Damian Lillard Trade Request Part 3

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

Miami's offer only gets better if they include Bam, there is no silver bullet for them.

If they throw everything in (Herro, two firsts, two swaps, Jovic, Jaquez, Caleb Martin, 2nds), then I think it would be tough to beat while still keeping some depth.

I don't think Miami's grab bag of players scratches Portland's itch. They want a swing to go with Scoot. Herro's got to be the starting PG, that means Scoot's a SG now? It's not ideal.

[Elmago]

I am going off the grid for like a month starting tomorrow, I'm not going to have any service/wifi. This potential trade is going to hang over my head the whole time, its gonna kill me not knowing

[NinjaBro]

I am going off the grid for like a month starting tomorrow, I'm not going to have any service/wifi. This potential trade is going to hang over my head the whole time, its gonna kill me not knowing

You know we could very likely get Dame as early as tomorrow, you know this right?

[Elmago]

I am going off the grid for like a month starting tomorrow, I'm not going to have any service/wifi. This potential trade is going to hang over my head the whole time, its gonna kill me not knowing

You know we could very likely get Dame as early as tomorrow, you know this right?

True, my only hope! Get'er done Masai!!!

[Tha Cynic]

Times like this we get to see some interesting commentary from our fellow Americans south of the border.

And I'm not excusing them with the whole TV thing. It's pure "patriotism" - I'm just using the nicer term. This goes back to the whole "world champions" thing.

[wtcantfw]

Miami's offer only gets better if they include Bam, there is no silver bullet for them.

If they throw everything in (Herro, two firsts, two swaps, Jovic, Jaquez, Caleb Martin, 2nds), then I think it would be tough to beat while still keeping some depth.

I don't think Miami's grab bag of players scratches Portland's itch. They want a swing to go with Scoot. Herro's got to be the starting PG, that means Scoot's a SG now? It's not ideal.

Herro is not a PG.

[Zeno]

I am going off the grid for like a month starting tomorrow, I'm not going to have any service/wifi. This potential trade is going to hang over my head the whole time, its gonna kill me not knowing

You going spelunking or something? Lol

[Madvillainy2004]

Poeltl and Dame pick and rolls would be absolutely lethal.

would they? what stops teams from loading up with siakam and scottie spacing the floor

Only going based on the data points I have since we got Poeltl but the 4 man unit of Siakam/Scottie/Poeltl/FVV posted a 123 offensive rating in around 320 mins together. I can only imagine what subbing out FVV who had his worst shooting season ever for a guy like Lillard who's one of the the best offensive engines in the game would do. Pascal/Scottie/Poeltl are all very good playmakers for their positions as well and if you trap can feast in the 4 on 3s Lillard would create. Shooting is definitely something that would need to be addressed but I have 0 doubts a Lillard/Scottie/Siakam/Poeltl would be a great combination.

[SpezNc]

I have been listening to a couple of Raptors podcast and something strikes me.

Why it’s almost unanimous in podcasts that they would prefer to trade Barnes rather than O.G?

O.G is expiring, can’t extend now, going to cost massive money for like being the ultimate complement piece.

I get Barnes somewhat went backwards last season but he got a better 2nd half than 1st half of season. And he is loaded with potential.

I am somewhat new following Basketball that intensively. But my understanding is that O.G likely hit his ceiling even if theoretically he still has room to improve.

As for Barnes, my understanding is the third year is an important year. Many players took a step with year 3.

Saying that Toronto cannot contends with Siakam - Lillard - Barnes is like taking the assumption that Barnes never going to improve, not going to take the 3rd year leap.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand fully the value of O.G.

In a magical world, we would simply trade in Lillard to this lineup . But to receive we need to give.

I just feel a deal with O.G as the main piece going to Portland is just making more sense than including Barnes.

Obviously if you think you can resign O.G, that Barnes not going to take a leap, that Portland is willing to take salary fillers with Barnes ans significantly less draft compensation then yes I could see an argument.

But otherwise I think that a deal with O.G. Boucher Dick Young and a 1st (maybe 2?) would be my offer to Portland.

Trading Gradey would be difficult . I am so pumped to follow him this season. But nor O.G, nor Dick and likely not the futures draft picks could come close to the impact that Lillard could have.

I am still not 100% sold we should acquire Lillard. Part of me is lets go. Another part of me kinda would like us to go back to developing internally some players. Like we used to.

But still i am confuse why people are so quick to say keeping Barnes and trying to acquire Lillard is like moving in different direction. If anything, the only way we can be contender with Lillard is if Barnes take the traditional 3rd year leap.

Curious to see how this shape up.

I think it’s my longer post and I am not even sure I fully explained my train of thoughts.

[Tor_Raps]

Well... the momentum of yesterday slowed down completely. Now we wait for new reports on how the discussions went. Really hope Portland is using the deadline of media because I'm so sick of this lol.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Well... the momentum of yesterday slowed down completely. Now we wait for new reports on how the discussions went. Really hope Portland is using the deadline of media because I'm so sick of this lol.

There were still lots of reports today, but I agree it did feel slower:)

[JB7]

Because they are waiting on Giannis and Embiid to be made available.

they could make a play for all 3 if they wanted

Thats my point. They can go for all 3 and getting one increases their chances of getting the other two!

Shai is 25, Giannis is 28 and Dame is 33. Why waste assets on Dame, when their window to compete will be later. Save the assets to throw at Milwaukee, because all they really need is the pairing of Shai and Giannis, and then build around that duo with great complimentary players.

OKC can only pay so much out in salaries, and both Shai and Giannis will be on supermax deals. Even GSW is dumping salary (Poole) because of the new CBA.

OKC will be the poster child for the new CBA. 2 supermax salaries, and supporting players all around

[DusterBuster]

2) Taxes. Dame has a zero percent income tax in Florida, a 53% (I heard, haven’t fact checked) income tax. When making 60mil… I get it.

Those reasons would be real for saying no to Toronto for Dame. And honestly Goodwin too. He’s got just as much of a reason to want that zero % income tax. It’s a real reason some teams get players on the regular that others don’t. When Vegas gets a team, they’ll get stars left right and center, just watch.

The next CBA should have some sort of a condition for evening income tax across the league to stop this from being an unfair advantage just because of the state they’re in. Maybe a legal reason they can’t do that?

Of maybe it’s not a major influence factor and I’m just getting old. Idek anymore.

The tax situation is heavily overstated and is mostly a nonfactor for a player coming from Portland to Toronto.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-01/portland-tops-cities-where-high-earners-face-biggest-tax-hit?embedded-checkout=true
Basically when Dame signed that giant contract he already accepted high taxes were being paid out. Not too dissimilar to New York or Cali and yes, Toronto. Not to mention the tax credits/shelters.

Important to remember this is just for home games. Players are taxed for away games in each state anyway.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38492423/nba-survey-league-insiders-weigh-wembanyama-mvp-race-2023-24-favorites

The difference between Lowry and Blake Griffin (Cali) isn't a lot. James Harden (Texas taxes) and Lowry sure but if taxes was a concern for Dame he would have left Portland years ago lol.

But you also have to factor in a 15% max signing bonus the NBA allows which is taxed differently. There's a reason Auston Matthews makes most of his money in a signing bonus in Arizona on July 1st. I would also guarantee his agent has a good tax lawyer for endorsement deals at tax friendly states.

But could Dame make a lot more money going to a Florida team? Sure but going to Toronto would be a wash with the taxes in Portland, Cali or New York.

One thing to also add is that Dame's contract would also be paid entirely in USD. While our housing prices are insane that's a nice 20% USD to CAD discount your money goes to things with a higher purchasing power like partying with Drake, going out to eat, buying strippers or etc.

You can also get into the conversation if (ballpark number) $150 million taxed in Canada/Portland/New York/LA is all that different from $170-180 million taxed in Florida, Utah, Memphis, OKC? Like what does that extra money buy you? After a certain amount of money your quality of life isn't improved that much.

TLDR: the federal taxes comes out to mostly a wash for both countries. The state taxes really only matter for half the season ("home games") and even then there are tax shelters in place.

Now if you said weather, yeah. No doubt we can't compete with that ... but again ... dude is coming from Portland lol.

Again, I’m not a Canadian tax rule specialist, so appreciate the context. You also completely skipped over 1 for 2.

Even if 2 is incorrect / overstated, 1 is still a thing and can’t be explained away by governing laws, it’s still personal.

[Purple+Black]

they could make a play for all 3 if they wanted

Thats my point. They can go for all 3 and getting one increases their chances of getting the other two!

Shai is 25, Giannis is 28 and Dame is 33. Why waste assets on Dame, when their window to compete will be later. Save the assets to throw at Milwaukee, because all they really need is the pairing of Shai and Giannis, and then build around that duo with great complimentary players.

OKC can only pay so much out in salaries, and both Shai and Giannis will be on supermax deals. Even GSW is dumping salary (Poole) because of the new CBA.

OKC will be the poster child for the new CBA. 2 supermax salaries, and supporting players all around

I think the play is to save Scottie to throw at Milwaukee when Giannis becomes available.

Dame - Giannis - Pascal might be what Masai ultimately wants to build.

[JB7]

Miami's offer only gets better if they include Bam, there is no silver bullet for them.

If they throw everything in (Herro, two firsts, two swaps, Jovic, Jaquez, Caleb Martin, 2nds), then I think it would be tough to beat while still keeping some depth.

I don't think Miami's grab bag of players scratches Portland's itch. They want a swing to go with Scoot. Herro's got to be the starting PG, that means Scoot's a SG now? It's not ideal.

Ya, if their interest in Ayton is real, and Suns are obviously willing to deal him, Ayton and OG, plus a pick or two is probably better than anything Heat can offer without moving Bam, and if they have to move Bam, why bother with Dame at all.

Maybe the Heat are not that interested in Dame. Maybe they only wanted him if he came cheap.

I still don't get how the Jimmy and Dame pairing would work. Jimmy has always wanted to be the guy on his teams. I just don't see him differing to Dame late in games. Herro is a good secondary scoring option on the Heat, because he will always defer to Jimmy.

[The Warrior]

Has Masai traded for Dame Lillard yet

Yes. MLSE janitor's wife's sister's son's cafeteria teacher leaked the news to me.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using RealGM mobile app

[JB7]

Thats my point. They can go for all 3 and getting one increases their chances of getting the other two!

Shai is 25, Giannis is 28 and Dame is 33. Why waste assets on Dame, when their window to compete will be later. Save the assets to throw at Milwaukee, because all they really need is the pairing of Shai and Giannis, and then build around that duo with great complimentary players.

OKC can only pay so much out in salaries, and both Shai and Giannis will be on supermax deals. Even GSW is dumping salary (Poole) because of the new CBA.

OKC will be the poster child for the new CBA. 2 supermax salaries, and supporting players all around

I think the play is to save Scottie to throw at Milwaukee when Giannis becomes available.

Dame - Giannis - Pascal might be what Masai ultimately wants to build.

Oh, I can see that being Masai's plan. I just think OKC has way more to offer the Bucks who would be in a complete rebuild mode (so more interested in OKC's wealth of young talent and picks), and also Giannis would have the chance to play with Shai, who is already nearing top 5 status in the league.

[Purple+Black]

Shai is 25, Giannis is 28 and Dame is 33. Why waste assets on Dame, when their window to compete will be later. Save the assets to throw at Milwaukee, because all they really need is the pairing of Shai and Giannis, and then build around that duo with great complimentary players.

OKC can only pay so much out in salaries, and both Shai and Giannis will be on supermax deals. Even GSW is dumping salary (Poole) because of the new CBA.

OKC will be the poster child for the new CBA. 2 supermax salaries, and supporting players all around

I think the play is to save Scottie to throw at Milwaukee when Giannis becomes available.

Dame - Giannis - Pascal might be what Masai ultimately wants to build.

Oh, I can see that being Masai's plan. I just think OKC has way more to offer the Bucks, they would be in a complete rebuild mode (so more interested in OKC's wealth of young talent and picks), and also Giannis would have the chance to play with Shai, who is already nearing top 5 status in the league.

Have a weird feeling that Giannis already prefers to end his career in Toronto playing for Masai. Just take him to be that kind of person and their relationship isn’t spoken about but I’ve seen enough behind the scenes in us trialing his brothers at 905, organizing Greek community to come out to greet him at our games etc. that he may just make it known that he will only sign here.

[HiJiNX]

Lots of talk about Dame and how we are still not contenders.

The really overlooked piece is Jakob. This guy is a glue guy championship piece player. Even if our team was just Dame and Jakob without Pascal and Barnes it would be a 7-8th seed playoff team. When building a winner you need your PG and C. We are getting killed last year due to a lack of a C. Once Jakob arrived our whole team and identity changed. An offensive alpha was what we needed. Not someone who thought they were Alpha in Fred. That’s why Fred being gone is addition by subtraction. If our starting 5 is Dame, Trent, Barnes, Pascal and Jakob. That is not an even line-up to play against. The balance of offence, defended and versatility is insane. Don’t forget Jakob is a good passing Center. Add in Schroeder, McDaniels and a few others as our bench we have a very good team.

Dame is Dame, but Jakob is going to be the one that surprised everyone the most. He will win us ten gsme single handily from his defenders or just composed high percentage put backs and layups when the game is on the line. Imagine if the Lakers have a Jakob. They would be instant top 3 team in the NBA

Agreed. We become a legitimate threat to win the east in the circumstances you outlined.

[YogurtProducer]

Shai is 25, Giannis is 28 and Dame is 33. Why waste assets on Dame, when their window to compete will be later. Save the assets to throw at Milwaukee, because all they really need is the pairing of Shai and Giannis, and then build around that duo with great complimentary players.

OKC can only pay so much out in salaries, and both Shai and Giannis will be on supermax deals. Even GSW is dumping salary (Poole) because of the new CBA.

OKC will be the poster child for the new CBA. 2 supermax salaries, and supporting players all around

I think the play is to save Scottie to throw at Milwaukee when Giannis becomes available.

Dame - Giannis - Pascal might be what Masai ultimately wants to build.

Oh, I can see that being Masai's plan. I just think OKC has way more to offer the Bucks who would be in a complete rebuild mode (so more interested in OKC's wealth of young talent and picks), and also Giannis would have the chance to play with Shai, who is already nearing top 5 status in the league.

If Giannis requested a trade to a specific location I could see MIL actually granting it because Giannis actually brought them a championship and I could not see them wanting to kill that relationship.

Dame has made demands like he has won an MVP and Title for Portland. Giannis is one of very few guys who actually has the pull to go where he wants.