Dame requests a trade.

[DiegoChara]

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. Also, some teams don't like to go full youth when they rebuild so the young players have role models. Look at the Knicks. Blazers strike me as that sort of org.

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.

Grant on this reported contract would require multiple picks to move. He’s not a bad player but he’s a negative value contract without a doubt.

Just front load it to the max and with an 8-10% cap increase each yr in a couple of years its very tradeable. I don't like it but there will be a salary floor after the first yr or two contracts (involved in Dame trade) settle out and we'll need to meet it. Gotta have a few solid vets with the young guys.

Front loading would definitely make the best of the bad situation.

[DusterBuster]

Grant on this reported contract would require multiple picks to move. He’s not a bad player but he’s a negative value contract without a doubt.

There's always going to be teams who are trying to improve and need a wing who will trade expiring contracts for a guy like Grant. The only caveat for that is players with significant injury or character issues.

We're more likely to get picks for him, second rounders, a protected first, etc then give up picks to move him.

Yeah, there’s absolutely no chance of that. Just float it around the trade board and see.

The trade board is a joke. Anyone going there for any sort of actual insight is super misguided

[The Sebastian Express]

Since the trade board is trying to float a story from Marc Spears and Kendrick Perkins that Dame actually made this request Monday, I do want to point this out here like I did on the trade board. I'll just paste my statement:

"Also I just wanted to point out. In the article Chris Haynes, who is connected to Dame as you all know from us by now, he writes that Aaron Goodwin (Dame's agent) delivered the request to Joe Cronin this morning. So that's part of the reason I don't buy the Monday bit from ESPN."

[DiegoChara]

There's always going to be teams who are trying to improve and need a wing who will trade expiring contracts for a guy like Grant. The only caveat for that is players with significant injury or character issues.

We're more likely to get picks for him, second rounders, a protected first, etc then give up picks to move him.

Yeah, there’s absolutely no chance of that. Just float it around the trade board and see.

The trade board is a joke. Anyone going there for any sort of actual insight is super misguided

Nah, it’s a bunch of people who pay pretty close attention to the league and the transaction side of it. Sure, it’s not flawless, but it definitely provides a more balanced perspective on what fans of other teams think.

[zzaj]

I'm not questioning Grant's fit as a professional at all, but I do question his fit in helping us bottom out! And taking away shots from the young guys!

ps this just makes me more upset about the Watford stuff yesterday. Sigh.

The Watford move is still bafflingly stupid but utterly predictable from a GM who’s in over his head like Crolshey.

Also, I don’t think Grant will be enough of a difference maker to change their fortunes. wasn’t the case in Detroit and don’t see it here here.

That’s actually true…Grant hasn’t ever contributed to a winning team.

[DusterBuster]

I'm not questioning Grant's fit as a professional at all, but I do question his fit in helping us bottom out! And taking away shots from the young guys!

ps this just makes me more upset about the Watford stuff yesterday. Sigh.

The Watford move is still bafflingly stupid but utterly predictable from a GM who’s in over his head like Crolshey.

Also, I don’t think Grant will be enough of a difference maker to change their fortunes. wasn’t the case in Detroit and don’t see it here here.

That’s actually true…Grant hasn’t ever contributed to a winning team.

He did with the KD / Russ Thunder

[Blazers98]

Raptors would give you OG, precious, koloko, dick and pick

Honestly, OG would be great and Portland would/should do this. No future first rounders, just salary cap filler and I'm fine.
I hear OG wants a larger role. Dame would make Toronto an instant contender.
We have a great young core of :
Scoot
Sharpe
OG
and Ant as a 6th man.

[kdawg32086]

The Watford move is still bafflingly stupid but utterly predictable from a GM who’s in over his head like Crolshey.

Also, I don’t think Grant will be enough of a difference maker to change their fortunes. wasn’t the case in Detroit and don’t see it here here.

That’s actually true…Grant hasn’t ever contributed to a winning team.

He did with the KD / Russ Thunder

KD was gone before Grant got to OKC. Are you thinking of the Thunder with Russ/PG/Carmelo?

[The Sebastian Express]

I will admit it's a little funny Haynes has been saying for two weeks that Dame doesn't want to play on a team with three all-stars and he just wants a chance (which is entirely fair), but then he wants to go to Miami and Miami alone. Which would mean..

Three all-stars..

I do get a bit of a chuckle out of that one.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I'm not questioning Grant's fit as a professional at all, but I do question his fit in helping us bottom out! And taking away shots from the young guys!

ps this just makes me more upset about the Watford stuff yesterday. Sigh.

The Watford move is still bafflingly stupid but utterly predictable from a GM who’s in over his head like Crolshey.

Also, I don’t think Grant will be enough of a difference maker to change their fortunes. wasn’t the case in Detroit and don’t see it here here.

I missed it, what was up with Watford? Was there more than us just waiving him and letting him walk?

The trade board is a joke. Anyone going there for any sort of actual insight is super misguided

Nah, it’s a bunch of people who pay pretty close attention to the league and the transaction side of it. Sure, it’s not flawless, but it definitely provides a more balanced perspective on what fans of other teams think.

It's good for somethings, like perspective's on what makes players useful or tradable and things like how to accomplish something technical within the CBA framework. But it also has major blind spots, approaching things with what I call an NBA2K mentality where they can make any move they want regardless of whether that is actually something that could happen, about fan sentiment, player relations or even job security. They basically just focus on the trading part and ignore the other very important aspects to properly managing a multi-billion dollar company that most owners want to be profitable year after year and don't want wild swings between bottoming out and breaking the bank.

[DusterBuster]

I'm not questioning Grant's fit as a professional at all, but I do question his fit in helping us bottom out! And taking away shots from the young guys!

ps this just makes me more upset about the Watford stuff yesterday. Sigh.

The Watford move is still bafflingly stupid but utterly predictable from a GM who’s in over his head like Crolshey.

Also, I don’t think Grant will be enough of a difference maker to change their fortunes. wasn’t the case in Detroit and don’t see it here here.

I missed it, what was up with Watford? Was there more than us just waiving him and letting him walk?

nope, literally nothing else. He was waived and it’s anyone’s guess why.

[DusterBuster]

Gotta love Elon Musk just completely **** up Twitter on the biggest Blazers news day in the last decade.

**** you Musk (and Crolshey and Jody)

[Klinky]

Awful we could really only put together one compelling playoff run with Dame, and that felt like we had some real luck on our side. It does feel like his prime has been somewhat squandered here. I can't see us not taking a loss on the trade talent-wise, with the demand and what's available, we're going to be lucky to get decent prospects and picks.

[DusterBuster]

Awful we could really only put together one compelling playoff run with Dame, and that felt like we had some real luck on our side. It does feel like his prime has been somewhat squandered here. I can't see us not taking a loss on the trade talent-wise, with the demand and what's available, we're going to be lucky to get decent prospects and picks.

Somewhat lol?!

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I am so curious what last couple years would have looked like with Stotts instead of Billups. Stotts already had a decade of practice working around two smaller guards and knowing how to respond in games to make that work and know how to get clutch plays out of Lillard but Billups lost a ton of close games due to late game mismanagement. If we hadn't lost the close games, we wouldn't have tanked out the season and we very likely could have been a playoff team and we probably wouldn't be in this situation right now.

[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.

[GreenRiddler]

Honestly glad that he is gone. In year 11 and still doesn’t know how to handle a double team. Stunk it up vs the pelicans and that series we beat the nuggets. The drama of will he stay or go is over and his albatross contract at age 33-35 will be someone else’s problem.

He got a lot while he was here the love of fans no accountability for not showing up in key playoff series, playing like a bum on defender his whole career and 300 million dollars. NeO was a lousy GM but refusing to build around Dame at over 30 was a good decision on his way out and I’m glad that Joe had the balls to not trade away young talent for borderline players like Grant, thank god we ain’t paying Draymond and Grant a combined 260 million like Dame wanted

If Scoot turns out as good as Sacremento’s Fox we'll be set with a great player and we won’t have to hopefully rely on our best player being under 6’3” anymore

Good luck in the east coast Dame I hope you make it to a team you want like Miami cause the pressure will be on you to score and shoot very well with Butler and Bam on that team with no shooters or depth. Gianni’s and Tatum won’t be injured next year so I doubt the heat will have another Cinderella run in them. I predict a LMA like outcome where he left for Sam Antonio and they never got deeper in the playoffs than he did with Portland. I will be shocked if he makes it further than that Blazer team that went to the conference finals. I predict a first round exit for honestly either the nets or Miami.

Now all Joe has to do is make sure we get something good for Dame. This is not Bradley Beal he has no trade clause get a good haul of first rounder for him.

[GreenRiddler]

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

[HoopsFanAZ]

I’m not into conspiracy theories. Too many data points linked together with worst intent practically baked in.

BUT …

Brooklyn has a Nurkic-sized TPE … sort of like the one Portland had for Grant. Nice coincidences …
Followed by a Dame trade for Claxton and Simmons and MAX picks, especially the best ones! …
Finished by a dual-sign and trade of Grant for Cam Johnson

Ant, Scoot, Sharpe
Nas, Matisse
CamJohnson, Murray, Walker
Claxton, Nadji

… PICKS
Chicago will be paid off with 3-4 2nd rounders.

(1) This is not the poo-poo platter of Miami and other crap from the media, (2) sends Dame to the East, (3) takes on only 2 years of the Simmons’ anchor while dropping Nurkic right away.

Claxton is UFA in a year, but that’s Bird Rights and depressed pay for most centers compared to the other positions.

[DusterBuster]

Well, since Twitter is down for me, I’m logging off til a trade or summer league. Not worth debating hypothetical trades that will be way better than whatever that clown Cronin will do.

Rip the bandaid off and let’s go.