Dame requests a trade.

[GEE]

Regardless of any reports, the facts remain that Dame and Cronin met on Monday. What was discussed between the two will likely never be known for sure, but one would assume that the teams' plans going forward were known by Dame at that time, but Dame choose to wait until today to make a request. Had Dame made it prior to the start of free-agency, the organization likely could have done more but were held a bit hostage.

No doubt in my mind that waiting hurt the organization at least a little, and Dame must have known as much. So here we are... I think we have no obligation to take a crap offer from MIami to appease Dame 100% at this point, but rather request a list of teams he'd like. Cronin simply tells Dame after getting list that we will ultimately do what is best for this organization, while getting you to a "preferred destination". Hoping that ends up being Brooklyn. I still think it's the best fit for both teams, and Dame.

He wanted draymond and grant we missed out on draymond

Trading at all with Golden State is highly unlikely in many people's opinion I think, but getting Draymond away from the Warriors never had more than 1% chance happening. Just unrealistic expectations if true.

[KL78192020]

Lowery, Herro, Robinson and picks for Lillard and Nurkic. I suspect that’s the trade.

Gotta get Jovic in there as well, Heat are usually decent and drafting and he could be a stud.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Unless Miami can magically get out of that pick they owe to OKC then there is no way they can make us a even halfway decent offer. Swaps are useless and so the earliest thing they would be offering is a 2027 pick 4 years away that would almost certainly be in the 20's. That is too long to wait for compensation for Lillard. I would be surprised if Herro returned a pick and cap-space, maybe if we turned him into a worse contract we could get a late 1st out of him which is not a huge positive he brings to the table.

Of course OKC is not going to play nice if it all hinges on them so Miami is probably SOL

[KL78192020]

Unless Miami can magically get out of that pick they owe to OKC then there is no way they can make us a even halfway decent offer. Swaps are useless and so the earliest thing they would be offering is a 2027 pick 4 years away that would almost certainly be in the 20's. That is too long to wait for compensation for Lillard. I would be surprised if Herro returned a pick and cap-space, maybe if we turned him into a worse contract we could get a late 1st out of him which is not a huge positive he brings to the table.

Of course OKC is not going to play nice if it all hinges on them so Miami is probably SOL

If OKC doesn't help them than I guess they can trade the 2028 pick and 2030 pick unprotected? And swaps for 2027 and 2029. I don't think they can trade the 2027 pick because if they give up the 2026 pick you can't trade a pick in back to back years.

Blazers should also ask for the rights to Jaime Jaquez Jr. and get Jovic as well. So thats about 4 first round picks/players in value?

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Unless Miami can magically get out of that pick they owe to OKC then there is no way they can make us a even halfway decent offer. Swaps are useless and so the earliest thing they would be offering is a 2027 pick 4 years away that would almost certainly be in the 20's. That is too long to wait for compensation for Lillard. I would be surprised if Herro returned a pick and cap-space, maybe if we turned him into a worse contract we could get a late 1st out of him which is not a huge positive he brings to the table.

Of course OKC is not going to play nice if it all hinges on them so Miami is probably SOL

If OKC doesn't help them than I guess they can trade the 2028 pick and 2030 pick unprotected? And swaps for 2027 and 2029. I don't think they can trade the 2027 pick because if they give up the 2026 pick you can't trade a pick in back to back years.

Blazers should also ask for the rights to Jaime Jaquez Jr. and get Jovic as well. So thats about 4 first round picks/players in value?

I don't quite know the rules around when you can use the "two years after previous obligation" language with pick protections but you are right Portland wouldn't have a fully unprotected pick until 2028 since 2 years is still a long time out and the Heat could miss the 2025 playoffs if the cards don't fall right for them after this Dame trade.

In either case, from Portlands POV its the same.. too little way too late.

[Dame Lizard]

I think him waiting until the morning after getting Grant 160 million over five years was **** for him to do. I think then leaking it to the public via Haynes was also **** to do - because of the aforementioned Grant signing.

I'm a big Dame fan. I do think the organization, specifically Olshey, failed him. And I don't mind the trade request in and of itself. But I don't think they give Grant 5/160 without Dame's signoff and so I think it's **** of him to wait until that's in place then publicly request a trade. I've been a bit frustrated by his comments since the end of the season of not wanting to play with 19 year olds, which I did feel did Portland a bit of a disservice since teams knew Portland was desperate - I think I made a comment about this in early June or late May when I gregariously wrote that he needed to stop saying it, even though I got his frustration.

Each of those components separate and by themselves I don't mind. Giving Grant 160/5 is rough to see and I think a bad contract, but I'm happy for Jerami he got paid. Power to him. Dame requesting a trade, I get it. Sad day, but I get it. Dame leaking it to Haynes, we all knew that was coming if it ever happened. Expected and no hard feelings. Combined together? Feels kind of **** by Dame.

Prior to this I was fine with making sure he got to Miami, but with the Grant stuff in place I now hope POrtland finds the best deal possible. I don't have faith in Cronin to get that done, but I will hope.

Thanks for the eleven years, Dame. Disappointed it kind of ended with him helping saddle Portland to Grant for that length of time.

I give Dame the benefit of the doubt here in that I think Portland was gonna sign Grant anyway. A few reasons for this.

Teams have to hit the salary floor and Grant is a solid enough player that he can still be moved. So the Blazers had incentives not to let him walk. But beyond that, simply resigning Grant with Lillard doesn't make the Blazers contenders.

My guess is there were other threads out there and both parties waited until those loops were closed before Dame made the request.

The timing and optics are suspect but I don't think anyone did the other party dirty here. It's a clean break. I'm gonna miss watching him play here.

There's a big difference, though, of 'meeting the salary floor' versus '160 million over 5 years.'. Now if that fifth year isn't guaranteed, okay, that's a vastly changed scenario. And no, resigning Grant doesn't make the Blazers contenders even with Dame, but it's a piece.

I doubt we'll ever know the truth, but looks dirty from Dame's end at his moment.

The fifth year also really annoys me. 4 years @ 32m per year is a lot better, as Scoot and Sharpe's rookie deals would be covering basically Grant's contract up until he's an expiring.

I do think there's a good chance that Portland signed Grant for 5/160 knowing Dame may ask out. Common sense would show that it was a huge risk. I'm actually ok with Grant being here with the young guys, provided he doesn't ask out and we have to attach value to ship him out in the future.

Hardcore tanking makes sense when you don't have elite prospects. However, we have Sharpe and Scoot: two elite prospects. I'm happy for them to grow into their NBA career in a somewhat competitive environment, where we may win a few more games than if we didn't sign Grant. So either:
1) We play absolutely terrible and effectively naturally tank anyway: or
2) Grant plays well for us and help us to win some games, which should make him quite tradeable, and also gives the youngsters some good lessons + helps sell seats (which is a huge negative of tanking from a commercial perspective).

The bad situation is if we actually perform well (because of Sharpe/Scoot/Simons) but Grant is playing poorly. I suppose Sharpe/Scoot/Simons winning us games and show elite promise would still make us happy overall, albeit that wouldn't look well for the Grant contract......

[The Sebastian Express]

Read on Twitter

[Dame Lizard]

If I was Cronin and thankfully I'm not, I would make a statement saying Dame SITS until he is traded, no practice, no games, NO NOTHING!!! His locker is EMPTY until he is traded for what I feel is fair compensation and I'm willing to have him sit ALL of next year. Hehehe

I’m also thankful you’re not the GM. Any GM willing to do this to a franchises best player ever shouldn’t have a job.

Agree.

Not only would it be insulting to do this for a player who has carried Portland on his back for a decade, but that would also reflect poorly on other free agents wanting to consider joining Portland in the future (not that we're an attractive FA destination anyway.....).

It would also probably tank Dame's value more, as the situation could get toxic.

[The Sebastian Express]

I will say this news is somehow far less (to me) traumatic than LMA leaving for nothing. I think having Scoot and Shaedon here alleviates and dampens the unfortunate pain a lot. I'm not even brooding like I was when LaMarcus left.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I'm OK with a little bit of hardball with Dame. The way he made this request, after we started our free agent moves and by naming a location that does not have the assets to make a fair deal, puts us in a tough spot. Loyalty is great but its a two way street and defined not by when things are going well but by when they get difficult. Lillard could have played this many other ways that would have made this easier on us but he did not. We are under no obligation to take a bad deal and if that means the GM has to play the bad guy then I think the GM still needs to step up and do that. It sucks but Lillard created this situation by going public when and how he did. If he had been clear on this decision much much earlier it would be a different ball game, it would have shown respect for us and our time, but he wasted it for us a little bit. I will love Lillard forever he was one of the greatest Blazers and one of my favorite franchise faces but break-ups are hard and doesn't mean we should get walked all over.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Just to be clear, that doesn't mean we have to be malicious toward Dame. We need to still be respectful and work with him. But I do maintain we don't have to take the deal he most wants us to take, we need to watch out for our future as well.

[The Sebastian Express]

I'm OK with a little bit of hardball with Dame. The way he made this request, after we started our free agent moves and by naming a location that does not have the assets to make a fair deal, puts us in a tough spot. Loyalty is great but its a two way street and defined not by when things are going well but by when they get difficult. Lillard could have played this many other ways that would have made this easier on us but he did not. We are under no obligation to take a bad deal and if that means the GM has to play the bad guy then I think the GM still needs to step up and do that. It sucks but Lillard created this situation by going public when and how he did. If he had been clear on this decision much much earlier it would be a different ball game, it would have shown respect for us and our time, but he wasted it for us a little bit. I will love Lillard forever he was one of the greatest Blazers and one of my favorite franchise faces but break-ups are hard and doesn't mean we should get walked all over.

Exactly. Like I was trying to explain on the trade board to some people who are aghast that some of us are critiquing him: you can love someone and still criticize their current actions.

I love Dame. I love everything he's done. But I think the combination of trade request (which is fine and don't blame him) + being AFTER Grant resigned for 160 (don't blame Jerami for getting all the money) + leaking it publicly through Haynes (we all expected this) = that creates fair reason to critique Dame.

Also a little perplexed he sent Goodwin to deliver the request, but maybe that's just formality.

[PDXKnight]

Read on Twitter

Code for miami and Riley are lowballiny trying to take advantage of the situation imo

[Jsun947]

Unless Miami can magically get out of that pick they owe to OKC then there is no way they can make us a even halfway decent offer. Swaps are useless and so the earliest thing they would be offering is a 2027 pick 4 years away that would almost certainly be in the 20's. That is too long to wait for compensation for Lillard. I would be surprised if Herro returned a pick and cap-space, maybe if we turned him into a worse contract we could get a late 1st out of him which is not a huge positive he brings to the table.

Of course OKC is not going to play nice if it all hinges on them so Miami is probably SOL

It is in OKC's BEST interest to modify their pick with the Heat. The pick OKC owns is lottery protected in 2025.

If the pick is NOT conveyed in 2025 it becomes an UNPROTECTED 2026 1st rounder, the season when Dame is 35 and Butler is 36. This is the same season when Dame, Butler, and Bam combined salary is $148 million dollars, meaning they'll have limited capability to construct as competitive of a team. There is a very, very, very strong likelihood that the pick in 2026 will be meaningfully better than the pick in 2025. This is also by far the best draft coming in the next 3 years that many scouts project as having franchise player talent. That's the pick OKC will want.

Frankly, if we could pull it off we'd be better off convincing Miami to make the 2025 pick to OKC unprotected, and then giving us swap rights in 2026. I just don't think OKC would go for that given the prospects expected to be in the 2025 and 2026 draft.

[PDXKnight]

Just to be clear, that doesn't mean we have to be malicious toward Dame. We need to still be respectful and work with him. But I do maintain we don't have to take the deal he most wants us to take, we need to watch out for our future as well.

100 percent

[DaVoiceMaster]

I would prefer a trade with Brooklyn, even if it includes Simmons, so long as there is additional compensation. I would lump Nurkic in the deal, as well and take back young players and a multitude of picks. I want Clowney, as well.

Is it too late to S&T Grant? Is the ink dry already? I would have sent all 3 players to Brooklyn. They would have had a good starting lineup.

[Jsun947]

I would prefer a trade with Brooklyn, even if it includes Simmons, so long as there is additional compensation. I would lump Nurkic in the deal, as well and take back young players and a multitude of picks. I want Clowney, as well.

Is it too late to S&T Grant? Is the ink dry already? I would have sent all 3 players to Brooklyn. They would have had a good starting lineup.

If Grant was on board it wouldn't be too late to S&T him to another team.

[Case2012]

There’s zero excuse for this kind of failure. I like Shaedon, I’m sure scoot is gonna be good but we had those pieces, plus future picks if we had traded the 23 plus another small asset to improve the team dramatically. Every year, some team like the lakers or Phoenix or Boston or Miami gets better, but we didn’t even try. Yet we’re somehow supposed to support this team when they lied to our faces for years? Total incompetence from the FO and clear cash grabs by ownership. that’s all we’ve gotten. The league needs to step in and force a sale. It’s clear what PA intentions were and Jody is just driving the franchise into the ground.

[Jsun947]

There’s zero excuse for this kind of failure. I like Shaedon, I’m sure scoot is gonna be good but we had those pieces, plus future picks if we had traded the 23 plus another small asset to improve the team dramatically. Every year, some team like the lakers or Phoenix or Boston or Miami gets better, but we didn’t even try. Yet we’re somehow supposed to support this team when they lied to our faces for years? Total incompetence from the FO and clear cash grabs by ownership. that’s all we’ve gotten. The league needs to step in and force a sale. It’s clear what PA intentions were and Jody is just driving the franchise into the ground.

Exactly what trades were we supposed to make, that we didn't?

[DusterBuster]

I would prefer a trade with Brooklyn, even if it includes Simmons, so long as there is additional compensation. I would lump Nurkic in the deal, as well and take back young players and a multitude of picks. I want Clowney, as well.

Is it too late to S&T Grant? Is the ink dry already? I would have sent all 3 players to Brooklyn. They would have had a good starting lineup.

It does sounds like Dame and the team are open to other teams than Miami, so sounds like the Blazers will have some leverage for good return (hopefully).

JakeFisher is saying a potentials sign and trade of Grant could be on the table. Deals aren’t inked until the 7th, so still time to do something there. Not entirely done Grant stays here at this point.

Hard to know who might want him at the price, but as Zach Lowe pointed out, the cap looks primed to go up 7-10% yoy, so even at like 32-35mil, towards the end of his deal, he’s still only paid like a 3rd guy for most teams. Fans just need to wrap their head around the new reality of NBA salaries, right now it looks bad because old cba contracts are mixed in with these new reality cap contracts.

But back to Dame, sounds like the zers have some flexibility with his landing spot and it’s not Miami or bust. Hopefully that means a good return and they’re looking for star player return like KD got according to Woj. Also looking to reroute Herro if they do a Miami deal according to reports from the corpse of Twitter.