This is not good / How do we fix it / Why does god hate us?

[BonesJones]

Just dropped an article on this.

Questioning Damian Lillard’s Character Over the Chauncey Billups Hiring is Completely Ridiculous | Blazers Uprise

 

[Sedatedfork]

You guys don't think this gets published without Dame's approval? Haynes source is literally Dame. Maybe Dame said this in passing. Maybe Dame told Haynes to write this to tell the fans to chill the fuck out. Whatever it is, Dame is clearly pissed, and he should be. He picked a few names out of the ones Olshey gave him. The fans decided to tear him up for it. If you want to look at anyone for fault its the fans. No one had to fucking say anything to Dame. They chose to.

With that said, what is Dame going to do? He's got 4 years left on his SUPERMAX extension. This is not even remotely similar to any other superstar asking out situation. If they trade Dame, they will get a king's ransom. If they decide not to trade him, what is Dame going to do? He's not the type to sandbag a season like Harden.

This made me feel better

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Neil…


AT LEAST come out and say you won’t trade Dame to LA!

Laker fans are losing their minds on Twitter over this.

 

[Natebishop3]

Neil…


AT LEAST come out and say you won’t trade Dame to LA!

Laker fans are losing their minds on Twitter over this.

LA has nothing to offer us.

 

[MickZagger]

Build a roster and try to win next season. Who gives a shit what the fans think? Dame has FOUR years left on his deal. He's just STARTING his extension.

Jesus christ, Neil handled this awfully but the fault is on the idiotic fans.

Could not agree more.

 

[BrianFromWA]

If I’m the owner, excuse my semi as I type that, I please Dame

1. If Dame has to have Billups then spin it and sell the shit out of Billups to the fan base.

2 If Dame has more options he’s cool with I’d fire Olshey today, tell Billups we are going in a different direction and hire Darvin Ham, bitches

This has likely been covered as nauseum, but Dame put it into the media that he wanted Kidd or Billups and Kidd said no. Kinda hard to negotiate out of that…

 

[BrianFromWA]

I just moved to OR last month after being away for ~15 yrs or so on the east coast and midwest. What i saw driving on 84 from the airport was shocking. So much graffitti, homeless camps everywhere, needles in waterfront park, WTF happened to my town.

There’s an answer but it’s for the OT section

 

[BrianFromWA]

I think we knew that after he signed Crabbe to a 70+ million dollar contract.

I knew it when he got hired and said “judge me by the performance. I’ll worry about the salaries.” Or some such Bs nonsense.

 

[BrianFromWA]

May I direct quote you on that?

You can add me to that.

 

[Phatguysrule]

It seems like Neil had a small group of candidates. When that group was announced not a PEEP about Billups. He’s been floated as a candidate for NBA jobs for a couple years and has been offered a front office position, and of course is currently a Clipper. Neil interviewed everyone and got Lillard involved which everyone wanted.

then people got suddenly pissed off and Neil bungled the search? Hate him for 2016 or CJ or his attitude but wtf was wrong with the search?

As soon as Billups was a candidate I started seeing posts and articles about the accusations. It's been very public from the start.

It's been a long time. I'm not interested in punishing people for life over accusations, but I didn't think Billups was worth the PR risk.

To me it was just a dumb move, unless he's the next Pop/Phil and we can actually get enough talent to make a championship run.

 

[B-Roy]

thought this was interesting and not posted

fwiw, this guy had Harden demanding a trade before anyone else.

 

[Natebishop3]

View attachment 39277
thought this was interesting and not posted

fwiw, this guy had Harden demanding a trade before anyone else.

Neil needs to go and the team needs to get sold. You can tell that Paul's death has really put us in a tail spin.

 

[Mediocre Man]

You can add me to that.

It’s lovely to see you back posting. Maybe you have been and I’ve missed, so maybe it’s just lovely for me to see you back posting?

 

[Fairly-Hard]

Does not look good at all.

 

[tester551]

View attachment 39277
thought this was interesting and not posted

fwiw, this guy had Harden demanding a trade before anyone else.

I'm good with Billups. Hopefully this PR nightmare will get Olshey fired next month. Billups (on a brand new contract would remain).

 

[KristinthBonkers]

Neil thinks fans are idiots. Direct quote from someone he told that too

From what I saw on BE this weekend before being banned for comparing Jody Allen’s harassment and groping settlements to the one-time Billups settlement, I can’t really say he’s completely wrong.

 

[PCmor7]

Have things quieted down today? Seems like I haven't seen quite as much nonsense on Twitter. Hopefully everyone involved blew off their steam and now have realized that Dame with Billups in Portland is the best situation for all parties and aren't about to take a flying leap out of the basement window.

 

[PCmor7]

Try to keep things in perspective. Or you'll think giant pigeons are attacking your car.

 

[Cugel]

I guess I don't see how this is the best situation for Dame. Maybe from a Blazers fan's perspective, but not for plenty of others out there.

 

[julius]

Have things quieted down today? Seems like I haven't seen quite as much nonsense on Twitter. Hopefully everyone involved blew off their steam and now have realized that Dame with Billups in Portland is the best situation for all parties and aren't about to take a flying leap out of the basement window.

There will be a new distraction eventually.

 

[BigGameDamian]

 

[PCmor7]

I guess I don't see how this is the best situation for Dame. Maybe from a Blazers fan's perspective, but not for plenty of others out there.

When I say it's the best situation for Dame, I mean it is the best situation for Dame. Personally. Him.

I've mentioned the reasons above.

He's the king here. He's got a super-max contract. He's got as much input as he wants on the roster and coaches ... LeBron is probably the only player that has as much say. He's got at the very least a national brand. He's part of a very good organization that's probably going to win as long as he's part of it, the only question being how much.

He's considered THE best and most-beloved player in the history of the franchise. His roots are here now.

Conversely, look at almost all the other markets that are considered potential landing spots. You've got at least a half-dozen Canzanos in all of them. You've got multiple times the fan base and you've got more news outlets and multiple times the number of fans on social media looking to blast star players every time they have a bad game or say they gave up too much for them. He'll always be compared to the greatest players in that franchise's history and never will do enough unless he wins a title there.

Is it reasonable to think the Knicks are going to win a championship with Dame after their resources are gutted trading for Dame? Boston? Boston's always been tough on African-American athletes. Because he not only will have to win in those places but win big or else he'll be considered a disappointment.

Every poor game, every big game lost when he's there will be the kind of reaction on social media from that team's fanbase as yesterday was. It didn't look like Dame liked that yesterday. I'm pretty sure he'd be unhappy getting that five times a month. It'd get old quick.

Every time he shoots 6-17 from the field and they lose, fans will take to Twitter or be calling in to WFAN overreacting about how "Lillard is overrated, Lillard's past his prime." He'd get the same treatment in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philly, Detroit and Miami that CJ gets here. Oh yeah, he'd be the monarch when things were going well, but they have to go well the entire time.

That's why Portland is the best situation for him.

 

[Mediocre Man]

What the actual fuck is happening over there?

 

[Hoopguru]

When I say it's the best situation for Dame, I mean it is the best situation for Dame. Personally. Him.

I've mentioned the reasons above.

He's the king here. He's got a super-max contract. He's got as much input as he wants on the roster and coaches ... LeBron is probably the only player that has as much say. He's got at the very least a national brand. He's part of a very good organization that's probably going to win as long as he's part of it, the only question being how much.

He's considered THE best and most-beloved player in the history of the franchise. His roots are here now.

Conversely, look at almost all the other markets that are considered potential landing spots. You've got at least a half-dozen Canzanos in all of them. You've got multiple times the fan base and you've got more news outlets and multiple times the number of fans on social media looking to blast star players every time they have a bad game or say they gave up too much for them. He'll always be compared to the greatest players in that franchise's history and never will do enough unless he wins a title there.

Is it reasonable to think the Knicks are going to win a championship with Dame after their resources are gutted trading for Dame? Boston? Boston's always been tough on African-American athletes. Because he not only will have to win in those places but win big or else he'll be considered a disappointment.

Every poor game, every big game lost when he's there will be the kind of reaction on social media from that team's fanbase as yesterday was. It didn't look like Dame liked that yesterday. I'm pretty sure he'd be unhappy getting that five times a month. It'd get old quick.

Every time he shoots 6-17 from the field and they lose, fans will take to Twitter or be calling in to WFAN overreacting about how "Lillard is overrated, Lillard's past his prime." He'd get the same treatment in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philly, Detroit and Miami that CJ gets here. Oh yeah, he'd be the monarch when things were going well, but they have to go well the entire time.

That's why Portland is the best situation for him.

Dame has had a great situation in Portland from day one and he's earned the respect and fandom he has. He's been a pillar for the Blazers and one to be proud of. He has said him self, what if he went to another team and it didn't work out and I didnt have the same situation as here. Yep, he wants a championship but he's a different guy when it comes to calculating success and brand equity. He also values livability and other things that we probably are not aware of. The team imo, has been a bit above average over the past few years and really one dimensional. People need to chill out and allow the new coach, and the same organization, and the same Dame, see what they can do now. Its a game that happens to be career driven.
We shouldn't be like fans in the Roman Coliseum chanting kill him, regardless, because they taste blood, should we?

 

[All Net]

https://www.nbcsports.com/washingto...ts-damian-lillard-including-sixers-and-knicks

Take it for what it’s worth. Personally, I think Lillard is staying in Portland. He has always wanted to win a title with the Blazers, and when this storm dies down he’ll still be wearing a Blazers uniform.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Neil…


AT LEAST come out and say you won’t trade Dame to LA!

Laker fans are losing their minds on Twitter over this.

David Stern would rise from the grave to nix that trade.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

What the actual fuck is happening over there?

Some serious bus under-throwing.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Please don't make clickbait headlines out of "The latest report by Yahoo! Sports on Damian Lillard makes it seem more likely than ever he could be on his way out of Portland."

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I'm going to post this link in the Lillard trades thread!

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I can't stand how modern sorts "journalism" is nothing more than a poorly-executed game of telephone.