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> I think I’ve known Aaron Goodwin longer than Damian has. Like, Aaron and I go way back. We’ve been through a lot of stuff, and I hold him in tremendously-high regards in a lot of ways.” – [link](https://www.truehoop.com/p/bring-it-in-the-moment-theyve-been#details)
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>Two years ago, I asked Aaron \[Goodwin\] what Dame’s leverage was: He was a very much under contract star, and they were anticipating/considering demanding a trade at that time. There was a lot of tension and they tried to use that leverage to get them to upgrade the roster in Portland. And so I asked, “What is his leverage? He’s just gonna have to go play to make his money, right?” And Aaron said “Are you fucking kidding me? You really don’t know?”
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>… And so the threat is to not play: the “James Harden model” and that’s what Aaron Goodwin explained to me in great detail, in specific details, saying “This front office that might want to trade for Dame? Every single one of them is going to lose their job before he ever suits up there.” – [link](https://open.spotify.com/episode/07P24bWGYqLWCedI6MexN4?si=pmedyOvqShWYwLVRFcNuQA&t=2100&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A0HcewqjPPi4stTr87WsAly)
In retrospect there is a bunch of interesting stuff from those initial reports. At one point in the article he reported that people were worried about tampering with Dame during the Olympics. The Heat sent executives, but the Blazers didn’t.
>it was Damian Lillard who complained most memorably. Sources say he told his national team friends that he thought the situation in Portland was getting worse…
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>…some in the room tell TrueHoop they took it as the beginning of the end for Lillard and the Blazers.
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>Sources say Damian Lillard is willing to forgo paychecks to get to a title team, if it comes to that…
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>If Lillard forces a trade, it would mean that with some determination and savvy, the best players in the world can play wherever they want, no matter their contract status…
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>The new most important question in the NBA is, “Who does Damian Lillard want to play with?”
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>…playing on Team USA with Bam Adebayo, sources say Lillard is as excited as ever about the idea of playing with a super-athletic and mobile big man. – [link](https://www.truehoop.com/p/damian-lillards-power-play)
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by Maas__Neotek
13 Comments
So Abbot being right was plot twist. So was Dame tossing the organization he held the keys to, which clearly impacted our supposed FA targets.
What’s worse is that Dame was still promoting the awesomeness of Portland publicly. Still, he led the team and talked badly about it behind our backs. That’s… pretty lame.
Edit: words.
Have fun in Chicago.
So Goodwin sucks, Dame sucks, and Abbott sucks. We’re in the mud slinging phase of this whole fiasco. Keep up the good fight Cronin.
Well… If Dame is willing to forgo paychecks, that doesn’t add any pressure to POR at this point.
Dame publicly and openly mocked Abbott’s reporting at the time, especially around “missing games/sitting” part. Even CJ was joking about there being no chance Dame would skip a game check.
Abbott claimed a trade request was definitely coming from Dame in the next week. He was clearly wrong.
Many folks at the time felt his source must have been someone on the team who heard the complaining from Dame (Draymond’s name was thrown about). If it was Goodman, Dame would have changed agents him I suspect.
Either way, I guess Dame was right, the situation in Portland did get worse.
Lmao this is a streeeetch. How is someone reporting something 2 years ago Dames fault?
I hope we get a tell all book some day. I’m sure there were opportunities to upgrade from CJ and Nurk over the years that didn’t happen because they were Dame’s boys.
Abbott was torched back then by Dame and the fans, sounds like he’s owed a late apology for being accurate and way ahead of the curve. And Dame should have been mad at his agent not Henry
Good riddance to Dame. Don’t let the door hit yer ass on the way out…
That’s all a bunch of bullshit because dame and this dude literally had a twitter spat over this.
Not saying he’s right or wrong, but isn’t this just Abbott claiming that Abbott was right all along?
with these kind of stuff coming out, I’m glad everyone is against him going to Miami. I do hope a trade happen soon and Portland actually go with the best package from another team.
So Goodwin’s strategy seems clear:
– Undermine the team’s FA or trade chances
– Blame it on the Blazers as an excuse for Dame to leave
But back in 2021, the whole thing publicly backfired… Dame stayed, first round playoff exit, then tanking. And here we are now with Goodwin putting pressure right before draft night (“trade the pick or else”)…
That’s BS tactics there…