Dame Lillard "I'm too solid for this weird azz era"

Adam Silver's legacy will be allowing "player empowerment" to grow to this embarrassing degree

 

i hope lillerd can go to miami or golden state ot celtics. he deserves nothing less, for being a breh with honor

 

Shouldn't get paid then. That simple.

 

Blazers need to really get a deal done before the agent tanks the value of Lilliard any further. It's essentially weakening Portland's negotiating position since other teams will not offer anything for Damian. Their best bet is to find a taker for Tyler Herro and squeeze whatever assets they can from him.

 

Taking a page from Ben Simmons play book. Bravo!!!

 

Or Kawhi Leonard. Didn't he do this to the Spurs once upon a time? Crazy that this is still going on in the league. We're fortunate that the Harden situation never quite got to this.

 

Durant is correct to say fans with that viewpoint are egotistical.

The NBA is a corporation and the teams are subsidiaries there to benefit the larger corporation. Portland has to send Lillard to the Heat to benefit the league. He's a wasted and depreciating asset in Portland. His contract is with the NBA, not with the Trailblazers. The media is also a wing of the corporation so they have to sell this move as an overall positive.

Lillard is still a garden tool, though.

 

Wow, Dame went from too solid to spoiled baby food overnight.

 

There's this part of me that like to see this play out.

 

From some of the local beat coverage; seems like agent Goodwin is doing lot of the calls (making and receiving). It's as if he's doing more of the search (and 'anti-search') than Cronin himself. Some fans mentioning, the stuff that Goodwin is doing is almost worthy of a NBA agent license suspension.

Also not a good look for Adam Silver. When was the last time a commissioner stopped a deal... was it Stern with Chris Paul to Lakers (2011)? Is Adam going to step up? Is Blazers going to cave in? Is this just another really bad precedent and set everybody back in the next CBA.

Lily pad's heel turn for this weird azz era.

 

I guarantee you Dame is thinking he wants to go to the place that has the best "winning culture" and justifying it to himself by telling himself he isn't just wanting to team up with the best players in the league.

Convenient that team just happens to be the reigning Eastern Conference Champions, huh?

self-delusion is a powerful thing

 

Yeah I was wondering too. It sounds like it's the agent who does all the talking. Are agents allowed to do trade negotiations between teams?

 

Agent should be involved, but normally should be between GM to GM. But the way Goodwin is signaling publicly to ward off other teams is bad form. Too blatant.

FYI this is his client list (No rocket players, thankfully). Dame is his biggest client to date. Next notable names are DeRozen, Chris Webber (retired) and Shareef (retired).

 

F Kevin Durant forever since his burner account and sellout to Golden State anyways. His life is an egotistical stance.

 

You and Kevin Durant are not correct.

The teams are subsidiaries but it's a logical leap to suggest a team catering to a player holding them for ransom is for the greater good.

It's a logical leap to suggest that the league's primary function is to push the best players to the best locations instead of seeking competitive parity.

It's a logical leap to say that contracts are signed with the NBA and not with teams. They negotiate with teams and teams are free to determine player value. The commissioner is as accountable to the board of owners as the owners are to the commissioner.

It's a logical leap to say that "the media" is a subsidiary of the NBA. Only a small selection of them are. Even then, it's another leap to say they can only praise and not critique.

 

Lillard will go to Miami. He has 4 years left on his contract. Why is that allowed?

Because it will benefit the league if he's in an attractive city like Miami contending for a championship.

Well, I never said it's the league's primary function. But it is definitely a function. If not, why do so many keep going to the best locations?

I think the league is essentially in a contract year, too. Interesting. I mean, wouldn't it be of value to prove to Disney or NBC that if/when a star player is on a mediocre franchise, the league, with the help of the league-friendly media, could concoct a narrative to move him out?

The teams don't determine the player's ultimate value. The league does that. Lillard got his max, for example. There are several other pay scales. The NBA is a salary cap league. The contracts also move with the player from team to team.

The owners benefit from big-name players being in big-name cities because it inflates the value of the league which inflates the value of their teams. The lifts all boats thing applies here.

Have you kept up with this narrative over the years? It's been spoonfed to us in small chunks until what seemed inedible is now palatable.

For the most part, I mean, I and others still think Lillard is a punk for what he's doing, but that type of opinion is largely shutdown. The narrative being pushed now is that Lillard is correct in asking for a trade to only Miami and that the Trailblazers need to do right by him.

That doesn't happen if he wants to go to Utah or Sacramento.

Putting on my tinfoil hat here... as a reward for sending Lillard to Miami, taking what will not be close to the best offer, the Trailblazers got to draft Scoot... and will likely get lucky in another lottery... as a reward for drafting Brandon Miller over Scoot, Jordan got to sell his majority share of the Hornets for like a tenfold profit and the Hornets will likely get lucky in another lottery.