and then Dame who is a top 75 of all time.

Sharpe can have a very very very good career without being Jordan.... or Kobe..... or even Dame.

Dame isn't MJ but he's one of the best to ever play and we're extremely lucky to have him. If Sharpe isn't as good as Dame, that's fine. He can still be an extremely good player without being driven to be the greatest ever.

Agree with every thing you said. I realize it’s being a little picky, he’s just a special talent that has all the tools to be elite, my only question mark for him does he have the fire or desire to be one of the greatest to play the game ( truly think he has the talent to reach that level). Think the only hole offensively in his game is his handles ( decent but needs improvement).

 

[Tince]

You overlooked my main point. The truth about whether the refusal to go into the LT this year was due to frugality or instead to maintain maximum flexibility to improve the team this summer will be revealed in how the Blazers use their assets this summer. Until then, we all have our opinions, but the team’s actions next summer will speak much more accurately than our springtime suppositions.

Ok, so we don't know about the cause of the cap related spending habits either way the last couple years. Still doesn't address the non salary cap related operations I pointed out.

 

[wizenheimer]

The Blazers aren’t going to be under the LT next season barring a decision to trade Dame. The fact that Dame’s contract extension kicks in virtually ensures that. But, as I said, the results this summer will tell the tale. If Cronin doesn’t spend the non-taxpayer MLE you can say that the tax savings was the driving factor.

Dame's contract extension doesn't kick in till 2025.

next season, the NBA is projecting a 134M salary cap

https://www.sportsbusinessclassroom.com/examining-the-nbas-134m-salary-cap-projection-for-2023-24/

Dame's current salary is 34.3% of the cap. If that projection holds, Dame's salary next season will 'drop' to 34.05% of the cap. So it won't hve any bigger impact on the tax than it did this season. Maybe a bigger factor, in terms of salary vs impact will be Grant's salary

 

[Natebishop3]

Agree with every thing you said. I realize it’s being a little picky, he’s just a special talent that has all the tools to be elite, my only question mark for him does he have the fire or desire to be one of the greatest to play the game ( truly think he has the talent to reach that level). Think the only hole offensively in his game is his handles ( decent but needs improvement).

He's a quiet dude. Kinda reminds me of a Kawhi type of personality.

MJ/Kobe/Dame are all extroverts.

 

[Tince]

The Blazers aren’t going to be under the LT next season barring a decision to trade Dame. The fact that Dame’s contract extension kicks in virtually ensures that. But, as I said, the results this summer will tell the tale. If Cronin doesn’t spend the non-taxpayer MLE you can say that the tax savings was the driving factor.

I'm not sure it's proof the previous years of money savings were all built around spending big by using the MLE in 2023. Yes, they'll have it this year, and yes they should use it this summer. However, using it this year does not prove that ownership has been all in the last 3 years either.

 

[Tince]

For the year, not the individual game

I'll let someone who has gone to more games than me speculate if an average attendence of 96% capacity seems accurate. I have a strong suspcision it isn't as that would mean only 33k empty seats all season. I'd bet anything there wasn't anywhere close to 18k people at the game last night, as reported.

I did go to a game in Boston and Philly this month. Both those arena appeared to be sold out or really close.

 

[THE HCP]

I was at the game. If it was 96% full, then about 8000 people were weaing camouflage to look exactly like empty seats.

Seats sold FAMS….seats sold.

 

[Tince]

Seats sold FAMS….seats sold.

That could certainly be the case. Do donated seats count in that number as well?

Either way, people buying tickets, but not coming and paying for parking, food, gear, etc. certainly has to impact the buttom line. Not to mention that it is now cheaper to buy on the secondary market than snatching up one of those "few" remaining seats directly from the Blazers.

 

[THE HCP]

That could certainly be the case. Do donated seats count in that number as well?

Either way, people buying tickets, but not coming and paying for parking, food, gear, etc. certainly has to impact the buttom line. Not to mention that it is now cheaper to buy on the secondary market than snatching up one of those "few" remaining seats directly from the Blazers.

Yeah, any arena, anywhere, uses seats sold. Pretty stupid if you ask @THE HCP

 

[SharpesTriumph]

The Blazers aren’t going to be under the LT next season barring a decision to trade Dame. The fact that Dame’s contract extension kicks in virtually ensures that. But, as I said, the results this summer will tell the tale. If Cronin doesn’t spend the non-taxpayer MLE you can say that the tax savings was the driving factor.

If the Blazers don't spend it some fans will probably just say it's to avoid the hard cap or avoid repeater tax in 2032.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

That could certainly be the case. Do donated seats count in that number as well?

Either way, people buying tickets, but not coming and paying for parking, food, gear, etc. certainly has to impact the buttom line. Not to mention that it is now cheaper to buy on the secondary market than snatching up one of those "few" remaining seats directly from the Blazers.

Might be a lot of speculators who bought seats but can't sell them.

 

[e_blazer]

If the Blazers don't spend it some fans will probably just say it's to avoid the hard cap or avoid repeater tax in 2032.

This is the summer to rebuild around Dame. Cronin is going to have to spend in order to do it. It’s put up or shut up time. I don’t see Dame or any knowledgeable fan being satisfied with trotting out another mediocre, under the LT team.

 

[HailBlazers]

So Jody is attending all these crappy games just to make money? Don't buy it.

 

[Samuel]

I don’t see Dame or any knowledgeable fan being satisfied with trotting out another mediocre, under the LT team.

It will not feel clean and simple.

It will feel like a massive overpay, or it will feel like a series of smaller moves and/or draftees that are individual upside plays that, in the aggregate, will not seem like enough.

There is no PritchSlap coming. There is no Champagne room. (Unless, of course, they get Wemby)

 

[julius]

I think if the team gets shafted in the draft, it'll be a really really bad summer for the team.

There isn't a Ray Allen and KG out there getting traded to Portland for cheap, to give Paul Pierce a title.

 

[Samuel]

I think if the team gets shafted in the draft, it'll be a really really bad summer for the team.

There isn't a Ray Allen and KG out there getting traded to Portland for cheap, to give Paul Pierce a title.

I suspect if they have an amazing summer with super strategic moves, it will piss off more than half the fanbase.

 

[julius]

I suspect if they have an amazing summer with super strategic moves, it will piss off more than half the fanbase.

Oh, most definitely.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

This is the summer to rebuild around Dame. Cronin is going to have to spend in order to do it. It’s put up or shut up time. I don’t see Dame or any knowledgeable fan being satisfied with trotting out another mediocre, under the LT team.

So last summer wasn't put up or shut up time.... What's so different about this upcoming summer that wasn't possible last summer?

Blazers had an expiring contract in Bledsoe to add a talent such as John Collins or Julius Randle. Blazers had a great bench player/acceptable starter in Hart. Blazers had an extra year of Dame's prime. Now they'll have none of those, oh but they'll have luxury tax flexibility in 2028.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

I suspect if they have an amazing summer with super strategic moves, it will piss off more than half the fanbase.

When trader Bob got Scottie Pippen for Kelvin Cato and a bunch of scrubs it didn't piss off the Blazers fan base.

When Pritchard got LaMarcus and Roy in the same draft it didn't piss off the Blazers fan base.

When Chad Buchanan traded Gerald Wallace for the pick that became Lillard it didn't piss off the Blazers fan base.

I want a GM and ownership that has the ability to do moves like that. Moves that can lead to talent improvements of the team and maybe one day contending. Not "strategic" moves that get luxury tax relief in 4 years or "flexibility" in the Clippers trade, sign Gary Payton as a $26 million 6'3 backup forward, or give a plodding injury prone center $70 million who's market was the tax MLE.

 

[Tince]

So Jody is attending all these crappy games just to make money? Don't buy it.

Is she going radio silent with the media for years, not conducting GM searches, hiring inexperienced front office people, and not having a G-League team because she cares about winning and creating a top notch product? Don't buy it.

 

[Whyachi]

This is the summer to rebuild around Dame. Cronin is going to have to spend in order to do it. It’s put up or shut up time. I don’t see Dame or any knowledgeable fan being satisfied with trotting out another mediocre, under the LT team.

Blaming fans is a winning ticket. We are all stupid and whine too much. Lillard is no ring chaser, hasn't complained once about being on a bad team. Everyone loves the coach, so too bad you freaking Billups haters, he's not getting fired.

When we see the unbiased C+ ratings of trades Cronin made, we need to trust the local media because they have a self proclaimed higher basketball IQ then anyone in the world.

Fans just need to shut up and buy some tickets. Negative fan input is a meaningless insect that needs to be squashed.

Now if you write an extra happy tweet and hashtag it correctly during a game, you might get on television for 2 seconds!

 

[Samuel]

When trader Bob got Scottie Pippen for Kelvin Cato and a bunch of scrubs it didn't piss off the Blazers fan base.

Pippen hopped aboard a team that had just gone to the Western Conference Finals. This year's team is going to finish in the low 30s in terms of wins. Embiid isn't coming, and even if he were leaving Philly, he wouldn't be coming to Portland.

When Pritchard got LaMarcus and Roy in the same draft it didn't piss off the Blazers fan base.

If Cronin grabbed a second non-Scoot/Wemby high lottery pick and drafted both players, half of the fanbase would complain about The Dame Timeline. Actually it would be more than half.

When Chad Buchanan traded Gerald Wallace for the pick that became Lillard it didn't piss off the Blazers fan base.

If Cronin traded Jerami Grant for a future draft pick, it would piss off half of the fanbase.

Again, context matters. Dame being on the team means that it's either going to be an inefficient overpay or a series of smaller moves that might actually end up being better but in the moment will seem like a crime against Dame-anity.

If Cronin were to double down on this draft and try to secure even more young talent, people would bitch about it.