Joe Cronin vs. Dame Dolla

[James lamphear]

Let be serious who did the blazers actually have that would bring players back that would actually help Dame to closer to a championship. Simons might bring a something back back his lack of being a defender not going get you above average player. Nurk been hurt to much to bring something that actually will help. Cleveland was checking on Little you still not going bring the quality that Dame needs. Grant was a FA. You had the 3rd pick know one wanted to give any star player for that draft pick. Dame is not stupid he already knew this due to FA is not breaking Down the door. We going be trading a player that we can get most of the trade and that's Dame. Joe now has to his job get the best package that he can get for that trade. Dame boys can throw out as much crap they want to get where he wants but since Dame under contract with no trade clause in that contract he really out of his and agent control. The one that's has upper hand is Joe Cronin because actually he don't actually have to trade him but I don't see that happening though.

 

[Propagandist]

Not at all. Not a fan of Riley but like Spo.
I rooted for Denver over Miami too.
Just a huge Dame fan and dont have a problem with him having a preferred destination.

At our team’s expense though? The deal has to be fair, doesn’t it?

 

[Strenuus]

And watch Dame rep whoever his new team is in the HoF. People will say it was the organization for Dame but villainize Clyde and say it was his fault.

That shit can't happen twice. He goes in as a blazer.

Then again, I don't know wtf the brand of Dame is anymore so what do I know.

 

[Hoopguru]

At our team’s expense though? The deal has to be fair, doesn’t it?

Sure that’s what ive been advocating.

 

[STOMP]

Dame can't be traded until the 10th. As such, I really don't understand why he gave the Blazers a public ultimatum nearly two weeks out to trade him only to a franchise that can't put together a reasonable package. He chooses to trash his Portland legacy and loyalty/high character reputation and is guarenteed to stay the entitled athlete of the moment in the daily news cycles for days on end. Much much better tell the club closer to the 10th and do it quite.

STOMP

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Dame works for Goodwin now?

amazing insight.

 

[Strenuus]

Sure that’s what ive been advocating.

So how is dame winning that if he's pigeonholing us? Granted we don't know the return yet but dame hasn't been doing us any favors.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

My source says your source is fat, bald, and keeps leaving shits in the urinal at the practice facility. His press pass is about to get revoked.

How's your dad doing?

 

[Ha Seung-Boumtje-Boumjte]

How's your dad doing?

He's OK but he's got this weird foot fungus that he's having a hard time with.

 

[wizenheimer]

Fuck it.

This is what I heard from a very good source...

The meeting with Cronin, Dame and his agent Joe talked about multiple trades and deals they were working on. Some really big ones that would move the needle and make the Blazers contenders. But when Dame's agent called those teams and asked the teams about those proposals those teams had already turned the Blazers down.

Dame and his agent know deals get talked about and nothing ever happens but Dame and his agent got frustrated because Joe was talking about possible deals that he was working on that in fact were never going to happen.

that's pretty interesting....and it does put a very different spin on the situation

I can see how, from Dame's perspective, and his agent's perspective, that could make Cronin appear like a liar. I'd imagine Joe has a different slant....like he was just laying out optimistic options. But optimistic can't be divorced from realistic otherwise it's just more bullshit

and while it probably doesn't excuse all the things coming out of Dame's camp, it could certainly make Dame feel justified in playing hardball and not caring about how his tactics damaged the Blazer options

I'm pretty certain that Dame did not trust Olshey, at all. And I'm thinking Dame didn't trust Jody & the Vulcans. And probably believes they mislead him for years. If he was at the point of not trusting Cronin, there was really nobody in the Blazer organization he could count on. This could get ugly and the notion of going into the season with Dame still a Blazer is a bad idea

if what you said is true, I think a lot of the Dame-bashing around here is off-base

 

[Natebishop3]

that's pretty interesting....and it does put a very different spin on the situation

I can see how, from Dame's perspective, and his agent's perspective, that could make Cronin appear like a liar. I'd imagine Joe has a different slant....like he was just laying out optimistic options. But optimistic can't be divorced from realistic otherwise it's just more bullshit

and while it probably doesn't excuse all the things coming out of Dame's camp, it could certainly make Dame feel justified in playing hardball and not caring about how his tactics damaged the Blazer options

I'm pretty certain that Dame did not trust Olshey, at all. And I'm thinking Dame didn't trust Jody & the Vulcans. And probably believes they mislead him for years. If he was at the point of not trusting Cronin, there was really nobody in the Blazer organization he could count on. This could get ugly and the notion of going into the season with Dame still a Blazer is a bad idea

if what you said is true, I think a lot of the Dame-trashing around here is off-base

Why do I just picture Joe as Jack Lemon from Glengarry Glen Ross?

 

[PCmor7]

Why do I just picture Joe as Jack Lemon from Glengarry Glen Ross?

Because Dame took the set of steak knives and put them in Cronin's back?

 

[Natebishop3]

Because Dame took the set of steak knives and put them in Cronin's back?

I have a feeling that things are much worse between Dame and the team than we are hearing.

 

[inconceivable]

Dame tarnished his reputation not by asking to be traded but by asking to be traded to only one team, knowing that specific team can't afford him.

 

[wizenheimer]

I have a feeling that things are much worse between Dame and the team than we are hearing.

I think so

if what Sly heard was true, Dame likely doesn't trust anything the Blazers tell him. I mean, it's probably safe to say Dame and his agent went into that meeting expecting honesty and the blunt truth on where things were. If within a few hours of the meeting they knew Cronin fed them tons of BS about options, there's no going back from that.

and frankly, that would be a really bad tactic for Cronin to take with an agent. Agents talk and Cronin could suffer some significant damage to his rep

 

[PCmor7]

that's pretty interesting....and it does put a very different spin on the situation

I can see how, from Dame's perspective, and his agent's perspective, that could make Cronin appear like a liar. I'd imagine Joe has a different slant....like he was just laying out optimistic options. But optimistic can't be divorced from realistic otherwise it's just more bullshit

and while it probably doesn't excuse all the things coming out of Dame's camp, it could certainly make Dame feel justified in playing hardball and not caring about how his tactics damaged the Blazer options

I'm pretty certain that Dame did not trust Olshey, at all. And I'm thinking Dame didn't trust Jody & the Vulcans. And probably believes they mislead him for years. If he was at the point of not trusting Cronin, there was really nobody in the Blazer organization he could count on. This could get ugly and the notion of going into the season with Dame still a Blazer is a bad idea

if what you said is true, I think a lot of the Dame-bashing around here is off-base

The Dame bashing is fair, actually, for multiple reasons. This just is another one.

No deal is truly dead until there's a resolution. In other words, Dame is traded, Dame is placated, or the sides decide to remain with the status quo. From Cronin's perspective, he might very well have been intending to make counter-proposals to those initial offers, and, from Sly's post, it sounds like evidence he was willing to work hard to get something done but there were no takers before the draft.

But a lot of these deals get started, get leaked, then we hear they're dead and sure enough it leads to something breaking the logjam and either the deal gets done or another deal gets done in its place.

Nothing, IMO, excuses Dame's management team from trying to cut the Blazers off at the knees because he was miffed that he and Goodwin had another idea of the attempts to improve the team, especially since Sly's post makes it apparent they knew Cronin not only was trying, but apparently was trying harder than most of us thought. What Dame did didn't just affect Cronin, but it put Chauncey, his former teammates and Blazer fans all in bad positions. And for what? Because he got the impression big trades Cronin told him he still was pursuing were dead? Sorry, but that's shortsighted and petty.

 

[Natebishop3]

I think so

if what Sly heard was true, Dame likely doesn't trust anything the Blazers tell him. I mean, it's probably safe to say Dame and his agent went into that meeting expecting honesty and the blunt truth on where things were. If within a few hours of the meeting they knew Cronin fed them tons of BS about options, there's no going back from that.

and frankly, that would be a really bad tactic for Cronin to take with an agent. Agents talk and Cronin could suffer some significant damage to his rep

Yeah. If it's true, he probably didn't want to submit the trade request until after Jerami got his bag and I would guess that he didn't want to openly call out the team because he just wants to leave.

 

[PCmor7]

I think so

if what Sly heard was true, Dame likely doesn't trust anything the Blazers tell him. I mean, it's probably safe to say Dame and his agent went into that meeting expecting honesty and the blunt truth on where things were. If within a few hours of the meeting they knew Cronin fed them tons of BS about options, there's no going back from that.

and frankly, that would be a really bad tactic for Cronin to take with an agent. Agents talk and Cronin could suffer some significant damage to his rep

That, again, seems unreasonable to me.

First, you have to presume Cronin is not just a liar but a simpleton in not realizing Goodwin would check things out with his peers and other GMs. Cronin might not be an elite GM, but you're suggesting incompetence of the highest level.

The other thing this suggests is that if Cronin told Dame he pursued all these deals but was rebuffed on all of them that Dame would have been "OK, you tried to do what I asked, so I'll stay." I have a hard time believing this level of vindictiveness on Dame's part is based not on whether Cronin got a deal done but feeling slighted because deals Cronin's contacts acknowledged were discussed were rebuffed, and Dame was angry that he felt Cronin was lying about the outcome of the offers or his disposition toward them.

 

[PCmor7]

I mean, in the context of the current state, is the Dame to the Heat deal dead because the Blazers didn't accept Miami's initial pitch? That's how I'm reading the potential "needle-moving" trades before the draft. Cronin said he pitched them, obviously they didn't get done, but he might have felt he was laying the groundwork still to get something done with one of those partners. Goodwin calls other GMs or agents and they say "It's not going anywhere," so he and Dame throw up their hands, believe GMs (possibly GMs from teams that might have reason to want Dame to push to leave Portland) and agents over Blazer management and say "Trade me, and imma screw you over on the way out."

 

[Natebishop3]

I mean, in the context of the current state, is the Dame to the Heat deal dead because the Blazers didn't accept Miami's initial pitch? That's how I'm reading the potential "needle-moving" trades before the draft. Cronin said he pitched them, obviously they didn't get done, but he might have felt he was laying the groundwork still to get something done with one of those partners. Goodwin calls other GMs or agents and they say "It's not going anywhere," so he and Dame throw up their hands, believe GMs (possibly GMs from teams that might have reason to want Dame to push to leave Portland) and agents over Blazer management and say "Trade me, and imma screw you over on the way out."

I have so many theories and I honestly have no idea which one is true.... if any.

 

[PCmor7]

I have so many theories and I honestly have no idea which one is true.... if any.

I suspect there are grains of truth on both sides.

How about this for a possibility: The Blazers took longer than Dame was willing to wait. Simple. And, again, I think the likeliest scenario.

My issue becomes more about Dame and his entourage's stance afterward. Because I can see the trade demand being made out of frustration or lack of patience, and I've said before he's totally within his rights to demand a trade for any reason, even if it's that he just doesn't like Cronin or wakes up one day and hates the Portland skyline. However, to start floating this narrative that he always was loyal to the Blazers and acting like it never was reciprocated is pure bunk. And trying to limit the Blazers to one potential destination and then threatening to drag them through the mud if they don't accept Riley's lowball offer is unprecedented and spiteful ... I don't know how that's even debatable.

 

[Strenuus]

I have a feeling that things are much worse between Dame and the team than we are hearing.

And what we are hearing is bad enough. This could turn into a really ugly divorce.

 

[Strenuus]

I suspect there are grains of truth on both sides.

How about this for a possibility: The Blazers took longer than Dame was willing to wait. Simple. And, again, I think the likeliest scenario.

My issue becomes more about Dame and his entourage's stance afterward. Because I can see the trade demand being made out of frustration or lack of patience, and I've said before he's totally within his rights to demand a trade for any reason, even if it's that he just doesn't like Cronin or wakes up one day and hates the Portland skyline. However, to start floating this narrative that he always was loyal to the Blazers and acting like it never was reciprocated is pure bunk. And trying to limit the Blazers to one potential destination and then threatening to drag them through the mud if they don't accept Riley's lowball offer is unprecedented and spiteful ... I don't know how that's even debatable.

What I think is happening is the likliest scenario happened, then Dame was seeing the organization try to get the best offer and he doubled down.

Meaning, either way you look at it, Dame is being a dick. He should understand the business side of it seeing as he made decisions on the team. He shipped off his close friend CJ for gods sake. He knows what has to be done, but now all of a sudden when it's him he becomes a fucking diva? Slow your fucking roll, Dame.

 

[blazerfan11]

What will happen if Dame hasn't been traded by the start of the season?
It's possible Cronin will wait until either Miami gives him the trade he wants, or Dame adds more teams to his list.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

What I think is happening is the likliest scenario happened, then Dame was seeing the organization try to get the best offer and he doubled down.

Meaning, either way you look at it, Dame is being a dick. He should understand the business side of it seeing as he made decisions on the team. He shipped off his close friend CJ for gods sake. He knows what has to be done, but now all of a sudden when it's him he becomes a fucking diva? Slow your fucking roll, Dame.

he can have his dick and eat it too!

That’s how the saying goes, right, FAMS?

 

[Strenuus]

he can have his dick and eat it too!

That’s how the saying goes, right, FAMS?

Wa... I... Huh... No?

What the hell is Hawaii doing to you fams?

 

[PCmor7]

What I think is happening is the likliest scenario happened, then Dame was seeing the organization try to get the best offer and he doubled down.

Meaning, either way you look at it, Dame is being a dick. He should understand the business side of it seeing as he made decisions on the team. He shipped off his close friend CJ for gods sake. He knows what has to be done, but now all of a sudden when it's him he becomes a fucking diva? Slow your fucking roll, Dame.

I think there's an element of that at play, too. Dame pretty much admitted it in one of the interviews a month or so ago when he said you have to look at whether a team trading for him is going to have enough left to contend.

The Heat probably are among the most-poorly constructed landing places with this in mind. They almost missed the playoffs completely this season, they've already lost Strus and Vincent, and they just don't have a lot of draft picks to offer or with which to reload. Dame's trying to help his likely new team give him the best shot at winning by holding all its valuable assets except maybe Robinson and Herro by playing the "I gave Portland everything for 11 years, and look they can't even do this for me" card.

 

[OneSport3]

My theory is that everything changed once we moved up to #3 in the lottery. It changed even more when the possibility of CHA taking Brandon Miller was real resulting in Scoot falling in our laps. I think they still tried to shop the #3 pick and assets but realized that that teams weren’t offering good packages. Brooklyn didn’t want to trade Mikal, Zion was never offered, Boston wasn’t trading Brown and Masai Ujiri was being Masai Ujiri. They realized they would have to massively overpay to get anything done. At this point, I believe ownership pivoted and decide to rebuild with the young guys.

I don’t understand why Cronin is getting all the blame. He definitely did not act unilaterally. I think when the decision to keep or trade your franchise GOAT, this goes all the way up to ownership. This all reeks of Jody/Bert. What owner would idly watch while their GM ran out your franchise player? Do you think Mark Cuban would let Nico Harrison run Luka out without intervening? Do you think Mat Ishbia would let James Jones trade Devin Booker without his approval?

 

[Strenuus]

I think there's an element of that at play, too. Dame pretty much admitted it in one of the interviews a month or so ago when he said you have to look at whether a team trading for him is going to have enough left to contend.

The Heat probably are among the most-poorly constructed landing places with this in mind. They almost missed the playoffs completely this season, they've already lost Strus and Vincent, and they just don't have a lot of draft picks to offer or with which to reload. Dame's trying to help his likely new team give him the best shot at winning by holding all its valuable assets except maybe Robinson and Herro by playing the "I gave Portland everything for 11 years, and look they can't even do this for me" card.

And if thats the case, fuck him. You dont get to hold up your loyalty for ransom.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

Wa... I... Huh... No?

What the hell is Hawaii doing to you fams?

Hawaii been good for the soul, brah. I checked outta so much unhealthy shit in my life.

The people I’m meeting are authentic kind souls. The wife and I opened our home to so many people, lone wolves, “stray dogs”, people in need, etc. For years. And when the coin flipped, not many were not there to reciprocate. We just needed to get to a place that finds us peace and I’ve found a certain level of it. Shit, there’s a highly-popular Buddhist Monastery in my neighborhood. I heavily believe in a lot of their teachings, so it’s been a solid experience thus far.