You guys, Dame is building a cathedral here. His kids are growing up here. This is his home. He sits in a corner booth with his family at the BWW near the training facility and nobody bugs him. He's comfortable here. I feel like all the speculation about his future ignores everything about his life as if it's just fantasy sports. It's not. He may very well get traded, but there are myriad factors in play that don't seem to be considered.
I'd argue he has already built his cathedral and being "Dan Fouts or Dan Marino" in a league where players can chase rings seems like a futile gesture at best.
I'd also argue that there are a lot of destinations where he could go, but assuming Portland wants to do right by him (as he has built that cathedral) then if he finally says "trade me to X" they accommodate him or it says more about the Portland FO than it does about Dame. If Dame opts to ask, Portland asking for a kings ransom seems incongruous. The Heat don't care about picks and for once they have plenty and RIley isn't getting any younger (and I think he wants one more ring before he hangs it up as GM/President)
Again, Assuming they want to let him chase the ring, the teams in the East would be the Bucks, the Celts, the Heat, The Knicks or the sixers. The Nets are the next tier. He and Bam are tight so as a Heat fan that is what I hope will happen, and as last year showed us Miami just has to stay in the playoff picture to the trade deadline and then go from there.
I think it is in the Blazers interest to send him to a place he would like to go, but not necessarily THE place he would like to go. If he gives them a list of 3 teams that could all reasonably trade for him that he would like to go, I think it is fair to work only with those three teams. If he says he'll only go the the Heat (or Brooklyn or NY... whatever), I think they'll be less inclined to play ball. Doing right by Dame may be a priority, but THE priority should be to do right by the organization.
I've been saying this all along. He will suit up and play for Portland for a couple of months, let the landscape unfold in front of him and then meet with Portland's front office to discuss his future. Portland will accommodate him, but it's not going to be for late first round picks and Duncan Robinson.
Lol. No one is saying this. Miami has no problem “paying up”. They did for jimmy. They did for gOran. They didn’t as much for Lowry but that was basically the size of the contract and his age that tempered that. I’m sure Miami would like to avoid the apron and for the money to work (and not hamstring the blazers) oladipo and Lowry likely will be part of a deal (For salary matching and the fact both of those are expiring contracts vs herro or Duncan). Miami has 3 future first rounders and two in the team in the cost controlled early stage of their careers. Nets have less than us I believe.
from a heat perspective: losing Strus and the fact Duncan played well in the playoffs means he has some value to Miami again. Herro seems like the odd man out mainly bc the heat didn’t miss him during the playoff run. If Portland doesn’t want him I’m sure Miami will move him in a separate deal for size if they can.
So in your mind, Portland trades Dame for expiring contracts and late first round picks or Tyler Herro and late first round picks? Help me understand your reasoning and why Portland wouldn't demand something more?
Again, dames contract isn’t an “easy” or ”affordable” one for either team. If Portland is rebuilding and dame doesn’t want to be there, then picks and players they can jettison are part of the equation, yes, as is ”making the money work”. So, Miami has 5 “picks”: the three upcoming picks and their previous first 2 rounders (Javier and jokic). They also have guys like Caleb Martin (who the heat would like to keep, but it’s dame) and then herro and Duncan. That is all their tradeable assets. So, Portland, if they want to deal w Miami (and this assumes that dame says trade me and I prefer Miami) that’s what is available.
to make the money work (and assuming Portland doesn’t want Duncan or herro) then Lowry and oladipo have to be in the trade. If portal d values either herro or duncan, then Lowry doesn’t have to be part of the deal but Vic likely is (for salary matching purposes). The nets could offer a competing offer, but it would be worse than miamis bc they don’t have as many picks. Philly has entered the chat bc they may get a first for harden but dame hasn’t mentioned Philly as a destination
it’s not like the heat can “conjure up” another asset. They aren’t trading spolestra
edit to add. to me, these scenarios are “trade deadline “ scenarios where Portland is underachieving and they go full rebuild. In those cases expiring contacts hold more value than before the season starts.
Harris might still be useful for a shooting-starved team like Detroit.
all the thread titles
Also, Marc Stein is reporting that Draymond will stay in Golden State for 4 years, $100M.
