Meeting between Dame and Cronin today

[SharpesTriumph]

Dame has to make decisions to suit your timeline and peace of mind, not his own?

Dame is free to do what he wants.

Fans are free to have an opinion of him doing this waffling and demands for the team publicly is both not helpful to the team nor pleasant for fans. I and many fans prefer Dame commits to the team or demands out, and does it privately. Others are free to have their opinion.

I don't see how Dame doing these public antics is either constructive to the Blazers building a winner with him or constructive to all parties moving on to a new chapter.

 

[SharpesTriumph]

KAT is a second star. Shae and Scoot project as stars too. It won't fix itself overnight, but we need to get started at making the team better if a championship is the goal. You can always make tweaks along the way, but you have to get started.

If Scoot and Shae being stars are the most likely path to contend then shouldn't Dame let Cronin and the Blazers continue those attempts to build the team?

I see Dame and Blazer fans frustrated by the lack of a second star the last 8 years since LMA left. But that's a sunk cost, the team can never change that, and can only try to put a contender together going forward.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I actually don't think it's as hard as it seems. I just have no faith that ownership is going to spend.

Otherwise adding OG for Ant and picks and Ayton for Nurk and Little makes us competitive. The easy thing to say is we're not contenders but nobody knows that. All Dame wants is a roster he can compete with.

Adding KAT for Ant/Nurk automatically makes us better. We have to start there before we can talk about being or not being a contender.

In a vacuum that's logical. But if you only have enough ammo for one or two shots, "just making us better" can't be the end goal of a move. For instance, I don't know that Grant is the best use of the picks and money over the last year. Maybe he was the "Best Gettable", and he's a good player who seems like he's good friends with Dame from the Olympic Team, and liked coming to Portland...but in "making us better" for the last year did we preclude an ability to "Get Better in a Sustainably More Competitive Way"? KAT makes us better, and if it's at the cost of Ant+Nurk+a future first, then it's just changing the type of assets we have going forward (Young, good offensive guard, luxury redundancy on our team going forward) for another (highly talented offensive big, entering his prime dealing with injuries and a massive contract about to start). Neither has displayed until now the qualities our team probably needs to win with Lillard as our #1 (defensive prowess both on-the-ball and in a team game, durability), but KAT wouldn't be a loss of pristine assets (like dealing Scoot/Sharpe or Dame) would be.

I'm sure y'all have discussed Ben Simmons in this way, and I have no idea what his medicals are or what Dame and Chauncey think of him, but there's an interesting aspect of Ant plus Nurk for Simmons plus some sweetener. BKN may also be holding off on trading with POR if it's not Dame, but Simmons is about to get expensive.

 

[SwissBlazer]

The Ant for DeRozan makes almost too much sense. It gives the Bulls an asset with longer term control. For Portland it's an improvement without too much commitment if we decide to change direction after next season. DeRozan is close to Dame and would appease him while helping us at the SF position. The Bulls have a gigantic hole at SG which would be the perfect spot for Ant. This trade could also give us an opportunity to end this Olshey's draft pick nightmare and release all of our future picks.

Ant + 1 or 2 2nd round pick for DeRozan.

Follow up:
Nurk + Little + Keon + 3 FRP -> Ayton.

Resign Thybulle + Reddish

Sign Jaxson Hayes with the TPMLE

Dame - Sharpe - DeRozan - Grant - Ayton
Scoot - Thybulle - Murray - Watford -Hayes (TPMLE) - Walker - Rupert

We would still have a 8M TPE for a big but I think this is a path that could make sense short term and long term. It's just unclear if the Ayton part make sense for both side.

 

[blazerkor]

Dame is free to do what he wants.

Fans are free to have an opinion of him doing this waffling and demands for the team publicly is both not helpful to the team nor pleasant for fans. I and many fans prefer Dame commits to the team or demands out, and does it privately. Others are free to have their opinion.

I don't see how Dame doing these public antics is either constructive to the Blazers building a winner with him or constructive to all parties moving on to a new chapter.

The thing is after two trade deadlines and a previous off season Dame was asked some questions and answered them honestly a while before the draft started. Those are all of the public antics you can point to besides an IG live with an unfortunate song playing in the background.

People can try to paint this picture any way they want to but Dame didn't make a comment since before the lotto and hasn't made one since the draft unless you consider some IG posts where he doesn't say a fucking thing about the team a comment.

The time crunch and everyone knowing that Cronin has to do something isn't on Dame it's on Cronin for continuously saying he would do something and never delivering on it. His first off season he said he was ready push all of his chips in and then admitted it hadn't gone how he wanted it to and the roster was unbalanced and they'd be looking to push all of their chips in between the end of that calendar year and the trade deadline, after the team had a chance to evaluate which talent worked together. At the trade deadline they tore the team down and tanked. I don't care if there are supposedly good reasons why other teams have been able to make massive improvements and Joe hasn't, it shouldn't matter to Dame either and Cronin's ineptitude should not be laid at the feet of Dame publicly demanding a roster that can compete immediately.

 

[Phatguysrule]

The only way it works with those additions is if Sharpe or Scoot blow up. None of those guys are legit second stars and that’s what we need. We aren’t anywhere near Denver or Phoenix or even LAC if they’re healthy. That’s the problem with a lot of these ideas. We still need a second star.

Nah. OG and Ayton in those deals would be enough to compete in the playoffs. That would be enough for Dame.

We don't really need a second star as much as we need better defense. Our offense would still be great and we'd have far better defense.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

The Ant for DeRozan makes almost too much sense. It gives the Bulls an asset with longer term control. For Portland it's an improvement without too much commitment if we decide to change direction after next season. DeRozan is close to Dame and would appease him while helping us at the SF position. The Bulls have a gigantic hole at SG which would be the perfect spot for Ant. This trade could also give us an opportunity to end this Olshey's draft pick nightmare and release all of our future picks.

Ant + 1 or 2 2nd round pick for DeRozan.

Follow up:
Nurk + Little + Keon + 3 FRP -> Ayton.

Resign Thybulle + Reddish

Sign Jaxson Hayes with the TPMLE

Dame - Sharpe - DeRozan - Grant - Ayton
Scoot - Thybulle - Murray - Watford -Hayes (TPMLE) - Walker - Rupert

We would still have a 8M TPE for a big but I think this is a path that could make sense short term and long term. It's just unclear if the Ayton part make sense for both side.

(If I'm Cronin) I'm not giving up 3 FRP in an Ayton deal. PHX needs bodies and cost savings. They benefit as much from a Nurk/Little/Keon for Ayton deal as we do.

 

[SwissBlazer]

(If I'm Cronin) I'm not giving up 3 FRP in an Ayton deal. PHX needs bodies and cost savings. They benefit as much from a Nurk/Little/Keon for Ayton deal as we do.

Agree. Scaling down is never a problem. But this could be a good path to improve short term without mortgaging long term.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Nah. OG and Ayton in those deals would be enough to compete in the playoffs. That would be enough for Dame.

We don't really need a second star as much as we need better defense. Our offense would still be great and we'd have far better defense.

I think that's the route I like. Nurk/Nas/(Knox or Keon) for Ayton, Ant/2RPs for OG, sign another starting-level forward with the MLE (Wood?), re-sign Grant, and see what that squad can do. If it doesn't work and we decide we need to pivot from Dame, all those pieces are still young enough that they could work in both "timelines".

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Breaking News! Original Version of a Theodore Geisel's Classic Tale has been found!

Too Many Guards
Dr. Seuss

Did I ever tell you that GM Tries Hard
Had fifteen players, and made them all Guards?

Well, he did. And that wasn't a smart thing to do.
You see, when he wants one, and calls out "Yoo-Hoo!
Come into the house, Guard!" he doesn't get one.
All fifteen Guards of his come on the run!

This makes things quite difficult for GM Tries Hard
As you can imagine, with so many Guards.
And often he wishes that, when they were born,
He had named one of them Keith Van Horn.
And one of them OG. And one of them Jarrett.
And one of them LeBron, a friend of Mike Barrett.
Another one Davis. Another one Mikal Bridges.
Or perhaps even other one, the naughty Miles Bridges.
And one of them Buck Williams the Great...

But he didn't do it. And now it's probably too late.

 

[andalusian]

He had even named one of them Keith of van horn.

Great starter, but the cadence is just a little off, the line above, for example, fixes that part.

 

[e_blazer]

Breaking News! Original Version of a Theodore Geisel's Classic Tale has been found!

Too Many Guards
Dr. Seuss

Did I ever tell you that GM Tries Hard
Had fifteen players, and made them all Guards?

Well, he did. And that wasn't a smart thing to do.
You see, when he wants one, and calls out "Yoo-Hoo!
Come into the house, Guard!" he doesn't get one.
All fifteen Guards of his come on the run!

This makes things quite difficult for GM Tries Hard
As you can imagine, with so many Guards.
And often he wishes that, when they were born,
He had named one of them Keith Van Horn.
And one of them OG. And one of them Jarrett.
And one of them LeBron, a friend of Mike Barrett.
Another one Davis. Another one Mikal Bridges.
Or perhaps even other one, the naughty Miles Bridges.
And one of them Buck Williams the Great...

But he didn't do it. And now it's probably too late.

Very nice! But I am a little sad you didn’t move to a Cat in the Hat solution of stacking little guards A, B, C, and D up to solve the size problem.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

If Scoot and Shae being stars are the most likely path to contend then shouldn't Dame let Cronin and the Blazers continue those attempts to build the team?

I see Dame and Blazer fans frustrated by the lack of a second star the last 8 years since LMA left. But that's a sunk cost, the team can never change that, and can only try to put a contender together going forward.

We can still be aggressive in moving Ant, Nurk and future picks to get better now. The upcoming draft is not considered strong. I don't have a problem with two timelines. But they need to get better now.

 

[BigGameDamian]

 

[Wizard Mentor]

https://nbaanalysis.net/2023/06/27/...rd-scoot-henderson-scottie-barnes-proposal/2/

Toronto Raptors Receive: F Doug McDermott, G Devonte’ Graham, G/F Malaki Branham, 2024 First-Round Pick (TOR via SAS), 2025 First-Round Pick (ATL via SAS), 2027 First-Round Pick (SAS)

Portland Trail Blazers Receive: F OG Anunoby, F/C Chris Boucher

San Antonio Spurs Receive: G Anfernee Simons

 

[PtldPlatypus]

https://nbaanalysis.net/2023/06/27/...rd-scoot-henderson-scottie-barnes-proposal/2/

Toronto Raptors Receive: F Doug McDermott, G Devonte’ Graham, G/F Malaki Branham, 2024 First-Round Pick (TOR via SAS), 2025 First-Round Pick (ATL via SAS), 2027 First-Round Pick (SAS)

Portland Trail Blazers Receive: F OG Anunoby, F/C Chris Boucher

San Antonio Spurs Receive: G Anfernee Simons

If only.

 

[GoBlazersGo]

https://nbaanalysis.net/2023/06/27/...rd-scoot-henderson-scottie-barnes-proposal/2/

Toronto Raptors Receive: F Doug McDermott, G Devonte’ Graham, G/F Malaki Branham, 2024 First-Round Pick (TOR via SAS), 2025 First-Round Pick (ATL via SAS), 2027 First-Round Pick (SAS)

Portland Trail Blazers Receive: F OG Anunoby, F/C Chris Boucher

San Antonio Spurs Receive: G Anfernee Simons

Ant for OG & Boucher? Sign me up, I think that would help to balance the roster, quite a bit.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Ant for OG & Boucher? Sign me up, I think that would help to balance the roster, quite a bit.

'Twould be amazing...so amazing that I think it has zero chance of happening. Spurs giving up 3 firsts for Ant? Doubtful.

 

[inconceivable]

(If I'm Cronin) I'm not giving up 3 FRP in an Ayton deal. PHX needs bodies and cost savings. They benefit as much from a Nurk/Little/Keon for Ayton deal as we do.

Yep, no 3FRP, just Nurk/Little/Keon

 

[BigGameDamian]

 

[wizenheimer]

Dame is free to do what he wants.

Fans are free to have an opinion of him doing this waffling and demands for the team publicly is both not helpful to the team nor pleasant for fans. I and many fans prefer Dame commits to the team or demands out, and does it privately. Others are free to have their opinion.

I don't see how Dame doing these public antics is either constructive to the Blazers building a winner with him or constructive to all parties moving on to a new chapter.

I agree that some of his comments may not have been helpful. But the obsessive angst of fans isn't his responsibility. And while his comments may have been the kindling, it's the idiocy and self-promoting avarice of the talking heads, bloviators, and volume tweeters that has poured the flammables on the kindling, lit the fires, fanned the flames, and stoked the angst of fans. Dame doesn't deserve all the blame. For instance, ff Dame said 200 words about his desires, you have probably posted 15,000 words here about his 200 words. Is that all Dame's fault?

but can you point to any comment he has made since that interview during which he said he expected to be a Blazer at the beginning of next season, and came out and clarified and emphasized that statement the next day? That's was at least 3-4 weeks ago and I don't recall him saying anything since then. Maybe he realized it was better to not say anything

and am I the only one who believes his comments have not been directed at Cronin & staff, but instead have been aimed at Jody, Kolde, & the Vulcans? At their penny-pinching and tax-avoidance? I know Dame had conversations with Olshey that went nowhere. That's why he went over Olshey's head to Paul Allen at least twice. From all accounts, Cronin and Dame have open communication and a solid relationship. Cronin was in the front office when Dame arrived in 2012; and it was Chad Buchanen and Cronin that targeted Dame in the draft and brought him to Portland. Safe to say they know each other quite well and communicate regularly and openly

and it's safe to say the Blazers have done a generally shitty job of assembling competitive rosters around Dame. In fact, since the Blazers made it to the WCF, the roster has been gutted and every time Portland made a move, it was a cost cutting move. Vulcan fingerprints everywhere

so again, why would Dame put public pressure on Cronin if he's already communicated his feelings privately? He's not stupid and knows what the NBA is about. I think this situation is about ownership, not management, and while all the focus of the anger and angst seems directed at Dame, I'd say a lot of it should be pointed at Seattle

 

[SwissBlazer]

This cryptic bullshit is terribly annoying and I hope he doesn't think he is cool.

 

[Natebishop3]

Lol the media is trying to goad him into demanding a trade.

 

[RonBrewer]

This cryptic bullshit is terribly annoying and I hope he doesn't think he is cool.

I made a post last week that Dame needs to speak up and stop with the subliminal shit. After seeing some of the resident idiots on this board try to kick him to the curb over and over along with the National Media pushing the narrative, i don't blame him one bit. I'm sick of all of the nonsense all together. Mostly from our fans.

Not directed at you.

 

[Natebishop3]

After seeing some of the resident idiots

This kind of toxic bullshit is completely uncalled for an unnecessary. Are you like this in real life?

 

[BlazerWookee]

This is all such bollocks.

Dame, who has been a fantastic leader up to now, is really dropping the ball.

The Blazers have (for now at least) some really good young players to root for.

But right now, it's all about Dame.

In my opinion, Dame needs to decide whether he's going to play out his contract with the Blazers, or ask for a trade now.

The Blazers have tanked two seasons in a row, and nobody (or most people) wouldn't think less of him if he decided to ask for a trade.

Quit asking for promises and roster changes. It's not helpful.

I just want this crap to stop. The other players on the team, and the fans, don't need this constant whirlwind (sometimes tornado) constantly swirling over them and us.

It's funny to me that of all the things people complained about Clyde leaving the way he did, "Where's the loyalty to the team?" is probably the loudest.

Dame's doing the exact opposite, and people are complaining that he's showing too much loyalty.

 

[Natebishop3]

It's funny to me that of all the things people complained about Clyde leaving the way he did, "Where's the loyalty to the team?" is probably the loudest.

Dame's doing the exact opposite, and people are complaining that he's showing too much loyalty.

I question how much of it is actually loyalty though.

Dude just built a massive house. His family is all here. No kidding he would rather have our team bring in the talent to try to compete. Would you rather move across the country if you just built a brand new mansion and you have two small kids? Or is it three now? I'm sure Dame does love our team, and I think he really loves our city, but I think there are also a lot of other motivating factors for why he wants to stay here.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I think this one got legs from two things: Dame saying (pre-end of season, pre-lottery, pre-Scoot selection) the stuff about not wanting a rebuild timeline

(Rebuilding is) not what I’m interested in. That’s what the frustrating part of it is. Talking about what’s gonna happen next season. And us ‘building’. That’s not what I’m here to do especially at this stage of my career”

and Stephen A. screamin' for Dame to get out and go to a real franchise on ESPN. Lots more people want him gone than want him to be here. I think he'd rather be Reggie Miller than Clyde Drexler, but that's his choice to a certain extent. That said, that "extent" got reduced by about 120M reasons when he signed the extension.

 

[RonBrewer]

This kind of toxic bullshit is completely uncalled for an unnecessary. Are you like this in real life?

Give it a rest. You're not fooling anyone. Do you seek as much attention in real life as you do here?

 

[Natebishop3]

Give it a rest. You're not fooling anyone. Do you seek as much attention in real life as you do here?

Ah, I see. So you insult people on this forum for having a different opinion than you, and you think that's totally okay. Gotcha. You're that kind of person. Understood. Carry on.