Lillard wants major trade this summer

[Bingo Bango]

https://clutchpoints.com/blazers-news-damian-lillard-sends-aggressive-message-to-front-office

“That means we go into the offseason and we don’t come out the way we have in the past,” Lillard said. “Where it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re going to try to do something,’ and then we watch other people capitalize on things that are out there, and we pass, pass, pass, pass and can’t get anything done and then it’s done.”

Sounds like he’s not thrilled with Cronin.

 

[MickZagger]

https://clutchpoints.com/blazers-news-damian-lillard-sends-aggressive-message-to-front-office

“That means we go into the offseason and we don’t come out the way we have in the past,” Lillard said. “Where it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re going to try to do something,’ and then we watch other people capitalize on things that are out there, and we pass, pass, pass, pass and can’t get anything done and then it’s done.”

Sounds like he’s not thrilled with Cronin.

Well it’s true. You got to be aggressive. If you fail you fail, but at least you tried. Sucks that a young unproven GM’s track record is at stake but he knew this going into the position.

But, Lillard has to be okay with his buds being completely available in trades as well.

Shit or get off the pot.

 

[HoopsFanAZ]

https://clutchpoints.com/blazers-news-damian-lillard-sends-aggressive-message-to-front-office

“That means we go into the offseason and we don’t come out the way we have in the past,” Lillard said. “Where it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re going to try to do something,’ and then we watch other people capitalize on things that are out there, and we pass, pass, pass, pass and can’t get anything done and then it’s done.”

Sounds like he’s not thrilled with Cronin.

He wasn’t thrilled by Olshey.

 

[MickZagger]

Cronin said the roster isn’t done after setting up the conditions and getting Grant. And taking the biggest swing by getting Sharpe. And getting the Knicks pick for Hart rather an overpay this summer … which helps free up the future firsts necessary by paying off Chicago — playoffs or not. This is the key to getting a #2 in trade for Ant and picks.

Yup, Lillard wants Cronin doing what he’s supposed to do unlike Olshey. I’m glad Cronin is in charge and — so far — doing what he said he’d do.

But until he pulls the trigger it’s just talk whether he’s gathering the assets or not. The last time the franchise made a blockbuster trade was to get Pippen over 20 years ago, so holding our breath that the GM will act prudent is a tough sell around these parts

 

[Bingo Bango]

But until he pulls the trigger it’s just talk whether he’s gathering the assets or not. The last time the franchise made a blockbuster trade was to get Pippen over 20 years ago, so holding our breath that the GM will act prudent is a tough sell around these parts

Portland fans have heard way too much happy talk from their GMs, and seen way too little action.

 

[HoopsFanAZ]

Cronin has cleaned up a contract mess that led to the purgatory of mediocrity.
This summer he finishes the job with a big trade to help Dame or Dame (IMHO) gets traded.

 

[MickZagger]

Cronin has cleaned up a contract mess that led to the purgatory of mediocrity.
This summer he finishes the job with a big trade to help Dame or Dame (IMHO) gets traded.

I think Lillard gets traded. But I’m just hoping it’s not pennies on the dollar which IMHO has been Cronin’s track record

 

[wizenheimer]

it may or may not be a shot at Cronin, but it's definitely a shot at Olshey. I'm pretty sure Dame detested Olshey

the issue though is ownership and the Vulcans

 

[wizenheimer]

Well it’s true. You got to be aggressive. If you fail you fail, but at least you tried. Sucks that a young unproven GM’s track record is at stake but he knew this going into the position.

But, Lillard has to be okay with his buds being completely available in trades as well.

Shit or get off the pot.

I think Dame has always been ok with buddies being traded if it was a legitimate attempt to upgrade the roster. Several of his good buddies have been traded (Batum, Barton, Plumlee, CJ)

 

[Ed O]

Cronin has cleaned up a contract mess that led to the purgatory of mediocrity.
This summer he finishes the job with a big trade to help Dame or Dame (IMHO) gets traded.

He hasn't cleaned up anything.

He gave Dame a massive extension. He gave Nurk a big contract. He gave Ant a huge contract. His biggeat acquisition (Grant) is a pending free agent.

He's merely perpetuated mediocrity so far.

A Dame trade is the most likely big deal he can make in the off-season but I'm not sure he has the authority to make that kind of deal.

 

[ehizzy3]

Ant’s contract is hardly “huge”. 10 years ago yeah, but not today

 

[SharpeScooterShooter]

This shall be the summer that determines our path over the next decade.

 

[illmatic99]

I don't trust the ownership to do right by him.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

Portland fans have heard way too much happy talk from their GMs, and seen way too little action.

The biggest problem ia you have to be willing to sell high on an asset you don’t want to trade. If you truly want quality coming back then Simons and Sharpe have to be available. I’m guessing team like Clippers might blow up at end of year if they don’t go far in playoffs same for Toronto. Those are two teams you have to look at making deal.

 

[Cugel]

Dame hopefully sees Billups is not the right guy. This team shouldn't be the 7th worst in the league with this roster.

 

[handiman]

He hasn't cleaned up anything.

He gave Dame a massive extension. He gave Nurk a big contract. He gave Ant a huge contract. His biggeat acquisition (Grant) is a pending free agent.

He's merely perpetuated mediocrity so far.

A Dame trade is the most likely big deal he can make in the off-season but I'm not sure he has the authority to make that kind of deal.

Don't forget, he got a modest return on Hart who he had to give away because he couldn't afford to re-sign after handing out the aforementioned contracts. See, Joe's proactive!

Honestly, I don't know why anyone bothers complaining about the front office or roster. This team is so anchored by Dame's contract, that's the ship we're sailing on for the foreseeable future. And to continue that metaphor, we'll see how many GMs eventually go down with the ship through the duration of that contract. Unless ownership simply doesn't care about seaworthy-ness, front office performance will continue to mediocre at best.

 

[wizenheimer]

This team is so anchored by Dame's contract, that's the ship we're sailing on for the foreseeable future. And to continue that metaphor, we'll see how many GMs eventually go down with the ship through the duration of that contract.

let's see now....I think it's fair, in a practical sense, to wonder how many player salaries are within +/-5% of the cap compared to Dame. That's a manageable margin. He's making 42.4M. 5% of the cap is about 6M. So, the cut-off would be 36.4M.

that means 20 NBA players are "anchoring ships" around the league to about the same extent that Dame anchors HMS Portland. 43 players make more than 30M.

going back to those 20 players, more will be added over the next couple of years as the extensions of Booker, KAT, Embiid, & Jokic kick in.

having a 10 year veteran max on a top-10 talent seems more like a necessary ingredient for a contender than an anchor. The difficult trick is having a 2nd player talented enough to also warrant a top-20 salary. That's how a contender is built

 

[Pinwheel1]

I don't trust the ownership to do right by him.

Do right by him? His 2025-26 contract is 2nd largest in the NBA just slightly behind Curry. Sure others will pass that, but I would say they did right by him.

 

[illmatic99]

Do right by him? His 2025-26 contract is 2nd largest in the NBA just slightly behind Curry. Sure others will pass that, but I would say they did right by him.

It's not all about money

 

[Pinwheel1]

It's not all about money

No, just the most important one.

 

[wizenheimer]

Do right by him? His 2025-26 contract is 2nd largest in the NBA just slightly behind Curry. Sure others will pass that, but I would say they did right by him.

I'd wonder if that extension was, in part, ownership admitting to Dame they probably couldn't build a contender but they'd pay him anyway...please don't rock the boat

not sure Dame will cooperate for the full 5 years, or even past this summer, but they gave him 122 million reasons to cooperate

 

[riverman]

The article is clickbait and has no content that confirms any Lillard demands on the front office...it says nothing he hasn't said for years and is worded to make it sound like he's threatening to leave which he hasn't done at all...all he's said is he's close to Joe and understands Joe's plans ......today Lillard said the team as constructed could reach the 5th seed before the playoffs. Dame is a guy who holds himself accountable as much as any other team members.

 

[THE HCP]

You have to actually HAVE talent to make a major trade though right?

 

[riverman]

You have to actually HAVE talent to make a major trade though right?

or draft picks and friendly or expiring contracts, youth,,,,,Ant will fetch you talent coming back.

 

[handiman]

let's see now....I think it's fair, in a practical sense, to wonder how many player salaries are within +/-5% of the cap compared to Dame. That's a manageable margin. He's making 42.4M. 5% of the cap is about 6M. So, the cut-off would be 36.4M.

that means 20 NBA players are "anchoring ships" around the league to about the same extent that Dame anchors HMS Portland. 43 players make more than 30M.

going back to those 20 players, more will be added over the next couple of years as the extensions of Booker, KAT, Embiid, & Jokic kick in.

having a 10 year veteran max on a top-10 talent seems more like a necessary ingredient for a contender than an anchor. The difficult trick is having a 2nd player talented enough to also warrant a top-20 salary. That's how a contender is built

You have to look at the individual players and how complimentary they are to building around them. KAT, for example, plays no defense and is a contractual anchor by any measure. Dame is a similar problem, where the team is constantly trying to find the right pieces to fit his strengths and cover his weaknesses, patching holes in the ship with duct tape. This team is a reflection of Dame, both good and bad.

From a team-building perspective, Dame is half the impact of Embiid. Barring injury considerations, of course.

There's also the issue of how teams arrive at the massive contracts, in the context of winning before the big raises kick in (GS, Phoenix, Milwaukee, etc.), and helping management justify paying more to keep things afloat.

If you're going to factor in the coming extensions of Booker and those guys, then you need to redo the math on how many guys match Dame's percentage of the cap when his top dollar numbers also kick in.

I think I've taken the boating metaphors as far as they can go...

 

[Mr. Robot]

dame lillard doesnt care about the future of this franchise, he cares about himself (nothing wrong with it), so hed be willing to give up as many picks and ant & sharpe for someone who could improve the team

he wants to win the chip, thats fine, but theres no realistic scenario in which portland trail blazers can become a contender and im simply not willing to trade sharpe (ant less so) and picks for a player like siakam or og anunoby etc

for kevin durant (when he was at brooklyn), sure, lets go for it, but these other guys are just not good enough

if its between our future & dame lillard leaving, im willing to let dame leave, im not giving up on our future for an unrealistic goal of a one man

 

[Chris Craig]

I don't have much faith in the Blazers being able to pull off a big deal this summer. Cronin has done nothing but give players away. He basically gave away CJ, Powell, Roco, Nance Jr, and Hart. We will probably get a 1st from New York, but we owe one to Chicago, locking up our future picks. We would have to give up our New York pick to pay off Chicago, if they will take it. Then we'd have to trade everyone outside of Dame plus our future in picks for a second star player. That's if we could find a willing team. It would likely be OG or Pascal, maybe KAT or Embiid. Then we'd have Dame, the second star and some shit players. Would be we be better off? Would we be a playoff team? It's not like just because we get a second star, free agents are suddenly going to come here for nothing to play with Lillard. The Blazers won't have any money left to sign anyone with Dame and the other star taking most of the team salary. The Blazers are screwed.

It will be another miss. We'll draft players and miss out again in free agency. Repeat.

 

[AngryFan]

I don't have much faith in the Blazers being able to pull off a big deal this summer. Cronin has done nothing but give players away. He basically gave away CJ, Powell, Roco, Nance Jr, and Hart. We will probably get a 1st from New York, but we owe one to Chicago, locking up our future picks. We would have to give up our New York pick to pay off Chicago, if they will take it. Then we'd have to trade everyone outside of Dame plus our future in picks for a second star player. That's if we could find a willing team. It would likely be OG or Pascal, maybe KAT or Embiid. Then we'd have Dame, the second star and some shit players. Would be we be better off? Would we be a playoff team? It's not like just because we get a second star, free agents are suddenly going to come here for nothing to play with Lillard. The Blazers won't have any money left to sign anyone with Dame and the other star taking most of the team salary. The Blazers are screwed.

It will be another miss. We'll draft players and miss out again in free agency. Repeat.

I completely agree with this except I don't think Embiid is even a slight possibility. If he were to hit the market there is no chance the Blazers can outbid OKC.

 

[wizenheimer]

You have to look at the individual players and how complimentary they are to building around them. KAT, for example, plays no defense and is a contractual anchor by any measure. Dame is a similar problem, where the team is constantly trying to find the right pieces to fit his strengths and cover his weaknesses, patching holes in the ship with duct tape. This team is a reflection of Dame, both good and bad.

From a team-building perspective, Dame is half the impact of Embiid. Barring injury considerations, of course.

There's also the issue of how teams arrive at the massive contracts, in the context of winning before the big raises kick in (GS, Phoenix, Milwaukee, etc.), and helping management justify paying more to keep things afloat.

If you're going to factor in the coming extensions of Booker and those guys, then you need to redo the math on how many guys match Dame's percentage of the cap when his top dollar numbers also kick in.

I think I've taken the boating metaphors as far as they can go...

that's all reasonable and I don't really have any major "yeah, but...."

I would dispute Embiid having twice the impact:



he plays on a better, more complete team, and that drives a lot of those numbers

he's a more impactful player than Dame, but the gap isn't nearly as big as you claim, IMO. Dame's biggest limitation was a decade of Olshey...and now maybe Cronin & the Vulcans

 

[Chris Craig]

I completely agree with this except I don't think Embiid is even a slight possibility. If he were to hit the market there is no chance the Blazers can outbid OKC.

Yeah, that's the other thing. The Blazers will be outbid at every move. That's exactly why they could get nothing done at the deadline and ended up trading Hart to NYK. That and no one wants to touch Nurk.