Dame requests a trade.

[The Sebastian Express]

I'm actually of the mind the Pelican trade was pretty fair considering CJ's contract and his regression this year. In the end it basically turned into Grant + Kris Murray, which is not too bad. If.. if we discount the terrible contract Grant is getting.

Clippers trade is something we can probably all agree turned out as a dumpster fire, even if we did get out of Powell's contract.

[Case2012]

It was like being in a relationship with a narcissist. Words and actions never in alignment, driving you crazy, making you question your reality, then blaming you when, making you look bad when you leave. Straight up. I just went through this, it's exactly the same.

[DusterBuster]

I'm actually okay with giving Chauncey a year and seeing how he works with his system.

I think you have to trade Simons because I don't think he'll want to come off the bench and I don't think you can risk these important development years for Shaedon and Scoot.

I don't want Chauncey at all on the team, I'm afraid. Even with a young, bad team, you want a coach who can instill good habits, discipline, and teaching winning play to a team. I haven't seen any evidence that Billups is capable of that. He'd be a great tank commander as coach, but it may come at the cost of development of the young guns.

This team has a management and coaching staff that is pretty unfit for the moment they’re in. Billups and ex-players are really only cut out for playing with veteran laden teams imo where he can just be more of a motivator vs a system coach. This team with super young guys needs a system coach that can instill real fundamentals in them, not just give great pep talks.

Hoping Chauncey just asks to be let go, then maybe bring Budenholzer in. I’m guessing Bud is taking a year off because of his family (brother who passed). Maybe the Blazers could offer him an assistant job that’s low stress, but get him in the ranks, then eventually let Billups go or let him interview for another gig. It’s a shame the Pistons blew their load on Montey, having that spot open would have been such a great easy “sure Chauncey, we get it” move.

Hell, maybe offer Bud an advisor role like Ainge in Utah has in the FO. Then he can move into coaching in a year or two. Just find a reason to hire Bud… like rn. If you’re serious about building culture Crolshey, do that.

[NotMyKawhi]

:lol:

What would you give up for Herro?

For the Blazers? He makes no sense for the blazers with scoot, sharpe, and Simons.

No one wants him really. 6 man chucker making the max. Who would want him?

[DusterBuster]

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=ytu8_lCpASqsmEN-XvYq2g

If Dame is gonna request a trade, at least this is what you want to see… hoping it’s true and there’s a healthy market for Dame. If the Blazers get a PG / KD like haul in return for him, the Blazers time at the bottom could be shorter than people think. I have a really hard time giving Crolshey that kind of credit that he’ll make a good trade, but will keep fingers crossed.

BTW: if anyone knows web development, Developer Tools on the Athletic is your best friend. The don't paywall their site properly, so if you know which elements to remove and css properties to disable...

[DusterBuster]

https://theathletic.com/4659350/2023/07/01/damian-lillard-trade-request-trail-blazers/

This article is so good. Really perfectly encapsulates the feeling I have around the whole situation. A mix of just sadness and disappointment but also relief that everyone can kind of move on now. Also that his legacy is cemented here in Portland, regardless of the trade.

Here's hoping Dame get his ring, but does come back for one more season to retire in Portland and still make this his home.

[Wizenheimer]

go to the coast for a day and this happens the next. Should have went today I guess

Pat Riley is already playing games trying to get Cronin over a barrel. He hurriedly signed their pick Jaquez, so he'd be ineligible for a trade for 30 days. And the Heat have leaked that they are unwilling to trade Martin or Jovic

I hope Cronin tells Riley to pound sand...and tells Dame he'd operating on a Blazer timeline, not Dame's

by the way, there are more 'people' than Amick and Perkins saying Dame asked out Monday. Maybe it's the echo chamber, but it's out there nonetheless

And Haynes reported that the request was made this morning, when Dame sent Goodwin with the request to Cronin. Haynes is Dame's guy. Unless Haynes' story changes, I don't see it being Monday.

I know you don't but that would just about have to mean Dame and Grant colluded to screw the Blazers. I don't have any basis for believing that. Some of the tweets I saw said Dame asked out but Cronin asked him to wait for a few days to see if something might develop. So it's entirely possible Dame had made his intentions known monday and simply delivered a formal request this morning

something else too, It looked like about the first announcement of the free agency was Grant's deal. Were many others announced before it? I was at the coast or at least on the way

what that announcement looked like to me was a deal that had been agreed to months ago. At the latest probably about the time Portland asked him to sit out for the tank. And unless my math is wrong, it looks like Grant's base salary is exactly 20% of the announced salary cap. That doesn't seem a coincidence. That sure seems to point at this being a done-and-agreed-to deal well before the Dame situation.

What is more likely...that Dame and Grant colluded to screw Portland, or that Cronin and Grant, and his agent, had a deal in place long before yesterday?

[DusterBuster]

go to the coast for a day and this happens the next. Should have went today I guess

Pat Riley is already playing games trying to get Cronin over a barrel. He hurriedly signed their pick Jaquez, so he'd be ineligible for a trade for 30 days. And the Heat have leaked that they are unwilling to trade Martin or Jovic

I hope Cronin tells Riley to pound sand...and tells Dame he'd operating on a Blazer timeline, not Dame's

by the way, there are more 'people' than Amick and Perkins saying Dame asked out Monday. Maybe it's the echo chamber, but it's out there nonetheless

And Haynes reported that the request was made this morning, when Dame sent Goodwin with the request to Cronin. Haynes is Dame's guy. Unless Haynes' story changes, I don't see it being Monday.

I know you don't but that would just about have to mean Dame and Grant colluded to screw the Blazers. I don't have any basis for believing that. Some of the tweets I saw said Dame asked out but Cronin asked him to wait for a few days to see if something might develop. So it's entirely possible Dame had made his intentions known monday and simply delivered a formal request this morning

something else too, It looked like about the first announcement of the free agency was Grant's deal. Were many others announced before it? I was at the coast or at least on the way

what that announcement looked like to me was a deal that had been agreed to months ago. At the latest probably about the time Portland asked him to sit out for the tank. And unless my math is wrong, it looks like Grant's base salary is exactly 20% of the announced salary cap. That doesn't seem a coincidence. That sure seems to point at this being a done-and-agreed-to deal well before the Dame situation.

What is more likely...that Dame and Grant colluded to screw Portland, or that Cronin and Grant, and his agent, had a deal in place long before yesterday?

I get this thinking. I also think it wouldn't have mattered. Do you really think regardless of what Dame did, the Blazers would want to lose Grant for nothing?

I'm just saying, I don't think collusion would have mattered. Grant is still a very good player and the Blazers wouldn't have wanted to just let him walk for nothing. I think their plan was always to resign him regardless of what Dame did. Blazers MO is so paranoid of ever letting talent walk for free, that I think the Grant decision was always a solo entity aside from whatever happens with Dame.

[zzaj]

Lillard signed a work contract to work for the Blazers for a lot of years. He's asking the team to break that contract for his benefit. If I am the Blazers, there is no way in hell I'm breaking that contract if it doesn't benefit me. What do the players love to say? "...the NBA is a business."

I'm going to laugh so hard if the Blazers simply wait and wait and wait some more to trade Lillard. So much for you moving your family in the summertime, lol!

[Moonbeam]

I'm actually of the mind the Pelican trade was pretty fair considering CJ's contract and his regression this year. In the end it basically turned into Grant + Kris Murray, which is not too bad. If.. if we discount the terrible contract Grant is getting.

Clippers trade is something we can probably all agree turned out as a dumpster fire, even if we did get out of Powell's contract.

Yeah, maybe I'm a little too harsh on the Pelican trade if you put it like that. Portland was a little lucky, IMO, to end up with Grant for what ended up being a 2025 FRP from (I believe) Milwaukee after the Pelicans ended up making the playoffs.

[The Sebastian Express]

go to the coast for a day and this happens the next. Should have went today I guess

Pat Riley is already playing games trying to get Cronin over a barrel. He hurriedly signed their pick Jaquez, so he'd be ineligible for a trade for 30 days. And the Heat have leaked that they are unwilling to trade Martin or Jovic

I hope Cronin tells Riley to pound sand...and tells Dame he'd operating on a Blazer timeline, not Dame's

by the way, there are more 'people' than Amick and Perkins saying Dame asked out Monday. Maybe it's the echo chamber, but it's out there nonetheless

And Haynes reported that the request was made this morning, when Dame sent Goodwin with the request to Cronin. Haynes is Dame's guy. Unless Haynes' story changes, I don't see it being Monday.

I know you don't but that would just about have to mean Dame and Grant colluded to screw the Blazers. I don't have any basis for believing that. Some of the tweets I saw said Dame asked out but Cronin asked him to wait for a few days to see if something might develop. So it's entirely possible Dame had made his intentions known monday and simply delivered a formal request this morning

something else too, It looked like about the first announcement of the free agency was Grant's deal. Were many others announced before it? I was at the coast or at least on the way

what that announcement looked like to me was a deal that had been agreed to months ago. At the latest probably about the time Portland asked him to sit out for the tank. And unless my math is wrong, it looks like Grant's base salary is exactly 20% of the announced salary cap. That doesn't seem a coincidence. That sure seems to point at this being a done-and-agreed-to deal well before the Dame situation.

What is more likely...that Dame and Grant colluded to screw Portland, or that Cronin and Grant, and his agent, had a deal in place long before yesterday?

Grant's wasn't the first announced, no. It was about twenty minutes in and a good number of deals had been announced, including Draymond - which was legitimately like within seconds - back to Golden State.

I do imagine Cronin, Grant and his agent had the structure for a deal in place. No question. I can also believe it is likely Cronin was working on the assumption Dame would want back. I do think Dame would want to ensure Grant got paid - because I don't believe any other team is giving him that contract. And I don't begrudge Dame for wanting to ensure Grant got paid. I will begrudge him a bit if he was going to ask out regardless and waited until Grant got paid.

'Wait it out' in terms of free agency isn't really the first 17 hours, you know? Like if he had waited a week plus? Okay. That's fine. I get that and I think that's fair. 17 hours is a bit harder to buy, though.

[DusterBuster]

I do have to go back to the fact that, as **** as this situation is, you really have to consider the Blazer so lucky they got Scoot this summer. The Blazers could just as easily be in the situation the Wizards are in. Portland was always going to get more for Dame than Washington was for Beal, but still... such a better future than... Poole and Kuz?

[The Sebastian Express]

And Haynes reported that the request was made this morning, when Dame sent Goodwin with the request to Cronin. Haynes is Dame's guy. Unless Haynes' story changes, I don't see it being Monday.

I know you don't but that would just about have to mean Dame and Grant colluded to screw the Blazers. I don't have any basis for believing that. Some of the tweets I saw said Dame asked out but Cronin asked him to wait for a few days to see if something might develop. So it's entirely possible Dame had made his intentions known monday and simply delivered a formal request this morning

something else too, It looked like about the first announcement of the free agency was Grant's deal. Were many others announced before it? I was at the coast or at least on the way

what that announcement looked like to me was a deal that had been agreed to months ago. At the latest probably about the time Portland asked him to sit out for the tank. And unless my math is wrong, it looks like Grant's base salary is exactly 20% of the announced salary cap. That doesn't seem a coincidence. That sure seems to point at this being a done-and-agreed-to deal well before the Dame situation.

What is more likely...that Dame and Grant colluded to screw Portland, or that Cronin and Grant, and his agent, had a deal in place long before yesterday?

I get this thinking. I also think it wouldn't have mattered. Do you really think regardless of what Dame did, the Blazers would want to lose Grant for nothing?

I'm just saying, I don't think collusion would have mattered. Grant is still a very good player and the Blazers wouldn't have wanted to just let him walk for nothing. I think their plan was always to resign him regardless of what Dame did. Blazers MO is so paranoid of ever letting talent walk for free, that I think the Grant decision was always a solo entity aside from whatever happens with Dame.

I think a better question is would the Blazers have wanted to lose Grant for nothing or sign him for a contract which could -potentially- cost them picks to move in the future? That unfortunately is something we won't know for awhile.

[Moonbeam]

Trying to put a positive hat for the moment. I'm not sure Grant can't be traded in the next couple years. I get that he will require touches, but that's not a bad thing on a team that will be so bereft of scoring options assuming Ant is moved (which I think still may happen). He plays at a different position to Scoot and Shaedon, and having a guy who can get buckets may help Scoot and Shaedon in terms of allowing them more space on offense and opening up more playmaking opportunities for them (particularly Scoot). If Grant is averaging 20-25 PPG, there may still be teams that would be happy to trade for him, new CBA and all.

I could be totally wrong here, of course.

[TylersLakers]

The statement that Cronin put out.. kinda weak.

Basically putting the blame on Lillard. “We want him to stay but he’s the one who wants out.” I’d give Dame a little more respect than that.

[The Sebastian Express]

The statement that Cronin put out.. kinda weak.

Basically putting the blame on Lillard. “We want him to stay but he’s the one who wants out.” I’d give Dame a little more respect than that.

Sure, that's true and fair. But also can't we say the same about Dame doing this 17 hours after free agency started and leaking it to the press via Haynes?

I don't mind the leaking, by the way in and of itself. But I also don't mind the statement. I think that statement was made in a very clear way to say Portland will not take a basic and unimpressive offer from Miami just to give Dame what he wants - Miami will have to find a way to make it work.

[Norm2953]

Lillard signed a work contract to work for the Blazers for a lot of years. He's asking the team to break that contract for his benefit. If I am the Blazers, there is no way in hell I'm breaking that contract if it doesn't benefit me. What do the players love to say? "...the NBA is a business."

I'm going to laugh so hard if the Blazers simply wait and wait and wait some more to trade Lillard. So much for you moving your family in the summertime, lol!

Exactly for the consensus on the trade board is for Portland to wait, wait and wait some more.

Portland has no incentive to make a quick deal for its 11 weeks until fall camp with the bulk of their
return is in future picks and swaps. They can carry on as before with their summer programs, with the
emphasis on getting Scoot/Sharpe ready.

Dame can just wait until the team gets a trade package they can accept.

[DusterBuster]

I know you don't but that would just about have to mean Dame and Grant colluded to screw the Blazers. I don't have any basis for believing that. Some of the tweets I saw said Dame asked out but Cronin asked him to wait for a few days to see if something might develop. So it's entirely possible Dame had made his intentions known monday and simply delivered a formal request this morning

something else too, It looked like about the first announcement of the free agency was Grant's deal. Were many others announced before it? I was at the coast or at least on the way

what that announcement looked like to me was a deal that had been agreed to months ago. At the latest probably about the time Portland asked him to sit out for the tank. And unless my math is wrong, it looks like Grant's base salary is exactly 20% of the announced salary cap. That doesn't seem a coincidence. That sure seems to point at this being a done-and-agreed-to deal well before the Dame situation.

What is more likely...that Dame and Grant colluded to screw Portland, or that Cronin and Grant, and his agent, had a deal in place long before yesterday?

I get this thinking. I also think it wouldn't have mattered. Do you really think regardless of what Dame did, the Blazers would want to lose Grant for nothing?

I'm just saying, I don't think collusion would have mattered. Grant is still a very good player and the Blazers wouldn't have wanted to just let him walk for nothing. I think their plan was always to resign him regardless of what Dame did. Blazers MO is so paranoid of ever letting talent walk for free, that I think the Grant decision was always a solo entity aside from whatever happens with Dame.

I think a better question is would the Blazers have wanted to lose Grant for nothing or sign him for a contract which could -potentially- cost them picks to move in the future? That unfortunately is something we won't know for awhile.

Blazers won’t use picks to move him. They’ll just keep him and play him until he’s moveable. Like I said, they just Tobias Harris’d him. Overpaid, but a good player who will keep playing. There’s no reason to give up picks to move a player unless there’s good reason to do so (make cap space room for a FA for example). So they’ll just keep him until they can move him without adding additional assets.

[DusterBuster]

The statement that Cronin put out.. kinda weak.

Welcome to anything Cronin says or does.

Cronin is a bad GM.

[The Sebastian Express]

I get this thinking. I also think it wouldn't have mattered. Do you really think regardless of what Dame did, the Blazers would want to lose Grant for nothing?

I'm just saying, I don't think collusion would have mattered. Grant is still a very good player and the Blazers wouldn't have wanted to just let him walk for nothing. I think their plan was always to resign him regardless of what Dame did. Blazers MO is so paranoid of ever letting talent walk for free, that I think the Grant decision was always a solo entity aside from whatever happens with Dame.

I think a better question is would the Blazers have wanted to lose Grant for nothing or sign him for a contract which could -potentially- cost them picks to move in the future? That unfortunately is something we won't know for awhile.

Blazers won’t use picks to move him. They’ll just keep him and play him until he’s moveable. Like I said, they just Tobias Harris’d him. Overpaid, but a good player who will keep playing. There’s no reason to give up picks to move a player unless there’s good reason to do so (make cap space room for a FA for example). So they’ll just keep him until they can move him without adding additional assets.

But I think that's mostly my point. As he gets older, does he become more tradeable? Or less tradeable? Especially in this new CBA. Do we want to be paying Jerami Grant at 33 (with presumably one year left on his contract, unknown if guaranteed at this point) as Shaedon and Scoot are coming into their own extensions?

I don't think they'll wait to trade him, possibly. I think if he is on this team you have to get him out by next summer or summer 2025 when you get a good idea on how good Shaedon and Scoot are going to be. Why? Because you have to capitalize at getting someone - or trying to get someone in here - before their extensions kick in. Or we start to rinse and repeat current troubles.