Trade back for Lillard?

[Tim Lehrbach]

I am scared to go back and see whatever cringe take I undoubtedly offered here.

[Blazinaway]

Congrats PDX. Wonderful story.

I'm done with work today... I don't get it. I'm totally down, but wtf....

I am with you, his D was already putrid, how will it be after an Achilles surgery? Am bummed

[DusterBuster]

Congrats PDX. Wonderful story.

I'm done with work today... I don't get it. I'm totally down, but wtf....

I am with you, his D was already putrid, how will it be after an Achilles surgery? Am bummed

True, but I have one devils advocate here, which is... who the **** cares?

[DusterBuster]

Blazers haven't had the Jrue PR intro yet... are they gonna dual that conference with Dame and Jrue?

[DaVoiceMaster]

Scoot has Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard as mentors. What more can a point guard ask for?

[DusterBuster]

Scoot has Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard as mentors. What more can a point guard ask for?

So, where I give Danny Marang credit for, he clearly has a DIRECT line to Lillard... outside of that, any of us going to Summer League can get his insights. I went to Summer League in 2023 and met Carlisle and SVG... so his credits and insights are legit but also someone just luck.

That said, he's got direct insight into the team. But... he's always has a chip on his shoulder for Scoot that I've felt is unfair. Just gut checking, I think Marang - who clearly has a CLOSE relationship with Dame - felt the Blazers did Dame wrong not moving that pick and taking Scoot. And that's probably only gotten worse as Scoot has struggled in 2 seasons...

Soooo... all that to say, I agree with you DVM! I think this is a "pack yo **** up and get yo **** together" season for Scoot. You cannot possibly surround a promising PG around better mentors than what the Blazers have now... Billups, Holiday and Dame... bro...Scoot... if you aren't gonna learn from this... GTFO of the NBA.

[DaVoiceMaster]

I've never been sold on Scoot. He was playing better before he was injured, but nothing to get overly excited about.

[DusterBuster]

I've never been sold on Scoot. He was playing better before he was injured, but nothing to get overly excited about.

I agree, but we were sold DRose 2.0, so its time to prove it or shut up. Young PGs take time, I see some things there with Scoot, but man... this is the best talent you can give a young PG to learn from... if he's still not a 15+ppg and showing Amen level improvements by January 2026, trade - his - ass.

[Sinobas]

Hey, do I get any points for this?

[BlazersBroncos]

I've never been sold on Scoot. He was playing better before he was injured, but nothing to get overly excited about.

I agree, but we were sold DRose 2.0, so its time to prove it or shut up. Young PGs take time, I see some things there with Scoot, but man... this is the best talent you can give a young PG to learn from... if he's still not a 15+ppg and showing Amen level improvements by January 2026, trade - his - ass.

His Y1 to Y2 development across the board was tremendous (Raw and advanced stats) - the caveat being the baseline to develop from his rookie year was unbelievably low.

If he can make another jump of similar proportions from Y2 to Y3 then we might have a starter on our hands. If he doesnt, ship him out next summer for a middling FRP.

[DC_Melo]

I've never been sold on Scoot. He was playing better before he was injured, but nothing to get overly excited about.

I agree, but we were sold DRose 2.0, so its time to prove it or shut up. Young PGs take time, I see some things there with Scoot, but man... this is the best talent you can give a young PG to learn from... if he's still not a 15+ppg and showing Amen level improvements by January 2026, trade - his - ass.

His Y1 to Y2 development across the board was tremendous (Raw and advanced stats) - the caveat being the baseline to develop from his rookie year was unbelievably low.

If he can make another jump of similar proportions from Y2 to Y3 then we might have a starter on our hands. If he doesnt, ship him out next summer for a middling FRP.

Correct, Scoot’s growth was tremendous Y1 to Y2, and especially tremendous if u look at start of Y2 to end of Y2. I get that he came in over hyped and under-delivered as the 3rd overall pick. I’m with all of you in sharing in that disappointment.

But considering he was that hyped and underperformed that badly his rookie year, the fact that he improved as well as he did Y2 speaks a lot to the kid’s character. There’s no way he gets that growth without a lot of hard work and clearing some serious mental hurdles. He had the whole world calling him a bust and still stepped up Y2. That takes some stones.

Yes, he has to continue to improve. But I believe he has earned a bit of patience. I anticipate he will make some growth next season. How much remains to be seen, but I have faith that this kid is working his tail off to get better. He came in young to one of the hardest positions to learn, and has a similar growth trajectory in efficiency as other successful point guards that struggled entering the league, such as Garland and Fox.

[DusterBuster]

I've never been sold on Scoot. He was playing better before he was injured, but nothing to get overly excited about.

I agree, but we were sold DRose 2.0, so its time to prove it or shut up. Young PGs take time, I see some things there with Scoot, but man... this is the best talent you can give a young PG to learn from... if he's still not a 15+ppg and showing Amen level improvements by January 2026, trade - his - ass.

His Y1 to Y2 development across the board was tremendous (Raw and advanced stats) - the caveat being the baseline to develop from his rookie year was unbelievably low.

If he can make another jump of similar proportions from Y2 to Y3 then we might have a starter on our hands. If he doesnt, ship him out next summer for a middling FRP.

Totally agree. I was pretty down on Scoot after the summer last year where he couldn’t seem to care less and came to media day clearly baked. Than the start of last season was just as bad at Y1.

To his credit, it pulled his career out of a tailspin and started to show improvement in year 2… when he got playing time (eye roll).

It’s risky to just assume continued improvement. There has been many players I’ve thought in the past just will clearly take a leap… then kind of poop the bed in that next season jump. So we’ll see, and while I still think it’s dumb the team has never gave him a clear runway to be the lead PG after all the hype, I think you can squint now and see some vision of what they think he’s lacking and that this is their plan to give him the last piece he needs, which is how to learn to be a pro. In that respect, Blazers seem to be going all-in on Scoot’s future.

[Sinobas]

You have to wonder what's going through the mind of such a young PG with the team acquiring 2 PGs in the offseason.

Chauncy talked about how a talk with Scoot "lite a fire" in him, but that only makes me wonder why the fire wasn't lite before? Hopefully he doesn't start moping. I don't think he will, he doesn't seem like a negative person.

[DusterBuster]

If he gets stretched and released, absolutely. MLE him until he is ready to retire. He has earned that.
If the Blazers have to take on his contract, there should be major concerns on the rebuild plan. Right now, they just need to dump Grant and they are looking at max cap space to acquire talent and/or retain our existing players after next season.

JasonStern, confirmed to be a time traveler.

[DusterBuster]

I am scared to go back and see whatever cringe take I undoubtedly offered here.

This post made me go back as a fun - what was this all about. You'll be pleased to know, there were no cringe takes. Most of this thread was about TRADING for Lillard vs just the idea of having him back in Portland. So more all functional trade talk really by everyone outside just the general thought of a Dame reunion largely by everyone.

Only real post of note was JS's comment I quoted above where it basically nailed everything that ended up happening.

[dckingsfan]

Scoot has Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard as mentors. What more can a point guard ask for?

Playing time

[Crymson]

Scoot has Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard as mentors. What more can a point guard ask for?

For someone to explain what impact mentorship has at the NBA level, because it isn't much given how overwhelmingly a player's ceiling and prospects for success are based upon native talent.

[DusterBuster]

Scoot has Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard as mentors. What more can a point guard ask for?

For someone to explain what impact mentorship has at the NBA level, because it isn't much given how overwhelmingly a player's ceiling and prospects for success are based upon native talent.

The mentorship tends to have more to do with how a player handles themselves in the practice facility and as an overall professional... less so in terms of talent on the court. Players might pick up tendencies from mentors, but by in large, the reason for mentors is for the young and usually immature player to learn from guys who's been in the business for awhile and pick up some of those good habits.

I agree its a little overblown the need for them, but they also don't hurt. Dame constantly credits guys like Earl Watson and Mo Williams as a big influence on him during his early years.

[Crymson]

The mentorship tends to have more to do with how a player handles themselves in the practice facility and as an overall professional... less so in terms of talent on the court. Players might pick up tendencies from mentors, but by in large, the reason for mentors is for the young and usually immature player to learn from guys who's been in the business for awhile and pick up some of those good habits.

Aye. It's mentorship in terms of professionalism, not in terms of skill.

I agree its a little overblown the need for them, but they also don't hurt. Dame constantly credits guys like Earl Watson and Mo Williams as a big influence on him during his early years.

They don't hurt, but learning goes only so far; and in a league that's as insanely talented as the NBA, that "so far" is not far at all. Simply learning from one or the other is unlikely to make a substantive on-court impact for Scoot or for anyone else.

[JRoy]

I've never been sold on Scoot. He was playing better before he was injured, but nothing to get overly excited about.

I agree, but we were sold DRose 2.0, so its time to prove it or shut up. Young PGs take time, I see some things there with Scoot, but man... this is the best talent you can give a young PG to learn from... if he's still not a 15+ppg and showing Amen level improvements by January 2026, trade - his - ass.

His Y1 to Y2 development across the board was tremendous (Raw and advanced stats) - the caveat being the baseline to develop from his rookie year was unbelievably low.

If he can make another jump of similar proportions from Y2 to Y3 then we might have a starter on our hands. If he doesnt, ship him out next summer for a middling FRP.

He could only go up from his rookie year.

He was goddamn terrible. He’s only bad now. Should be mediocre about the time the Thompson boys are getting their first all star games/all defensive teams.