Trade Lillard now

[SlyPokerCat]

Nobody has to piss away the next 5 years to get behind Dame's run for a ring in his prime.....my advice is you don't kick him under the rug when he has his first career slump ....we get players now that want to play with Dame....not with Dennis Smith Jr.....Dame is the draw. If you do blow it all up and dump the best thing to ever happen to the franchise for a gamble....it could easily turn out much worse and put you much further away from seeing a parade in Portland....and you can watch the 77 game on youtube today....then we've both seen a championship in your lifetime!

Nobody wants to play in Portland at their own will. Not stars. Dame is a great leader and guy, but who has that gotten us in a trade that is a star? Stars want to recruit him to them, not to Portland.

Not the same watching old championship stuff.

We had opportunities and we had numb nuts Olshey as our gm. The time has come to put up and trade for a star now, or trade Lillard and start over.

 

[TBpup]

I don't think trading Lillard helps the team ever....

A lot of Cowboy fans felt the same way about Herschel Walker. I'm not advocating trading Dame, but it has to at least be open to consideration for the long term betterment of the team.

Somehow, that will come across to some as I'm a Dame 'hater' or want to trade Dame......kind of like what Dame accused Quick of when it's not what he said at all.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Yes, it is—but still higher than it ever will be again.

I’d have to agree even though I’m in the don’t trade Dame unless he makes it clear that he wants out. Even if Dames trade value is still not at it’s peak right now, it would still bring back quite a haul. And it’s still higher than most.

 

[riverman]

Nobody wants to play in Portland at their own will. Not stars. Dame is a great leader and guy, but who has that gotten us in a trade that is a star? Stars want to recruit him to them, not to Portland.

Not the same watching old championship stuff.

We had opportunities and we had numb nuts Olshey as our gm. The time has come to put up and trade for a star now, or trade Lillard and start over.

Ed Davis loved Portland.....Evan Turner loved Portland....Will Barton loved Portland...plenty of players loved being here once they got here...mostly because they loved playing with Dame.....trade Dame and you flush that chip down the toilet.....NEIL OLSHEY IS GONE.....give Cronin a fair shot at fixing this roster and get back to me....giving up talent for draft picks you'll go dozens of decades without finding another leader like Dame....he's not expendable but we have other expensive guys that are.....shore up the team and get us some big frontcourt help and some shooters who can defend...

 

[julius]

Yeah...'cos surrounding HIM with talent has/is worked so very well.
This team is hot garbage because trying to surround Dame with talent has not worked, and as his salary goes up, the chances of finally after 10 years of finding that talent you speak of goes down.
Way down.

What talent have they surrounded him with!?

Mario Hezonja, Tony Snell, Moe harkless, Evan Turner, Nick Stausksus, Ben McLemore, Anthony Toliver?

That kinda talent?

oooh boy!

 

[Wade Garrett]

I don't think trading Lillard helps the team ever....

I completely understand this. I have felt the same way for the past few years.
But, like you, I wanna see another title in my lifetime.
For me, the only thing worse than not winning a championship, is not being close after 10 years with the greatest player this team ever has or ever will have.
But a championship parade, would happen in Portland, not in Damian Lillards driveway, if ya get my drift.

 

[riverman]

A lot of Cowboy fans felt the same way about Herschel Walker. I'm not advocating trading Dame, but it has to at least be open to consideration for the long term betterment of the team.

Somehow, that will come across to some as I'm a Dame 'hater' or want to trade Dame......kind of like what Dame accused Quick of when it's not what he said at all.

I disagree with Quick too and as I've said...he's the one guy on this team that is untouchable because he's a unicorn....you can't find another guy in his league with all the draft picks you could get for him. More than likely you end up trading Dame and getting back a TRob and Noah Vonleh type rookie....or 4........I think Quick threw Dame under the bus for clicks and he has advocated for blowing up the team as well....

 

[Wade Garrett]

What talent have they surrounded him with!?

Mario Hezonja, Tony Snell, Moe harkless, Evan Turner, Nick Stausksus, Ben McLemore, Anthony Toliver?

That kinda talent?

oooh boy!

And those are the players PRIOR to Dame sucking up our salary cap!
Just think how good you can do now...
C'mon man, it's time.

 

[SlyPokerCat]

Ed Davis loved Portland.....Evan Turner loved Portland....Will Barton loved Portland...plenty of players loved being here once they got here...mostly because they loved playing with Dame.....trade Dame and you flush that chip down the toilet.....NEIL OLSHEY IS GONE.....give Cronin a fair shot at fixing this roster and get back to me....giving up talent for draft picks you'll go dozens of decades without finding another leader like Dame....he's not expendable but we have other expensive guys that are.....shore up the team and get us some big frontcourt help and some shooters who can defend...

You named role players. Barton we drafted, which is my point. We can draft decent players, who may want to stay. We overpaid Evan Turner, and he sucked. Those aren't stars whatsoever. Yay. Dame can recruit role players. That's not going to do jack shit to change a team trajectory.

You are absolutely right. We may never find a leader as good as Dame. But, who cares if we are just gonna get bounced in the first round.

I'm fine keeping Dame until the offseason. Then we can either A. Trade Dame for young players and a boatload of assets to go with our lottery pick. Or B. Trade our lotto pick and other players for a star to give it one final shot with Lillard.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Everyone that wants to trade Lillard should be voting for him to be an all-star because that will help his trade value.

 

[riverman]

You named role players. Barton we drafted, which is my point. We can draft decent players, who may want to stay. We overpaid Evan Turner, and he sucked. Those aren't stars whatsoever. Yay. Dame can recruit role players. That's not going to do jack shit to change a team trajectory.

You are absolutely right. We may never find a leader as good as Dame. But, who cares if we are just gonna get bounced in the first round.

I'm fine keeping Dame until the offseason. Then we can either A. Trade Dame for young players and a boatload of assets to go with our lottery pick. Or B. Trade our lotto pick and other players for a star.

I'd rather get bounced in the first round than miss the playoffs and like the Cavs...have 7 coaches over 7 years...I like franchise stability

 

[TBpup]

Ed Davis loved Portland.....Evan Turner loved Portland....Will Barton loved Portland...plenty of players loved being here once they got here...mostly because they loved playing with Dame.....trade Dame and you flush that chip down the toilet.....NEIL OLSHEY IS GONE.....give Cronin a fair shot at fixing this roster and get back to me....giving up talent for draft picks you'll go dozens of decades without finding another leader like Dame....he's not expendable but we have other expensive guys that are.....shore up the team and get us some big frontcourt help and some shooters who can defend...

A lot of Blazers, especially from the Drexler team, made their homes in Portland way before Dame came here. Then again, Portland used to be a lot nicer.

I disagree with Quick too and as I've said...he's the one guy on this team that is untouchable because he's a unicorn....you can't find another guy in his league with all the draft picks you could get for him. More than likely you end up trading Dame and getting back a TRob and Noah Vonleh type rookie....or 4........I think Quick threw Dame under the bus for clicks and he has advocated for blowing up the team as well....

You can disagree with what Quick said, but Dame accused Quick of something he didn't say, then posted the 'snake' picture. Dame may not have even read the article....perhaps one of his boyz told him what they interpreted.

 

[SlyPokerCat]

I'd rather get bounced in the first round than miss the playoffs and like the Cavs...have 7 coaches over 7 years...I like franchise stability

Pointless. Also the Cavs are better than us now, if you haven't noticed. With a better future. They also won a title in the past 5 or so years.

 

[riverman]

You named role players. Barton we drafted, which is my point. We can draft decent players, who may want to stay. We overpaid Evan Turner, and he sucked. Those aren't stars whatsoever. Yay. Dame can recruit role players. That's not going to do jack shit to change a team trajectory.

You are absolutely right. We may never find a leader as good as Dame. But, who cares if we are just gonna get bounced in the first round.

I'm fine keeping Dame until the offseason. Then we can either A. Trade Dame for young players and a boatload of assets to go with our lottery pick. Or B. Trade our lotto pick and other players for a star to give it one final shot with Lillard.

The Michael Jordan Bulls were full of role players....that's what you do when you have superstars to pay....Steve Kerr was a role player..my point was players love playing with Dame in Portland....Chris Kaman loved coming here too....probably be hard pressed to find anybody who didn't....maybe Ariza or TRob...Neil just wouldn't make big moves with guys like CJ.....which is the move....or even Norm or Nurk

 

[SlyPokerCat]

The Michael Jordan Bulls were full of role players....that's what you do when you have superstars to pay....Steve Kerr was a role player

They had three of the top 50 players of all time on that team too. The second threepeat.

Pippen is two times the player CJ is.

Jordan is the best player of all time. Dame isn't Jordan.

Bad comparison.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

The Michael Jordan Bulls were full of role players....that's what you do when you have superstars to pay....Steve Kerr was a role player..my point was players love playing with Dame in Portland....Chris Kaman loved coming here too....probably be hard pressed to find anybody who didn't....maybe Ariza or TRob...

Pippen and Rodman were hardly roleplayers. Both are in the hall of fame.

 

[TBpup]

I'd rather get bounced in the first round than miss the playoffs and like the Cavs...have 7 coaches over 7 years...I like franchise stability

And that is where we can agree to disagree. Completely understand being okay with the mediocre stability, but I'll take at least trying to get to the ultimate goal even if there are swings and misses, versus what to me is and has been a stoppage of growth for years with this group.

It was fine in Dame's first few years. That ship has sailed for me. But no worries, we are all fans. Cheers!

 

[Mediocre Man]

Might have been able to get Simmons and Thybulle along with a pick or two. Now probably just Simmons


Resetting your franchise with 2 all defensive players would have been smart. I get not trading Dame though. Fans would have stormed one center court.

 

[SlyPokerCat]

We have our Pippen (Dame) and Kukoc (CJ). We just need our Jordan and Rodman and we have a chance at a title!

 

[riverman]

Pointless. Also the Cavs are better than us now, if you haven't noticed. With a better future. They also won a title in the past 5 or so years.

They need fans.....I'll never be one...and the Lebron championships are for sale if you want him to take over your team....funny what happened when he left....they also haven't won anything this year. Maybe Rondo makes the difference and KLove stays engaged....we'll see. I'm not jealous of the Cavs by any stretch...and yeah...just about 25 teams are better than us this season...and we've been banged up early.

 

[TBpup]

We have our Pippen (Dame) and Kukoc (CJ). We just need our Jordan and Rodman and we have a chance at a title!

....except every one of those Bulls players is bigger than Dame and/or CJ. They were incredible! They could switch anything with Jordan, Pip, Grant, Rodman, Harper, etc.

 

[julius]

And those are the players PRIOR to Dame sucking up our salary cap!
Just think how good you can do now...
C'mon man, it's time.

They had tradeable assets and didn't trade them, and when they did make trades they made bad trades. Damians cap has nothing to do with Olshey refusing to trade CJ, or signing Turner to 19 million, Crabbe to 19 million, and trading away multiple picks to get a broken ankle, and drafting a fat ass (swanigan) instead of someone with skill.

Damians contract has nothing to do with them re-signing CJ for far more than he was worth.

You claimed they had surrounded him with talent, and when it's brought up that the talent that he was surrounded with was crap (both literally crap, and helping with taking the weight off of Damian, crap).

If the Blazers were the Nets, it'd be Kyrie Irving surrounded by mediocrity, instead of surrounding him with Durant and Harden.

Portland had the chance ot upgrade the roster, but instead Olshey decided that a short, defensive weak 2 guard was good enough to make up no offense from the PF and SF spot for the last 5 seasons.

This summer he filled the teams roster with fringe NBA talent, almost all who were PG sized.

Damian has never been surrounded by another all star caliber player, so the answer to that is to trade him. Because look at how often other teams who trade their best players thrive after.

Answer: They don't.

 

[SlyPokerCat]

Might have been able to get Simmons and Thybulle along with a pick or two. Now probably just Simmons


Resetting your franchise with 2 all defensive players would have been smart. I get not trading Dame though. Fans would have stormed one center court.

I threw out a Simmons, Maxey and three firsts for Dame offer a few weeks ago and people were up in arms. That's pretty good value. Look at what Harden got in a trade.

 

[SlyPokerCat]

They had tradeable assets and didn't trade them, and when they did make trades they made bad trades. Damians cap has nothing to do with Olshey refusing to trade CJ, or signing Turner to 19 million, Crabbe to 19 million, and trading away multiple picks to get a broken ankle, and drafting a fat ass (swanigan) instead of someone with skill.

Damians contract has nothing to do with them re-signing CJ for far more than he was worth.

You claimed they had surrounded him with talent, and when it's brought up that the talent that he was surrounded with was crap (both literally crap, and helping with taking the weight off of Damian, crap).

If the Blazers were the Nets, it'd be Kyrie Irving surrounded by mediocrity, instead of surrounding him with Durant and Harden.

Portland had the chance ot upgrade the roster, but instead Olshey decided that a short, defensive weak 2 guard was good enough to make up no offense from the PF and SF spot for the last 5 seasons.

This summer he filled the teams roster with fringe NBA talent, almost all who were PG sized.

Damian has never been surrounded by another all star caliber player, so the answer to that is to trade him. Because look at how often other teams who trade their best players thrive after.

Answer: They don't.

Aldridge wasn't an all star player?

 

[Wade Garrett]

They had tradeable assets and didn't trade them, and when they did make trades they made bad trades. Damians cap has nothing to do with Olshey refusing to trade CJ, or signing Turner to 19 million, Crabbe to 19 million, and trading away multiple picks to get a broken ankle, and drafting a fat ass (swanigan) instead of someone with skill.

Damians contract has nothing to do with them re-signing CJ for far more than he was worth.

You claimed they had surrounded him with talent, and when it's brought up that the talent that he was surrounded with was crap (both literally crap, and helping with taking the weight off of Damian, crap).

If the Blazers were the Nets, it'd be Kyrie Irving surrounded by mediocrity, instead of surrounding him with Durant and Harden.

Portland had the chance ot upgrade the roster, but instead Olshey decided that a short, defensive weak 2 guard was good enough to make up no offense from the PF and SF spot for the last 5 seasons.

This summer he filled the teams roster with fringe NBA talent, almost all who were PG sized.

Damian has never been surrounded by another all star caliber player, so the answer to that is to trade him. Because look at how often other teams who trade their best players thrive after.

Answer: They don't.

Revisionist history does nothing to improve this team now.
You, julius, are looking backwards.
I, am looking forward.
It's 2022 now, not 2018, or 2016, or 2020, or any other year they've tried it your way.

 

[riverman]

And that is where we can agree to disagree. Completely understand being okay with the mediocre stability, but I'll take at least trying to get to the ultimate goal even if there are swings and misses, versus what to me is and has been a stoppage of growth for years with this group.

It was fine in Dame's first few years. That ship has sailed for me. But no worries, we are all fans. Cheers!

I understand but to me...making the playoffs is not mediocrity...it's success....winning the ring is the biggest thrill but getting a chance to compete for that takes a lot of success and work..to me mediocrity is being a lotto team for decades and having no franchise identity ..like the Kings have been since Adelman left.

 

[riverman]

Revisionist history does nothing to improve this team now.
You, julius, are looking backwards.
I, am looking forward.
It's 2022 now, not 2018, or 2016, or 2020, or any other year they've tried it your way.

2022 is Joe Cronin...that's the key to improving over a decade of Neil Olshey and his multiple small ISO guards fascination....Joe is where the answer lies as far as this team this season...I hope he gets it right

 

[julius]

Revisionist history does nothing to improve this team now.
You, julius, are looking backwards.
I, am looking forward.
It's 2022 now, not 2018, or 2016, or 2020, or any other year they've tried it your way.

You're also missing the point. They haven't given him a decent roster to compete. If you look at the shitty rosters he's had to play with, and the team has done as good as it has, imagine if they actually rolle the dice on someone?

But no, let's trade him because we want to suck for a long time after (see: Minnesota, see: Orlando, see: Sacramento, see: New Orleans)

 

[TBpup]

I understand but to me...making the playoffs is not mediocrity...it's success....winning the ring is the biggest thrill but getting a chance to compete for that takes a lot of success and work..to me mediocrity is being a lotto team for decades and having no franchise identity ..like the Kings have been since Adelman left.

That's the thing, Portland has made the Playoffs, (not really a big deal since over half the league does) but they have had ZERO chance to compete for the ring. And comparing us to the Kings.....great, so our crap stinks a little less than theirs. Still, no where near getting out of the outhouse.

 

[Wade Garrett]

I understand but to me...making the playoffs is not mediocrity...it's success....winning the ring is the biggest thrill but getting a chance to compete for that takes a lot of success and work..to me mediocrity is being a lotto team for decades and having no franchise identity ..like the Kings have been since Adelman left.

Half the league makes the playoffs brah.
It is not a reward for success as much as an opportunity for the league to make the $$$$$...
Teams with losing records make the playoffs.
But then again, Oregon State went to a Bowl game.
Participation ribbons for the Gaylord Focker Wall of Fame.