Lillard fighting the good fight alone?

[blazerkor]

He should be sarcastic. CJ may not be on the same level as those mentioned, but he IS a borderline all star (and is perfectly happy to be in Portland for the long term). Hate him all you want, you don’t just give him away for an obvious short term rental. Had we made the trade, every single one of those guys would still be playing for the teams they are playing for today, whether they helped us to a ring or not (see Cleveland, Chicago and Golden State). Be careful what you wish for……

Being a terrible complementary player to Dame and making 30M while doing it makes me wish for anything that would complement Dame in return for CJ... even if they're not guaranteed to stay here as long as CJ is.

 

[twobullz]

Those touches would go up for CJ. Remember, I said a bad team. If you want to argue that 28ppg couldn’t become 30ppg when winning doesn’t matter, not sure why we’d continue this discussion.

What would Beal's numbers go to if he didn't have Russ with 93+ touches a game, on a bad team? Teams focus on Dame and Beal. Heck we hope for Russ trying to take over games.

 

[OneSport3]

I meant Drummond. It’s not easy keeping track of all the washed up bigs in the NBA. Thinking Toronto missing Gasol is a big deal is hilarious to me.

Nick Nurse got lucky.

You keep harping on Gasol but ignore the fact that they also lost Ibaka. Ibaka was their best interior defender. With Gasol and Ibaka last season, they took Boston to 7 games in the 2nd round when no one predicted they would after losing Kawhi.

 

[Hoopguru]

My thing is if it the stuff in that Haynes article is coming from Dame, what exactly is he asking for? Because the two most obvious solutions are firing Stotts, and trading CJ. I can’t imagine Dame really encouraging the latter. Or does he expect Olshey to land an all star caliber player with other players like Simons, etc? I doubt he even wants to see Simons leave, that’s his guy too. Has his focus shifted to winning over friendships?

This goes back to the theory that I’m just running with now; Dame is absolutely done with Stotts. Haynes and his manager/agent have now both openly called out coaching. There’s enough smoke there to believe it.

You know, for a while I feel Dame likes what they are doing in Portland and that he enjoys being the local ICON and face of the franchise. He himself had made it real clear over the last few years that winning a cship would be sweet but it doesn't define him. I would think he himself re-evaluates where the team is and where it should be headed, I doubt he puts up with a nose dive for the rest of the year. He has class and respect and will handle it his way regardless what fans or others think. If he has something to say, he WILL say it, to whomever he needs too.

 

[GDiama]

You keep harping on Gasol but ignore the fact that they also lost Ibaka. Ibaka was their best interior defender. With Gasol and Ibaka last season, they took Boston to 7 games in the 2nd round when no one predicted they would after losing Kawhi.

They also had second best regular season record in entire league. Better compared to the previous season.

 

[Hoopguru]

They also had second best regular season record in entire league. Better compared to the previous season.

Ibaka was huge against the Warriors and Celts, made numerous big shots and blocks.

 

[RoseCityRebel]

Ibaka was huge against the Warriors and Celts, made numerous big shots and blocks.

Now he plays 24mpg for the Clippers when he’s healthy at a $9m contract when he made $23m last year for the Raptors. He knew the Raps were a fluke title.

 

[Scalma]

Now he starts and plays 24mpg for the Clippers when he’s healthy.

ftfy

 

[Rastapopoulos]

He averages 25.5 points in those games Dame is out so not sure how he is going to all of a sudden average 30.

Rounding up.

 

[Labinot41]

Wtf shit bout the get real in the offseason

 

[Haakzilla]

NYC media hype, hurray.

 

[BonesJones]

I don’t think that’s just Haynes spitballing. I think that’s coming straight from Dame, and would confirm my theory that he’s done with Stotts. Change the coach first, then see what happens. If that doesn’t work, blow it up.

It seems oddly specific if it was just Haynes spit-balling, so I dont think it's just that either.

 

[BonesJones]

Nick Nurse currently has coached the Raptors out of the playoffs and is “developing” Gary Trent Jr. so well he’s regressed to a 36% 3pt shooter in Toronto. Amazing what losing a Kahwi Leonard does for a coaching genius, isn’t it?

What does Nick Nurse have to do with anything?

 

[BonesJones]

Very true. Under Stotts and Olshey got rid of half the roster that next summer. Added Whiteside, Gasol, Mario, Bazemore, Tolliver, Mario... yikes.

Wait, according to Stotts defenders, Harkless and Aminu were the reason we got swept in 2019 and Kanter is the biggest reason why our defense sucks now...

 

[Tince]

Wait, according to Stotts defenders, Harkless and Aminu were the reason we got swept in 2019 and Kanter is the biggest reason why our defense sucks now...

I don't believe I said that's why we got swept. Though even if someone said that, exchanging Aminu, Harkless, Curry, Meyers, and Kanter for Whiteside, Gasol, Mario, Bazemore, Tolliver, Mario was a step in the wrong direction.

 

[Tince]

I don't think it's fair. They are playing away from home whole season. Players away from families. It's not simple to judge the Raptors just by results this season.

I'll go out on a limb and say they're not a championship contender next year with 1 or 0 all-stars on their roster. Same thing I say about our roster.

 

[Tince]

This year there was ONE all star that was drafted outside of the top 16. Since CJ was drafted, Portland has been in the top 16 twice. Once they traded up to get Collins, the other time they traded for Covington. The reality is Portland hasn’t been in the position to draft all stars because their record hasn’t been bad enough.

I believe we have been in position to draft Antetokounmpo, Jokić, Mitchell, and Gobert. 12 more of the all-stars have been traded since 2012, so they were available, if we had the right assets and we were willing to move them. This is also discounting our ability to trade up in the draft, which is an option if you have desirable assets.

If the question is how can Olshey trade for an all-star without moving anything but fringe players, he can't. He needs to draft well, trade for extra assets (picks), and sign players to team friendly deals. Make just a couple of those moves, you'll have enough for a 2nd all-star, if you're willing to part with guys like CJ, Ant, Nurk, etc when their values are at their highest.

 

[wizenheimer]

lol....watering down the definition of "star" till it means nothing

at a bare minimum, a "star" should be someone with a couple of all-STAR games in his resume

 

[wizenheimer]

28ppg over his career when Dame is out..

then trade his ass so he can "star" on another team and make all his fans happy. He sure as shit isn't going average 28 in Portland

 

[BonesJones]

I don't believe I said that's why we got swept. Though even if someone said that, exchanging Aminu, Harkless, Curry, Meyers, and Kanter for Whiteside, Gasol, Mario, Bazemore, Tolliver, Mario was a step in the wrong direction.

Not necessarily you, but a lot of people did. Aminu hit over 3 threes a game on 43% from outside and his shooting got blamed for us not being able to deal with the trap.

It seems like you're completely forgetting the situation we were in during the off-season of 2019. We had no chance of keeping Curry due to us not having his bird rights, losing him is not Olshey's fault. We also had to choose between Hood and Kanter since we had neither of their bird rights and had to use the MLE to sign one of them, and he chose Hood, which would've been the right move had Hood not gotten hurt.

Otherwise, we lose Aminu, Harkless, and Meyers. None of those guys were major losses whatsoever, and looked worse because of the injuries that hit us.

 

[Haakzilla]

...did this article poke the bear?!

 

[Hoopguru]

Nash has to like James game.

 

[illmatic99]

Dame referenced this and explicitly said this is Haynes' opinion, not Dame's. Dame says he can go to Neil's office or Terry's and openly express his opinions without having to go thru his guys in the media.

 

[Hoopguru]

Dame referenced this and explicitly said this is Haynes' opinion, not Dame's. Dame says he can go to Neil's office or Terry's and openly express his opinions without having to go thru his guys in the media.

If Dame has something to say, Im sure he’ll say it.
Dame has a lot of influence on this organization and how they plan.

 

[JDC]

Hadnt seen Dame's interview but just read that article.

Pretty clearly a Haynes opinion piece. Surprised some thought it was any more than that.

 

[wizenheimer]

even though I'm not high on Portland's prospects for the playoffs, I think the Blazers going on a winning streak is pretty unsurprising. They seem to have a late streak most seasons. And, all it takes is for Dame to start finding himself again. Him asking to guard Brogdon might be the turning point of this season

 

[Tince]

Not necessarily you, but a lot of people did. Aminu hit over 3 threes a game on 43% from outside and his shooting got blamed for us not being able to deal with the trap.

It seems like you're completely forgetting the situation we were in during the off-season of 2019. We had no chance of keeping Curry due to us not having his bird rights, losing him is not Olshey's fault. We also had to choose between Hood and Kanter since we had neither of their bird rights and had to use the MLE to sign one of them, and he chose Hood, which would've been the right move had Hood not gotten hurt.

Otherwise, we lose Aminu, Harkless, and Meyers. None of those guys were major losses whatsoever, and looked worse because of the injuries that hit us.

I didn't forget that at all. I just happen to think the GM who's been here for 9 seasons is ultimately responsible for everyone who we sign and don't sign. I give GM's a pass for the bad contracts they inherit while also factoring in the good players/contracts he starts with. How many years does Olshey need to be here until you hold him responsible for the entire roster? 2 decades?

If the 2018-2019 was Olshey's all-in year (by signing players he knew we could retain), I would consider that a failure too.

PS- I agree with a chunk of your post, I'm only commenting on the part I take objection to.

 

[Tince]

Hadnt seen Dame's interview but just read that article.

Pretty clearly a Haynes opinion piece. Surprised some thought it was any more than that.

This is how it works in my opinion:

When a writer puts out an opinion piece, the people who agree with it conclude the inside sources are saying all this behind the scenes to validate their point. Those who disagree simply dismiss the piece as opinion.

In this case if I had to guess, I would think this Haynes opinion based off his previous convos with Dame or his agent.

 

[JDC]

This is how it works in my opinion:

When a writer puts out an opinion piece, the people who agree with it conclude the inside sources are saying all this behind the scenes to validate their point. Those who disagree simply dismiss the piece as opinion.

In this case if I had to guess, I would think this Haynes opinion based off his previous convos with Dame or his agent.

I agree with his opinion (mostly)...and still think it was simply an opinion piece.

It wasn't even much of an article. Just some pretty basic thoughts about the team that we've seen re-hashed over and over.

 

[Tince]

Dame referenced this and explicitly said this is Haynes' opinion, not Dame's. Dame says he can go to Neil's office or Terry's and openly express his opinions without having to go thru his guys in the media.

1) Thanks for posting this. it's always great to hear from the horses mouth.
2) If we're going to take Dame at his word about roster creation (we should), we should also take him at his word about the lack of coaching issues too. Got to be consistent.