Damian Lillard Trade Request Part 3

[OakleyDokely]

This seems to be a POR problem not a Riley or Masai problem.

POR told Lillard they'd improve the team at the draft and did nothing. They told Lillard they'd improve the team during the offseason and did nothing. They've dragged this entire process to almost October with no decision in sight.

IMO Dame caused this problem. Had a chance to become an UFA but kept signing max extensions on a middling club, then demands out. I'll keep my mouth shut if we get him but wont sympathize with him as long as he plays for another team.

Lillard's 1 team trade list is a problem as well.

Blaming Masai or Pat through the media for all this is ridiculous.

[nivisi9]

Any updates or more recent reports today?

[Dalek]

Nah. His takes and predictions arent necessarily always accurate(nba history is his true forte)but he's "in". He calls things before they happen a lot of times I've noticed. Not as reports but just things he'll say nonchalantly.

I mean Simmons' publication 'The Ringer' wrote about how Toronto should go all-in for Lillard back in July. I still agree with their reasoning.

Trade proposal:

Raptors get: Damian Lillard, Nassir Little
Blazers get: Scottie Barnes, Gary Trent Jr., Chris Boucher, Thaddeus Young, Otto Porter Jr., Toronto’s unprotected first-round pick in 2028, and a pick swap in 2029

Let’s first look at it from Portland’s viewpoint. This is the best realistic trade offer the rebuilding Blazers can get for a 6-foot-2 33-year-old who’s guaranteed $58.5 million in 2026 and $63.2 million in 2027. It beats anything Miami or Philadelphia can currently put on the table, and beats the most sensible bundle of assets that Utah, Boston, or Brooklyn could bear to surrender.

Toronto's benefits:

Moving Pascal Siakam is no longer necessary. Toronto’s star forward is about to enter the final season of his contract. Suddenly, with Lillard in tow, re-signing him to a long-term deal is a no-brainer. Worrying about an overpay for O.G. Anunoby becomes irrelevant when you’re all in, too.

The timeline would peel down. The path would be set. Lillard fills the superduperstar vacuum that Kawhi Leonard’s departure created in 2019. Conveniently enough, on the Raptors, Lillard would also slide onto a roster that ameliorates some of his most visible shortcomings. Anunoby and Siakam are perfect as long, versatile wing defenders who can ease his burden on the defensive end and diversify how Toronto wants to attack. Jakob Poeltl makes perfect sense, too, as a trustworthy pick-and-roll partner and sturdy rim protector.

Dennis Schröder can fall back into a more logical role as one of the league’s peskier and most potent backup point guards. Jalen McDaniels, Precious Achiuwa, Christian Koloko, and Little are not to be dismissed, and should Gradey Dick’s shooting enter the equation, all the better.

The price tag for all of this would be hard to swallow, especially with the increased leverage Anunoby and Siakam would have negotiating their next deals. But if Lillard looks anything like he did last season (which was the best of his career) over the next few years, the Raptors could vault into contention, able to compete with and even beat Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Boston, and Cleveland. (Miami would be in significant trouble if this trade actually happened.) More win-now trades can always happen, too.

https://www.theringer.com/sports/2023/7/13/23793048/damian-lillard-nba-trade-rumors-toronto-raptors

[pharring]

Read on Twitter

I have a guy in my fantasy league that spends all season sending out ridiculously lop-sided trade proposals to every team. Over and over. For someone like me who follows closely (though I admit I get a bit too attached to my pre-draft rankings) this is annoying. But every year, there are one or two trades that he proposes that do get accepted.

You know what else? Dude has won our league more times than I can count.

Maybe these stupid trade proposals are just his way of easing into work every day... or maybe they are proof that he knows exactly who everyone has and what their needs are at any given time. And all it takes is one manager semi-asleep at the wheel. I dunno. But can't argue with results.

I think the problem that Masai ultimately runs into is that the days of the "semi-asleep" manager are likely over. Too many assistants, scouts, number crunchers and moneyballers involved in decision-making. And you can only fleece the James Dolan's of the world...uh... twice... before they catch on. So Masai has to be on the lookout for opportunities to pounce on depreciated assets (like Kawhi). It will be interesting to see if it is the market for Dame that is, in fact, depreciated enough for Masai to pull off a steal.

[Boselecta]

Read on Twitter

Other side of this are the other teams just sitting on offers and not making a decision so he backs out

Going back to the fantasy example I really hate when guys sit on offers for days. Like I know you’re checking your phone every hour so I just back out. Your loss maybe next time you’ll get it together.

[KrazyP]

It's very easy to Google the roster Butler has played with over the last four years vs the other players and how good they ended up being when the season ended.

Butler played with Embiid and Simmons in their primes and made the 2nd round. He has failures just like any other player.

Saying Butler lifts his team up and suggesting someone like Tatum does not is crazy to me

Wolves 2017-2018 - first time since 2004 that team made the playoffs was with Jimmy Butler

Philly - 2018-2019 - best player Embiid has ever played with - team ended up losing on a last second shot in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the eventual Champions and probably gave them the most trouble along the way because of Butler

Miami - Has made the Eastern Conference finals twice and the finals twice with the best players he had played with being Bam and Tyler Herro/Kyle Lowry.

He's no slouch lol. He has consistently shown he can raise teams. He may not be a tier 1 superstar but something about the way he plays has a huge impact on even mediocre rosters.

Tatum is 25 and has already had some playoff success. His career trajectory looks solid.

Butler really didn’t do anything in the playoffs until he was like 30 yrs old.

[causal_fan]

This seems to be a POR problem not a Riley or Masai problem.

POR told Lillard they'd improve the team at the draft and did nothing. They told Lillard they'd improve the team during the offseason and did nothing. They've dragged this entire process to almost October with no decision in sight.

IMO Dame caused this problem. Had a chance to become an UFA but kept signing max extensions on a middling club, then demands out. I'll keep my mouth shut if we get him but wont sympathize with him as long as he plays for another team.

I don't blame Dame or Portland - for years now the talking heads in the media especially ESPN have been urging/demanding that Dame should demand a trade, some even questioning his manhood/commitment to winning - I think this constant barrage eventually wore Dame down but I think he was happy in Portland.

[OakleyDokely]

POR has probably been sitting on offers for months and it's their right to do so. But the other teams also have the right to move on at some point.

[Raps in 4]

Miami getting Dame for a poo-poo platter is not good for the NBA.

What's the point in having CBA's and long-term deals when guys can whine their way out to their preferred destination once they get paid.

It's a miracle we even won in 2019 tbh.

Dame isn't worth much more than a poo-poo platter at his age and with his contract. I'm sure our offer was junk too.

This trade doesn't elevate Miami to favourites. It just makes them a more serious contender.

[ItsDanger]

Portland traded CJ & Norm in 2022 trade deadline. Sharpe drafted June, 2022. Dame signed his extension July, 2022 when he would be UFA in 2023.

Its likely none of us know the truth given the limited information. But the above 3 facts about the timeline should be viewed without bias. Thats the pattern of a rebuild from Portland and its the pattern of a player maxing out on earnings.

[WuTang_CMB]

OG is the best player on the table right now and makes sense for POR long term. They don't like Herro and their package stinks. I think Masai is only giving up OG and Trent and holding out Gradey

[tdotrep2]

i dont feel comfortable going into next year with siakam, og and gary on expirings

[Tor_Raps]

i dont feel comfortable going into next year with siakam, og and gary on expirings

If we don't make any moved, contract extensions better be agreed to asap. It'll be a fireable offense if we lose Siakam or OG for nothing in free agency.

[Vampirate]

I'm ready for:

Poeltl
Siakam
OG
GTJ/Schroeder
Barnes

Should be an exciting season.

I just want the Dame thing over with already, one way or another and to see what Barnes does as a Raptor this year.

If you aren't trading Dame, then please just announce it. It's perfectly reasonable to keep him till the trade deadline.

[brownbobcat]

This seems to be a POR problem not a Riley or Masai problem.

POR told Lillard they'd improve the team at the draft and did nothing. They told Lillard they'd improve the team during the offseason and did nothing. They've dragged this entire process to almost October with no decision in sight.

IMO Dame caused this problem. Had a chance to become an UFA but kept signing max extensions on a middling club, then demands out. I'll keep my mouth shut if we get him but wont sympathize with him as long as he plays for another team.

Lillard's 1 team trade list is a problem as well.

Blaming Masai or Pat through the media for all this is ridiculous.

The trade list is somewhat silly, but also irrelevant in some ways. It doesn't sound like any other team is throwing the kitchen sink at Portland and there just aren't a ton of situations out there which match up with timelines, competitiveness, assets and fit. Possibly Boston and Philly?

[dTox]

Read on Twitter

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[MiamiSPX]

i dont feel comfortable going into next year with siakam, og and gary on expirings

If we don't make any moved, contract extensions better be agreed to asap. It'll be a fireable offense if we lose Siakam or OG for nothing in free agency.

OG will not take his 4 / 114M extension. He would be a fool to take that.

Although Grange reported otherwise, I don't think Siakam takes the 4 / 192M he's eligible for right now. He can try for the supermax and failing that, he would still be eligible for 5 / 250-ish. He just has to put up numbers similar to the last 2 seasons and someone will give him that. All it takes is one, as we saw with FVV (lol).

I completely agree with your last statement.

[PhilBlackson]

i dont feel comfortable going into next year with siakam, og and gary on expirings

Especially when every single one of them have had their names in trade rumours over the past 2 years...

I mean Masai can't be so jaded by his own hype that he really thinks he can just brush all these KD, Dame and even Scott rumours that involved all of them and none of them refuted with best 2 of the 3 players being the most heavily shopped.

At BARE MINIMUM, one of Pascal (more likely) or OG would need to be traded just to safeguard the catastrophic downside whichever remaining player(s) decide to walk. Masai & Bobby have backed themselves into a corner where they have NO CHOICE but to move in one direction or the other, if not but especially because they had AMPLE opportunity to go either direction but led to the team bleeding out, that is a FIREABLE offence (period), there is no arguement for not being turfed if they squandered literally almost everything from that 2019 squad..

[tecumseh18]

Read on Twitter

Other side of this are the other teams just sitting on offers and not making a decision so he backs out

Going back to the fantasy example I really hate when guys sit on offers for days. Like I know you’re checking your phone every hour so I just back out. Your loss maybe next time you’ll get it together.

It's like actually playing the game. You force guys to make a fast decision, and that's when they're most likely to make a mistake. I like it.

[carlosey]

lol imagine thinking that Masai or anyone for that matter is going to offer anything and then sit around while its obvious POR shops that offer around. Of course you have to make them realize the offer is off the table if they play around. Either that reporter, or the POR front office, are really bad at business.