Give Dame a Jimmy Butler and He Can Win a Chip

[GSP]

Jimmy is about the perfect fit for him in the backcourt. They both cover each others flaws and weaknesses well. When Dame gets trapped by 2 Jimmy would carve teams up with his decision making and driving too

Cj just isnt that good. Hes a 3rd/4th option guy on a title team. Blazers have to get a top tier Fa signing or hope Nurk turns into a Jokic level player soon

[Raps in 4]

Dame should come to Toronto, IMO.

But yeah, Dame doesn't need a lot to get over the hump. Hopefully he gets a ring at some point.

[drosereturn]

Dame and Butler would be awesome together, and definite contenders with a passable supporting cast.

Well Portland fans thought CJ was better than Butler at the time and never asked for a trade with the Bulls when he could have had for free.
Too late Riley snaged him at the last minute. Dame will never win anything in Portland.

[zzaj]

Lillard has never had anything resembling a championship level supporting cast.


Him and butler would be awesome. No one can win without a top tier team.

Lillard
CJ/Barton
Wes Mathews
Batum
Aldridge

Was probably the best on paper, and that team was poised for good things...certainly didn't have a bench though, and obviously that was when Lillard was only beginning his rise.

Even though it was partially because of Roy's injury that the Blazers were in a place to even draft Lillard, it would still have been sweet to see those two play together if Roy hadn't been cut short.

[Dominator83]

3 years ago I thought that was the most logical Butler trade idea there was, him for CJ straight up. I got flamed for it by people claiming CJ was better

[Alatan]

Dame got to another level this season. Amazing to watch! He is in my top 10 now and a legit best player on a championship squad. Too bad Portlands roster is badly constructed.

[deepeeenn]

Lillard has never had anything resembling a championship level supporting cast.


Him and butler would be awesome. No one can win without a top tier team.

Lillard
CJ/Barton
Wes Mathews
Batum
Aldridge

Was probably the best on paper, and that team was poised for good things...certainly didn't have a bench though, and obviously that was when Lillard was only beginning his rise.

Even though it was partially because of Roy's injury that the Blazers were in a place to even draft Lillard, it would still have been sweet to see those two play together if Roy hadn't been cut short.

This is all wrong. I can't tell if you are purposely rewriting history or what but that lineup was never on the table. CJ was never starting quality until Aldridge left and was finally healthy enough to play and get minutes. Batum could not consistently play PF and Lamarcus refused to play center.

CJ is and will begrudgingly be best as a 6th man on a title contender unless he gets traded and can prove himself as the lead guard on another team.

As for the last point, it's hard to tell what youre insinuating but drafting Dame came with the Net's pick and Roy's injuries wasn't quite the direct reason it happened. Theoretically it could have still happened if he stayed healthy and the Nets still wanted Gerald Wallace.

[BNM]

I still need to see him play at this level in the playoffs.

If by "at this level" you mean the way Dame is playing now, no one, not one single player in the entire 63 year history of the NBA has played "at this level" during the playoffs.

Only 1 player in NA history has ever averaged at least 50 points and 9 assists over a three game stretch - and Dame just did it, for the second time this season. No one else has ever done it - EVER. The 154 points he just scored are the highest 3 game total to finish a season in NBA history. So yeah, no one has ever played "at this level" in the playoffs.

The playoffs are different. The pace slows down, each possession becomes more valuable, teams have both more rest and more time to prepare between games against the same opponent. So, expecting Lillard (or anyone) to play at "this level" during the playoffs is unreasonable. The sad thing is, even if he does, it's very likely he does not have the supporting cast for a deep playoff run, let alone a championship. As the title of this thread states, he needs a top 2-way wing player and right now, POR doesn't even have a top 1-way wing player.

[dlts20]

I still think that he's tremendously overrated and the Lakers series will again prove that

[whatchaknow]

Dame and Butler would be awesome together, and definite contenders with a passable supporting cast.

Well Portland fans thought CJ was better than Butler at the time and never asked for a trade with the Bulls when he could have had for free.
Too late Riley snaged him at the last minute. Dame will never win anything in Portland.

Yeah butler has drastically improved since then and cj has plateaued. Sometimes you kick yourself for making trades and sometimes you do it for not making the trade. I think dame and jimmys mindset are so much alike and both are killers straight up. Wish they woulda made that trade but I was probably somebody who didn’t want it at the time. Butler didn’t show the playmaking ability at that time. I’m more disappointed they didn’t try that trade with the 6ers tbh. I don’t know what Portland’s options are but i don’t think there’s a butler level player that will be available. Maybe brad Beal but it’s not the same type of player

[BNM]

Dame and Butler would be awesome together, and definite contenders with a passable supporting cast.

Well Portland fans thought CJ was better than Butler at the time and never asked for a trade with the Bulls when he could have had for free.
Too late Riley snaged him at the last minute. Dame will never win anything in Portland.

Yeah butler has drastically improved since then and cj has plateaued. Sometimes you kick yourself for making trades and sometimes you do it for not making the trade. I think dame and jimmys mindset are so much alike and both are killers straight up. Wish they woulda made that trade but I was probably somebody who didn’t want it at the time. Butler didn’t show the playmaking ability at that time. I’m more disappointed they didn’t try that trade with the 6ers tbh. I don’t know what Portland’s options are but i don’t think there’s a butler level player that will be available. Maybe brad Beal but it’s not the same type of player

The non-trade that I wish POR would have made was the one for Paul George. They had three 1st round picks in that draft, but Olshey refused to include C.J. in any trade offer. Obviously, getting Oladipo and Sabonis has worked out well for IND, but at the time of the trade, the general consensus was "that's it???" At the time, three FRPs, plus C.J. and any of Ed Davis, Mo Harkless and Al-Faruq Aminu would have been viewed as a better haul for IND. Gobs of 1st round picks are always enticing to a team entering rebuild mode. In hindsight, Oladipo and Sabonis both turned out way better than they'd previously shown in OKC, so IND didn't actually rebuild, but I think if POR had gone all in at the time, they could have landed Paul George.

As much as I like C.J., Paul George and Jimmy Butler were two of the players I could have gladly traded C.J. (plus a boatload of current and future picks) to land. An elite 2-way wing with size is the perfect compliment to Dame and something POR has lacked his entire career.

[zzaj]

Lillard has never had anything resembling a championship level supporting cast.


Him and butler would be awesome. No one can win without a top tier team.

Lillard
CJ/Barton
Wes Mathews
Batum
Aldridge

Was probably the best on paper, and that team was poised for good things...certainly didn't have a bench though, and obviously that was when Lillard was only beginning his rise.

Even though it was partially because of Roy's injury that the Blazers were in a place to even draft Lillard, it would still have been sweet to see those two play together if Roy hadn't been cut short.

This is all wrong. I can't tell if you are purposely rewriting history or what but that lineup was never on the table. CJ was never starting quality until Aldridge left and was finally healthy enough to play and get minutes. Batum could not consistently play PF and Lamarcus refused to play center.

CJ is and will begrudgingly be best as a 6th man on a title contender unless he gets traded and can prove himself as the lead guard on another team.

As for the last point, it's hard to tell what youre insinuating but drafting Dame came with the Net's pick and Roy's injuries wasn't quite the direct reason it happened. Theoretically it could have still happened if he stayed healthy and the Nets still wanted Gerald Wallace.

Sigh, I'm not going to defend in detail a position I never took. I said, "on paper". Reality is of course almost never as good as on paper. If I was trying to rewrite history, I'm sure I could come up with something better than this...

I agree and have always taken that stance on CJ. His best role in the NBA is scoring 6th man a la Lou Will, IMHO.

As for Roy, I was quite clearly playing the "what if" game...since this whole thread is about matching up Lillard with another all around player in Butler.

[Spintown]

First trade is good value wise for Portland, but leaves a hole with the bigs. I see that you tried to fill that hole with Horford, but the value on that trade is way off. Richardson is a potential rental for Portland, which means we just swapped CJ for an aging Horford. I think that big lineup gets smoked. It would need to be something around Harris/Richardson for CJ/asset (17th pick?).

Dame/Simons
Richardson/Trent
Brown/Hood
Harris/Melo
Whiteside

Still not ideal with Whiteside as the only center, but something Portland would have to consider because of the rest of the lineup.

Then you can sign former oregon duck Jordan Bell for pretty cheap. You can always find serviceable bigs in the free agent market like Joakim Noah, Marquis Chriss, Noel

Serviceable bigs like Bell are fine on a stacked team like the Warriors were. Like I said, I'd consider the trades I proposed, but the Horford based trade is a non-starter for Portland, and the first trade you proposed (involving Brown) only happens if Portland has a better backup plan for losing our bigs than Horford.

Well CJ and his contract have a net negative value, You would be lucky to move that contract now without giving up picks. The trade I proposed gets them out of that contract which is the biggest thing. Horford While also a bad contract he atleast fills a position of need for the blazers and if it doesnt work out he would be more willing to take a buyout. A big rotation of Whiteside/Horford/Noah (or Bell) is pretty good defensively in this day and age you need mostly rim protectors and lob finishers and Horford can also strecth the floor.

Maybe you can keep Collins from the First trade, but I doubt Celtics would be willing to trade Brown for Nurkic straight up.

[picc]

I still need to see him play at this level in the playoffs.

If by "at this level" you mean the way Dame is playing now, no one, not one single player in the entire 63 year history of the NBA has played "at this level" during the playoffs.

Only 1 player in NA history has ever averaged at least 50 points and 9 assists over a three game stretch - and Dame just did it, for the second time this season. No one else has ever done it - EVER. The 154 points he just scored are the highest 3 game total to finish a season in NBA history. So yeah, no one has ever played "at this level" in the playoffs.

The playoffs are different. The pace slows down, each possession becomes more valuable, teams have both more rest and more time to prepare between games against the same opponent. So, expecting Lillard (or anyone) to play at "this level" during the playoffs is unreasonable. The sad thing is, even if he does, it's very likely he does not have the supporting cast for a deep playoff run, let alone a championship. As the title of this thread states, he needs a top 2-way wing player and right now, POR doesn't even have a top 1-way wing player.

I mean his overall season level. Obviously i dont expect him to average 45ppg.

[JRoy]

Then you can sign former oregon duck Jordan Bell for pretty cheap. You can always find serviceable bigs in the free agent market like Joakim Noah, Marquis Chriss, Noel

Serviceable bigs like Bell are fine on a stacked team like the Warriors were. Like I said, I'd consider the trades I proposed, but the Horford based trade is a non-starter for Portland, and the first trade you proposed (involving Brown) only happens if Portland has a better backup plan for losing our bigs than Horford.

Well CJ and his contract have a net negative value, You would be lucky to move that contract now without giving up picks. The trade I proposed gets them out of that contract which is the biggest thing. Horford While also a bad contract he atleast fills a position of need for the blazers and if it doesnt work out he would be more willing to take a buyout. A big rotation of Whiteside/Horford/Noah (or Bell) is pretty good defensively in this day and age you need mostly rim protectors and lob finishers and Horford can also strecth the floor.

Maybe you can keep Collins from the First trade, but I doubt Celtics would be willing to trade Brown for Nurkic straight up.

So POR should trade for Horford so that maybe they can give him a buyout.

Straight trash.

Horford Is Phillys problem without serious incentive.

[sule]

I think Portland's ideal build around the Dame/CJ/Nurkic pairing should've been to fill the rest of the roster with defensive studs. Just build the strongest defensive team around those guys. If the rest of the roster isn't going to be relied on to score much, then the obvious move forward is to have guys who can stop the other team while being able to hit a few baskets here and there. Ideally 3+D, but you really want them for the defense and the 3 is just a bonus.

And then spend on scouting and spend your drafts selecting the players with the highest offensive potential in the first round and highest defensive potential in the second round.

I don't think Butler would've been the answer to propel them into a championship contender, unless you're just straight up adding him to the roster without having to remove any other elements (namely, CJ). Butler just added to that roster would have to play defensive specialist anyway, which is why I made the point of why I would've just filled the roster with defensive specialists around their current core.

[Brofessor24]

Maybe, maybe not.

[The_Hater]

Sorry, but Dame isn’t likely winning a crown with Jimmy Butler. That’s a long shot combination at best.

Teams with 2 top 12-15 players but zero top 5 players are usually contenders, but rarely champions. Bron, Curry, Kawhi, KD. They’ve been hoarding the recent championships and Giannis might join them this season.

[BNM]

I still need to see him play at this level in the playoffs.

If by "at this level" you mean the way Dame is playing now, no one, not one single player in the entire 63 year history of the NBA has played "at this level" during the playoffs.

Only 1 player in NA history has ever averaged at least 50 points and 9 assists over a three game stretch - and Dame just did it, for the second time this season. No one else has ever done it - EVER. The 154 points he just scored are the highest 3 game total to finish a season in NBA history. So yeah, no one has ever played "at this level" in the playoffs.

The playoffs are different. The pace slows down, each possession becomes more valuable, teams have both more rest and more time to prepare between games against the same opponent. So, expecting Lillard (or anyone) to play at "this level" during the playoffs is unreasonable. The sad thing is, even if he does, it's very likely he does not have the supporting cast for a deep playoff run, let alone a championship. As the title of this thread states, he needs a top 2-way wing player and right now, POR doesn't even have a top 1-way wing player.

I mean his overall season level. Obviously i dont expect him to average 45ppg.

He did in the 1st round against OKC last year (33.0 ppg on .624 TS%). Here's hoping he repeats that performance in the 1st round this year. If he does, will you give the man his due?

[Spintown]

Serviceable bigs like Bell are fine on a stacked team like the Warriors were. Like I said, I'd consider the trades I proposed, but the Horford based trade is a non-starter for Portland, and the first trade you proposed (involving Brown) only happens if Portland has a better backup plan for losing our bigs than Horford.

Well CJ and his contract have a net negative value, You would be lucky to move that contract now without giving up picks. The trade I proposed gets them out of that contract which is the biggest thing. Horford While also a bad contract he atleast fills a position of need for the blazers and if it doesnt work out he would be more willing to take a buyout. A big rotation of Whiteside/Horford/Noah (or Bell) is pretty good defensively in this day and age you need mostly rim protectors and lob finishers and Horford can also strecth the floor.

Maybe you can keep Collins from the First trade, but I doubt Celtics would be willing to trade Brown for Nurkic straight up.

So POR should trade for Horford so that maybe they can give him a buyout.

Straight trash.

Horford Is Phillys problem without serious incentive.

POR gets Josh Richardson and Al Horford for CJ. Josh Richardson can cover the other teams best guard and be that 3-D to play off of Dame. Also don't worry about POR saying no to this trade, just checked with my friend thats a sixers fan and he said no to this trade cause of CJ's contract.