[Highkin] Damian Lillard: “I don’t have much of an appetite for building with guys 2 and 3 years away and not really go after it.”
Damian Lillard: "I don't have much of an appetite for building with guys 2 and 3 years away and not really go after it."
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) April 9, 2023
by Piano9717
28 Comments
He went on to say:
“I think now is the time to really push forward. I think we’re all in line with how we want to put a team together.”
“The things I see in [Billups] as a coach, I think we can win with. I feel how I feel about Chauncey, I feel how I feel about Joe. The optimism is there but it’s time to get the work done.”
I’ll be pretty bummed if we trade shae and end up like the clippers with sga.
Translation: if we don’t get Wemby (who’s ready now), y’all better trade that pick for a proven dude. I hope we’re all on the same page.
Then why was he on board with Sharpe? The things this franchise/Dame do and say sometimes is damn confusing.
Curious if this pushes us more towards Jarace/Miller and away from the Thompson twins. But I thought that last year and they went with the upside question mark. Which thankfully worked out very very well.
If we get first pick I’m not trading Wemby unless it’s a Luka / Giannis type player. Then I’d trade Simons for a defensive SF/C (depending on what the team needs)
What was the question asked?
This is why people who swear up and down “Dame has never said he wants out, he’s said over and over he wants to be here” are just straight up ignoring half of everything dame says. He has made statements like this repeatedly.
Still don’t think this means Shae being gone. He’s not 1-2 years away. He is already playable and a rotational guy. Also, we need rookie scale guys like him that can play right away due to how valuable and small the contract is. If we get one of the top picks, that player can be so useful if we can open up the protections on our pick and trade future assets.
Good thing that Sharpe doesn’t appear to be 2-3 years away. He’s arrived already 😮💨
Sure, he might get traded, but I think Dame is referring to the other young talent on the team and our upcoming pick
Edit: dame clarified after his comment that it didn’t apply to Shaedon 😌
Slightly more quotes from Danny Marang Twitter: “I don’t have much of an appetite for building and waiting for guys that are 2-3 years away. I feel like Shaedon has been different – but that’s enough 19 year olds. It’s not a secret. I want a chance to go for it. If the route is to do that, that’s not my route. – Lillard”
That’s enough 19 years olds lol. It couldn’t be more obvious — Like someone else said above — if we get Wemby, keep it. If not you better trade it for veterans
If we keep Grant forever we aint going after it for sure
Ant+lotto for lavine
Nurk for Drummond and picks
Grant midseason for Jaylen Brown rental
Then sign and trade Brown max for Bridges and picks
Thank me later
Yeah, you have to unfuck the previous assholes mess to have the resources to be able to do anything. 🙂
Now that you have those resources, you can make upgrades.
The best thing this team can do is to trade Dame and rebuild around Sharpe and Simons. There’s no way in hell this team can win the whole thing with Dame.
I 100% agree with him on that but him still being all in on Billups who is likely a few years away from being even kind of good is weird
Hope the blazers are hearing this loud and clear!
Aka: next season hall better sell the farm so we have a chance.
Then Dame needs to be the bulldog on the team and stand right behind Billups on the Defense part & do everything he can to up his defensive game and to support his teammates offense success. Their assists, steals and blocks have mostly increased greatly when Dame was off the floor and we were in more games.
We could have beat the Grizzlies and the Timberwolves with our team a few nights ago, where all starters and most top bench players were on the bench injured, with a little luck. Remember how well Simons and Hart played last year while Dame was injured? Remember the Toronto game last year; the Bucks and Griz games too?
The better Dame’s teammates shoot, the better Dame does. Otherwise their opponents will just score more (especially during 3-5 min scoring droughts in the 4th quarter and others) or just guard Dame like so many times in the playoffs with no 2nd or 3rd consistent option other than Dame and shut the offense down completely.
Dame, this team needs you standing behind Bilups defense focus & play to one more level higher and get your teammates into their offensive grooves too. Calling them out, including yourself when not keeping focused on what it takes to get a ring. All teammates on the same page and brought into the game to be feeling it and at the top of their game. You don’t just take care of the engine of your car and let your steering, tires and brakes go right?
Wilt has almost every record, but only had 2 titles. Jordan’s record was his championship game record. 6-0. Of the top 15 NBA total points scorers, only 5 have more than two titles. LeBron, Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, Kareem. 25 titles between them. The rest have a total of 11. Russell, with 11 by himself, isn’t even in the top 25 scorers. Scoring titles doesn’t guarantee rings.
Those 6 men could have had more scoring titles or scored more points, but they sacrificed it for rings, to bring their entire team up (working for each other, getting them involved early, warmed up, focused, all working together for the same goal) to those levels neccessary to get them. Getting that high performance championship vehicle firing on all cylinders, cornering on a dime, faster, more efficient, finishing strong.
Portland can do this, but will they all make the sacrifices and do it together? Look at Toronto, Milwaukee, Warriors before Kerr? They didn’t have their ALL STAR TRIO+ to win rings, so they created their own. The Blazers did too, right? Walton was the only All-Star. Thoughts?
Players to keep:
Dame
Grant
Thybulle
Sharpe
Eubanks
Skyler Mays
Nurk? Who else could we really get? What would we lose?
Ant? Can he turn around his consistency? Play like he did when Dame was injured? Get a handle…on his handle?
Jeenathan Williams?
Watford
Jabari
Shaq Harrison
Knox?
Winslow?
Badji?
“This will be a big summer for him (Sharpe) his learning curve has been so quick that he can be ready (impacting winning) very soon. – Cronin” Marang on Twitter. This doesn’t sound like Sharpe is going anywhere.
Trade Lillard and start over. Give the team and the new owner a fresh start with as many assets as the team can get for a player that will be beyond his prime.
Newsflash: We’re not getting Wemby
He either sticks it out since he’s Mr Loyalty.. or request a trade to a contender
The Blazers will not be in contention next year
LOVE THIS rhetoric from dame. He’s finally disgruntled. Please ask out! We need you to ask out. Woohoo! Keep it up Dame. Ultimatums are the best because we will never trade away our future. Ant + Sharpe + this lotto pick aren’t going anywhere. Bye dame
Isn’t that 7-5” center going to go #1 guarantee?
Dame just ask for a trade already man. It’s ok. We’ll forgive you.
dame needs to shut up or ask for a trade period. Building around him with a supermax on a team that won’t pay the tax is bad enough, but playing all this damn loyalty shit while for multiple years in a row embarassing the franchise with the level of end of season tanking, MAJOR things need to change
I want to see dame and the blazers succeed. I think a good way to do that would be trading dame to a contender and rebuilding with this pick and the young guys. (Possibly including another 19 year old)
Jfc we are not getting Wemby!
I don’t have much of an appetite for PGs who can’t play defense or execute simple passes. It’s time to rebuild.
He should ask for a trade then