Bogus! Stephen A. Smith Wants Damian Lillard in a Bigger Market

[GriLtCheeZ]

It's time for Stephen A. Smith to go to a smaller market.

 

[Strenuus]

And I want Trish Stratus.

Some things just never happen.

 

[calvin natt]

Here’s the thing with Lillard. Everyone wants the team to “support him”. But he makes it very very clear 1) Stotts is his guy 2) He wants CJ to stay. Very clear. So they need to build a better team around him without pissing him off it seems and can’t mess with his boys, which greatly limits the teams flexibility to improve. Now, if this isn’t true, it sure has been communicated/publicized inaccurately. Dame seems to be ultra-loyal, and wants that in return. But if you are the GM, it feels like you are a bit handcuffed and the type of deals possible are exactly the kinds of deals we have seen the last few years.

 

[blazerkor]

Here’s the thing with Lillard. Everyone wants the team to “support him”. But he makes it very very clear 1) Stotts is his guy 2) He wants CJ to stay. Very clear. So they need to build a better team around him without pissing him off it seems and can’t mess with his boys, which greatly limits the teams flexibility to improve. Now, if this isn’t true, it sure has been communicated/publicized inaccurately. Dame seems to be ultra-loyal, and wants that in return. But if you are the GM, it feels like you are a bit handcuffed and the type of deals possible are exactly the kinds of deals we have seen the last few years.

He's not the GM. When fans in here say that they want the team to "support him" I think they are usually actually saying that they want him to have the support necessary to win more and get rings. If that doesn't fit his social needs, he'll be fine. He's said far more times than he's endorsed Stotts and CJ that he knows that this is a business and he's with the Blazers until they want to trade him or he retires here. In fact usually after he endorses Stotts or CJ to the media, he follows it up with the line about it being a business.

He's built his brand around the concept of being the cornerstone of this small market franchise and being about this city and the people here (CJ and Terry are not his brand). He likes to compare himself to Dirk, a lot, and Dirk had several iterations of rosters around him and five different head coaches. He also likes to compare himself to Kobe and there were constant moving pieces around Kobe. Dame's a smart guy and he has to know that six years without a title is a long run for a one/two option to stay together and nine years is even longer for a GM/coach to stay together without a ring. He said coming into this season something like he knew that the success of this season was like do or die for this team.

The narrative that Dame makes the decisions about who stays and goes on this team is completely without base. You've got nothing in the way of proof. No sources. In fact you have the opposite. The guy himself has said repeatedly that's not the case. You didn't say that he is in charge but you're insinuating that he's holding the franchise hostage with his pull, which he is on record saying he'd never do.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

So.......who ever takes a guy whose middle name is “Asshole” seriously......? Just askin’.........

 

[AldoTrapani]

Why do they complain about time zones? How do they watch the Lakers or the Warriors? Blazers literally play in the same time zone

 

[Natebishop3]

I don’t think market had anything to do with Dame not starting. I think Steph and Luka have more appeal to younger fans.

 

[blazerkor]

I don’t think market had anything to do with Dame not starting. I think Steph and Luka have more appeal to younger fans.

I also think that international support put Doncic over.

 

[ebott]

Why would we "give him a shot somewhere else" instead of bringing the shot to him by moving players, executives and coaches until we get him the support he needs. That is a defeatist's attitude, good luck with that.

I feel like this team just is defeated. If we don't trade Dame we're gonna be a first/second round and out team until Dame retires and then we're gonna be horrible. I'd rather start the rebuild now while Same has trade value.

Edit: my phone likes to autocorrect Dame to Same.

 

[stampedehero]

There are pluses to being in a big market but there are also minuses.
Portland, Seattle and San Francisco are the cities I'd prefer to live in if I were a star NBA player. Other cities would require higher offers to play for. Some cities would require very high offers. Because, don't forget, larger markets mean more crowding and less opportunity to get out of the Megalopolis and into the country for relaxation.

Spoken like a true old school NBA man.

 

[blazerkor]

I feel like this team just is defeated. If we don't trade Same we're gonna be a first/second round and out team until Same retires and then we're gonna be horrible. I'd rather start the rebuild now while Same has trade value.

You're defeated but this organization is not. Do changes need to be made? Yes. Has history shown us that they will be? Yes. So stop wallowing, you don't trade the best player in the history of your franchise because you give up. Sheesh!

 

[calvin natt]

He's not the GM. When fans in here say that they want the team to "support him" I think they are usually actually saying that they want him to have the support necessary to win more and get rings. If that doesn't fit his social needs, he'll be fine. He's said far more times than he's endorsed Stotts and CJ that he knows that this is a business and he's with the Blazers until they want to trade him or he retires here. In fact usually after he endorses Stotts or CJ to the media, he follows it up with the line about it being a business.

He's built his brand around the concept of being the cornerstone of this small market franchise and being about this city and the people here (CJ and Terry are not his brand). He likes to compare himself to Dirk, a lot, and Dirk had several iterations of rosters around him and five different head coaches. He also likes to compare himself to Kobe and there were constant moving pieces around Kobe. Dame's a smart guy and he has to know that six years without a title is a long run for a one/two option to stay together and nine years is even longer for a GM/coach to stay together without a ring. He said coming into this season something like he knew that the success of this season was like do or die for this team.

The narrative that Dame makes the decisions about who stays and goes on this team is completely without base. You've got nothing in the way of proof. No sources. In fact you have the opposite. The guy himself has said repeatedly that's not the case. You didn't say that he is in charge but you're insinuating that he's holding the franchise hostage with his pull, which he is on record saying he'd never do.

I don’t think he makes the decisions. I do think he makes it very clear that he supports Stotts and loves CJ to the point that Neil hesitates to lose either of them. Also don’t assume anyone here doesn’t have sources. Portland isn’t a big town.

 

[AldoTrapani]

I feel like this team just is defeated. If we don't trade Same we're gonna be a first/second round and out team until Same retires and then we're gonna be horrible. I'd rather start the rebuild now while Same has trade value.

It’ll be sad but I wouldn’t mind this