Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes
Folks! Happy Friday. Thank you so much for taking your time and reading Layup Lines today. We really appreciate you.
Did anyone else forget that Damian Lillard hadn’t been traded just yet? I’m not going to lie to you, folks. I did. It’s honestly been that long.
The NBA offseason went in full swing without any real motion from either side. Lillard hasn’t rescinded his request. The Trail Blazers haven’t come down on their ask. The Heat haven’t upped their ante at all. This stalemate has been about as stale as an opened bag of bread for a few months now.
RELATED: Damian Lillard’s lesson to Trail Blazers’ fans about the NBA’s continuity problems.
The problem is time is certainly running thin for all parties involved.
NBA training camp starts on October 3. The preseason starts on October 5. The NBA regular season opens on October 24. That’s just a little over five weeks for some sort of deal to get done. Things are about to get very tight.
Miami obviously wants Lillard in for training camp with the organization as soon as possible. There’s pressure to get a deal done just to make sure the team gets off to as good of a start as it possibly can. The Heat can’t do that without Lillard.
But for the Blazers, things might be even more sticky, NBA Insider Marc Stein wrote in his Substack newsletter.
When training camp arrives the pressure to trade Lillard will mount because of all the questions Blazers players and executives will be asked.
“As I’ve been saying for weeks (if not months): Portland’s ability to exude extreme patience and maintain a very deliberate approach in response to Lillard’s trade request becomes considerably more challenging once training camp opens and Lillard’s future becomes a daily discussion point. There has been no indication to date that Lillard’s presence in Blazers camp is any sort of question mark, but Dame Questions will be posed constantly whether he’s there or not.”
It’s easy to dig your heels into the ground when there’s not any real pushback happening. But trust and believe it is coming. And it’s coming very soon, too. Just ask the Philadelphia 76ers (who are currently going through their own drama with James Harden).
Remember when they didn’t trade Ben Simmons? Training camp was extremely awkward. Simmons reported to camp, but he didn’t make any real effort. Joel Embiid was also constantly asked questions about his former All-Star teammate.
That’s the same thing that’s going to happen to Scoot Henderson if the Trail Blazers don’t move. I can see it now. He’ll be asked “What do you think about this Dame situation?” to which the only proper response would be “I don’t know. I just got here.”
None of it is fair. All of it will be frustrating. The Trail Blazers won’t get a chance to focus on trying to rebuild and form a new culture around who the team hopes can be its star player moving forward. But such is the nature of this beast that is the NBA.
The Blazers don’t have to make any moves here. The team could just let things remain the way they are. It’ll make for an ugly scene, though, and that’s not fair to Scoot or any of the other players committed to the team’s future.
To avoid that, it’s best to just move on. It’s time. Please, Portland and Miami, get this done so everyone can just move on.
Rich Paul won the offseason
Rich Paul and the Klutch Sports crew are putting up prime Wilt Chamberlain numbers right now.
You’ll be shocked to learn that yet another Klutch Sports client has gotten a lucrative contract extension this offseason. This time is Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt who has earned himself a massive payday.
Vanderbilt agreed to a four-year contract extension with the Lakers worth $48 million, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, which is kind of a bargain for a defender of his skill.
Paul’s clients have been absolutely eating this offseason. That list includes:
- Fred VanVleet (three years, $130 million)
- Draymond Green (four years, $100 million)
- Anthony Davis (three years, $186 million)
- Jerami Grant (five years, $160 million)
- Dejounte Murray (four years, $120 million)
- Jordan Clarkson (four years, $51 million)
- Jarred Vanderbilt (four years, $48 million)
That’s nearly $800 million in salary right there. That’s pretty remarkable. Does Rich do media contracts too? Asking for a friend.
I’m kidding. Mostly.
One to Watch
The first night of WNBA playoff action wasn’t too exciting with a couple of blowouts, but tonight it looks like we could get a pretty good game between the Liberty and the Mystics.
The Mystics are only 19-21 this season while the Liberty are 32-8. On paper, this shouldn’t really be close. But Washington managed to beat the Liberty twice this season — once to open the year and another time to close things out.
To add a bit more fuel to the fire, Liberty center Stefanie Dolson seems to be downplaying Washington a bit here as a threat.
Dolson: "Both times they beat us, we didn't have our best game. It didn't have to do with them. I don't think they're a tough matchup–we [can be] our worst enemy… Washington has a lot of length with their guards and EDD is a great talent, but we match up well." (Q: @bheyman99)
— Myles (@MylesEhrlich) September 15, 2023
The Mystics certainly aren’t the best team in the W. They’re not even a top 5 team based on record this season.
But all I know is this — anytime a team has Elena Delle Donne on it, that team has a shot. New York better be careful with this one.
Shootaround
— Bryan Kalrbosky has ranked the 10 other big men who could step up for Team USA if Joel Embiid doesn’t play for them.
— Here are the 24 teams competing for the final four spots in next year’s Olympics. Should be pretty incredible to see how this unfolds.
— Jeanie Buss is absolutely loving John C. Reily’s portrayal of her father in Winning Time.
Until next time, folks! Catch you on the flip side. Have a wonderful weekend. Stay safe and be well. Let’s chat again next week.
