>With Dame, I think the Harden-esque escalation wouldn’t happen unless he were dealt to a team like, say, Toronto, where he clearly doesn’t want to be. And for everyone who cites the Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard trade as an example of a team winning the risky bet on a player who wanted to be elsewhere, let’s not forget that Kawhi was only one season away from free agency at the time.
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>Lillard, by very significant contrast, has four very expensive seasons left on his contract (including a player option worth $63.2 million in 2026-27). It’s one thing to roll the dice for a season and hope it works out, and quite another to take on a deal worth $216 million and brace for the potentially disastrous fireworks that might unfold from there.
[https://theathletic.com/4883753/2023/09/22/nba-lillard-harden-trades-load-management-training-camp/](https://theathletic.com/4883753/2023/09/22/nba-lillard-harden-trades-load-management-training-camp/)
by achickenquesadilla
43 Comments
Toronto keeps catching strays and tbh, I’m all here for it
he knows he would be held to the Kawhi Leonard standard lmao
“What he say ‘fuck me’ for?”
its definitely a gun pointed at Portland.
if youre a team not the heat, why entertain it ? raptors got lucky with kawhi, but even with a chip, it wasnt enough and he still went to LA.
no team other then miami should even be trying to get dame at this point
https://i.imgur.com/1CK6oFl.png
It would be so fucking funny if we traded for him. It’s like the one scenario in recent times where being the disgruntled superstar acquisition that brought his new team to the promised land would be a retread, and he would constantly be compared to Kawhi.
Dame woke up and said fuck Toronto
Toronto must be very interested if they keep saying these things.
Hard to blame him when we lost the play in to a nine year old girl, and fired our championship winning coach for an unknown quantity in Darko. Doubt he’d be happy going to Chicago or Brooklyn either. This contract is probably his last chance to make a serious run at a ring.
please send him to toronto
The fuck we do to catch this stray?
you know Toronto is close when it’s catching strays like this!
Dame must be leaking that he absolutely won’t go to Toronto
Brah Toronto catching all these strays
Toronto must be very aggressive if Dame is getting this nervous
I know they say it (as was the rumour with Kawhi) but I think it’s crazy that a guy who is 33 could request a trade, and then either refuse to suit up, or dog it until he’s traded. It would be giving a team complete control over your career. If they said “we are not trading you to Miami, no matter what,” then that may be it for Dame’s career – he will never be a relevant free agent again.
yo is Toronto, like, *that* bad? I know it’s really cold during the season and it’s technically international, but it’s a major city with a lot to do and a great downtown, no?
I have a hard time believing that it’s less desirable of a place to play or live in than a Minnesota or even a Milwaukee.
If he goes to Toronto then in 2024 they’re going to potential have 2 Supermax players in Dame and a Siakam. That’s not happening, everyone. Toronto wants Herro, is my guess, and is just a part player in the larger deal.
Why does everyone always say Toronto for these things? Is it just because we did the Kawhi trade which was a similar thing in a player only wanting one destination? Or is there something more to this?
Raptors: “What he say fuck me for?”
Woke up and caught a stray for no reason 😂
I’ll never understand why the ~4th largest city in North America is treated by players like it’s OKC or something. They’re obviously afraid of starting a .ca website
Well, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.
I want this to get as ugly as possible
Everyone worried about Dame’s contract if he goes to Toronto, but not if he goes to Miami. If Dame gets traded to Toronto, he will report, he will play – too much money to lose. The fans will love him and he will love the City. There will no fireworks.
Masai has one of the hardest jobs in the league.
Incoming….”Toronto is a top international city”. We know, it doesn’t matter.
Yup, this is what I’ve been saying anytime this is brought up. Kawhi had just 1 year left. If it failed, all that it cost Toronto was moving on from Demar which, let’s be honest, everyone thought they should do anyway at the time since that team had a clear ceiling.
Dame can do what he is doing now to Toronto if they trade for him. He can do it again in a year. He can be like a harden, or Durant or Kyrie. Make life hell for the team, for the fans.
It’s not in any way the same as the Kawhi situation.
He’s going to Miami lol
Tf we do?
This guy’s a fucking idiot… sign a massive contract with a team you don’t want to play for then demand a trade out to only one team. CBA hopefully cracks down on this superstar bullshit.
Kind of funny to posit Lillard as a better person than Harden because he won’t escalate the situation (unless he’s sent to one of the 28 teams he doesn’t want to go to).
Toronto pushing to get Herro for as cheap as possible
dame is soft as shit
The fuck did we do?
Effing loyalty hoe. You signed that big contract now you forcing yourself on one team. Can’t wait for this shit to be over.
He has 216 mil reasons to suit up for whoever trades for him
Too bad dame, time to learn Torontonese buddy!
Ouch lmao
I mean if he doesn’t want to be in Toronto then he clearly isn’t prioritizing winning.
That’s fine, just a little weird that guys can’t just come out and say Miami for the beaches.
>And for everyone who cites the Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard trade as an example of a team winning the risky bet on a player who wanted to be elsewhere, let’s not forget that Kawhi was only one season away from free agency at the time
Doesn’t longer contract also mean it’s less risky, so Lillard can’t just leave after 1 year like Kawhi.
Every one of these is like “Dame is a professional. But if he were traded to, to pick a totally random example, THE TORONTO RAPTORS, he would assemble the infinity stones and rewrite reality so that he never picked up a basketball.”
Breaking news, NBA players hate Canada, more at 6