LMA wants out?

[Mediocre Man]

Classic

 

[ehizzy3]

Terrible bump.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

June 2013

This thread alone should get Neil fired.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Unfortunately, Lillard was good enough to get us to the 2nd round. I think if we stunk in 2014 they would have dealt LMA regardless.

 

[OneLifeToLive]

The writing was on the wall two years ago. We could have cashed him in for young talent and lottery picks. We held onto the hope that he would change his mind, and it was a foolish decision. The Wolves, in the meantime, traded their All-Star forward for Andrew Wiggins. This was by far Neil's biggest mistake.

Neil has made a lot of 'mistakes' so far...Not quite as pristine as many would like to believe in here.

 

[OneLifeToLive]

As I said, I wouldn't let him make another move as the General Manager of the Portland Trail Blazers and I would rescind all deals and agreements he has made with other FA's so far.

 

[Natebishop3]

Unfortunately, Lillard was good enough to get us to the 2nd round. I think if we stunk in 2014 they would have dealt LMA regardless.

That one moment of happiness probably cost us some important assets. Maybe we offer him to Cleveland for the #1 and we get Wiggins instead of Minnesota.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Indeed, if the Blazers were as pathetic as the wolves.

The Blazers were coming off the best season in a decade plus, with everyone returning, and high hopes.

Bad timing I guess.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Honestly BC, I really wouldn't care, but Brian and I took so much shit from this forum two years ago because we held this opinion. And not only did we take shit about it two years ago, but some people never let us forget about it either. They brought it up when Aldridge said he wanted to retire as the greatest Blazer of all time. They brought it up when he said he wanted to sign an extension but he was waiting until he could get the 5th year. Why can't I bring it up now when it turns out that we were right all along? How is that fair?

IMO you are still wrong. You don't run a franchise that way. If you trade your best player because there is a chance he will leave, you will never be good. It is all gamble. Keeping him was a gamble, trading him for draft picks was a gamble, (especially since we would not have known what that pick was if LMA would have played well for them) opting for cap space was a gamble, hoping for a sign and trade was a gamble, signing players to large contracts is a gamble. You never know, especially when injuries can be so devastating to a franchise.

I think we went with the smartest choice. If we would have stayed healthy this year and advanced, he could very well have stayed. We will never know. But in 4 years if Dame is playing well, I guarantee I will not say lets trade him for draft picks so we don't get another LMA situation. Portland has to try to hold on to great players, because they don't come along very often.

 

[Natebishop3]

IMO you are still wrong. You don't run a franchise that way. If you trade your best player because there is a chance he will leave, you will never be good. It is all gamble. Keeping him was a gamble, trading him for draft picks was a gamble, (especially since we would not have known what that pick was if LMA would have played well for them) opting for cap space was a gamble, hoping for a sign and trade was a gamble, signing players to large contracts is a gamble. You never know, especially when injuries can be so devastating to a franchise.

I think we went with the smartest choice. If we would have stayed healthy this year and advanced, he could very well have stayed. We will never know. But in 4 years if Dame is playing well, I guarantee I will not say lets trade him for draft picks so we don't get another LMA situation. Portland has to try to hold on to great players, because they don't come along very often.

I don't think there was a chance he would leave. I still think, even then, it was pretty much a sure thing. I think he wanted out. I think he wanted to go back to Texas. I think he wanted to be closer to home. I thought that then and it seems like it proved to be true now.

The Wolves dealt Love, and now they have one of the most athletic, young, and promising teams in the league. I don't think it's a bad way to go if you are able to make a good trade. If the offers are shitty, don't do the trade, but the offers seemed reasonable to me.

 

[e_blazer]

Wes's achilles blew and tore apart the franchise. If the Blazers were healthy and made the WCF, Aldridge and the gang would all be re-signed and we'd be arguing over which MLE player gets us over the top. Shit happens. It happens a lot to this franchise.

 

[Pinwheel1]

I don't think there was a chance he would leave. I still think, even then, it was pretty much a sure thing. I think he wanted out. I think he wanted to go back to Texas. I think he wanted to be closer to home. I thought that then and it seems like it proved to be true now.

The Wolves dealt Love, and now they have one of the most athletic, young, and promising teams in the league. I don't think it's a bad way to go if you are able to make a good trade. If the offers are shitty, don't do the trade, but the offers seemed reasonable to me.

This makes no sense. The best rumored trades were not from the Texas teams. Why would any team that was shitty, gamble on a short term rental.

On the other hand why did he look at LA and Phoenix if you were so sure he wanted to go home? And which offers seemed reasonable to you? The ones I remember two years ago were for draft picks a full year before the draft. How do we know how good that pick would have been? It did not make sense then, nor does it make sense to me now. It is one of those "agree to disagree" because I have thought about it often, and every time i come to the same conclusion. Try to keep your best players unless you are guaranteed a star in return.

 

[Natebishop3]

This makes no sense. The best rumored trades were not from the Texas teams. Why would any team that was shitty, gamble on a short term rental.

On the other hand why did he look at LA and Phoenix if you were so sure he wanted to go home? And which offers seemed reasonable to you? The ones I remember two years ago were for draft picks a full year before the draft. How do we know how good that pick would have been? It did not make sense then, nor does it make sense to me now. It is one of those "agree to disagree" because I have thought about it often, and every time i come to the same conclusion. Try to keep your best players unless you are guaranteed a star in return.

The most widely confirmed rumor was in 2013 when Cleveland offered Tristan Thompson and the #1 for Aldridge. That could have been Thompson and Oladipo. I would sure as shit have taken that combo over nothing. Or maybe if we had known he was leaving last summer, we could have gotten in on the Wiggins sweepstakes.

 

[OneLifeToLive]

The most widely confirmed rumor was in 2013 when Cleveland offered Tristan Thompson and the #1 for Aldridge. That could have been Thompson and Oladipo. I would sure as shit have taken that combo over nothing. Or maybe if we had known he was leaving last summer, we could have gotten in on the Wiggins sweepstakes.

I blame that on Neil as well. There were signs and of course he was oblivious to it and had no foresight. They should have moved him the moment he decided he wasn't going to extend. It may have been unpopular at the time. But would have been better off today for it.

 

[Pinwheel1]

The most widely confirmed rumor was in 2013 when Cleveland offered Tristan Thompson and the #1 for Aldridge. That could have been Thompson and Oladipo. I would sure as shit have taken that combo over nothing. Or maybe if we had known he was leaving last summer, we could have gotten in on the Wiggins sweepstakes.

This is exactly my point. What I argued then and I still believe, is that with LMA and Kyrie on the same team, Cleveland could/would have been better.........so the pick would not have been good enough in that shitty draft to be worth much. And Thompson is no better than someone like Ed Davis which we can pick up any time.

 

[Natebishop3]

The other rumor, which who knows if it's actually true, but supposedly the Warriors offered Lee and either Thompson or Harrison fucking Barnes for Aldridge. I would LOVE to have Klay Thompson right about now.

 

[Natebishop3]

This is exactly my point. What I argued then and I still believe, is that with LMA and Kyrie on the same team, Cleveland could/would have been better.........so the pick would not have been good enough in that shitty draft to be worth much. And Thompson is no better than someone like Ed Davis which we can pick up any time.

Wait, no the rumor was right before the draft. This thread is in June. The rumors started in mid June. It was the #1 pick. It would have been Thompson (who just signed a huge contract) and ___________ (probably Oladipo).

 

[Pinwheel1]

Wait, no the rumor was right before the draft. This thread is in June. The rumors started in mid June. It was the #1 pick. It would have been Thompson (who just signed a huge contract) and ___________ (probably Oladipo).

OK that could be true, but it doesn't change anything. It was a shitty draft. What if we would have taken a PF to replace LA, (like Cleveland did in choosing Bennett-Ouch!

I like Oladipo, but he was not worth rolling the dice over. Again it comes doen to gambling when we did not have to. In hind sight sure, (although we could still get a a player with the cap space) but still the right call was to let it play out unless you got a guaranteed star in return. And that draft was horrible.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I don't think we would've taken a PF with Thompson already on our squad. BPA was Oladipo (or Noel, if you trusted the knee). But we come back to: trading a guy who can leave in 22 months for nothing, while getting in return two players you can control for the next 7-9 years if you'd like? On a rookie scale?

Whatever. Hindsight.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Wes's achilles blew and tore apart the franchise. If the Blazers were healthy and made the WCF, Aldridge and the gang would all be re-signed and we'd be arguing over which MLE player gets us over the top. Shit happens. It happens a lot to this franchise.

Which would be unfortunate, because what Wesley's injury really revealed is just how paper thin the Blazers' hopes of contending actually were with last year's group.

 

[e_blazer]

Which would be unfortunate, because what Wesley's injury really revealed is just how paper thin the Blazers' hopes of contending actually were with last year's group.

That's true of any contending team. Lose a main contributor on your starting lineup and bam.

 

[Nikolokolus]

That's true of any contending team. Lose a main contributor on your starting lineup and bam.

What was our record without Wes? something like .300 down the stretch. That's a pretty damning indictment if you ask me.