Blazers needed to have a strong offseason to persuade Damian Lillard to sign extension?
Source: Sam Amick @ The Athletic
What’s the buzz on Twitter?
Sam Amick @sam_amickFree Agency, Day 2 column, at @TheAthletic
* Why Kevin Durant has his sights set on Phoenix, and why Miami’s chances seem slim
* The Damian Lillard latest and why the Gary Payton II deal mattered in Portland
* Warriors
* All things Kings
theathletic.com/3395908/2022/0… – 5:15 PM Kevin O’Connor @KevinOConnorNBA
I love what the Blazers have done this offseason adding Jerami Grant and Gary Payton II. Exactly the type of versatile defenders they need around Damian Lillard. Good fits on offense too. Grant can plug in anywhere, and Chauncey Billups can get creative with Payton. – 2:20 PM Adam Zagoria @AdamZagoria
Holiday Hoopsgiving field for 2022:
December 10
Clemson vs Loyola Chicago
Wake Forest vs LSU
Memphis vs Auburn
December 18
UGA vs Notre Dame – 9:59 AM Aaron J. Fentress @AaronJFentress
On Thursday, the Blazers gave 6-3 Anfernee Simons $100 million then signed 6-3 Payton for $28 million with 6-2 Damian Lillard, 6-5 Josh Hart and 6-6 Shaedon Sharpe already on the roster.
We’re back to a bunch of guards and little size.
Or is something else on the horizon? – 3:23 AM Marc J. Spears @MarcJSpears
Free agent guard Gary Payton II expected to sign a three-year, $28 million deal with the Blazers after the Warriors offered the tax payer mid level exception, source told @andscape. GPII has a lot of respect from Blazers star Damian Lillard and a lot of ties to the Northwest. – 1:59 AM Dalton Johnson @DaltonJ_Johnson
Gary Payton II is going to be great. He’s a unique style and skill set to fit on offense. Either way, he’ll be big for Dame and Simons – 1:54 AM StatMuse @statmuse
Damian Lillard
Anfernee Simons
Gary Payton II
Josh Hart
Jerami Grant
The Blazers are the ___ seed in the West. pic.twitter.com/ph19sGsY7f – 1:46 AM Sam Quinn @SamQuinnCBS
I don’t think the Blazers have championship upside yet, but assuming Dame is back to his typical level, they should be a very good night-to-night regular-season team. – 1:44 AM Jason Dumas @JDumasReports
Hate to see GPII go. He was so generous with his time to me all season long. Great dude. Great player too. Dame will certainly love him. – 1:41 AM Dan Favale @danfavale
me getting ready to advocate for a dame-simons-gp2-hart-grant lineup on the blazers lookahead pod with @tcbbiggs this fall pic.twitter.com/fVFkwI6GPs – 1:41 AM Sean Highkin @highkin
Worth noting Dame and GP2’s father go WAY back. Oakland point-guard connection. – 1:40 AM StatMuse @statmuse
Point guards with larger contracts than Jalen Brunson:
Steph Curry
Luka Doncic
Trae Young
Russell Westbrook
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Ben Simmons
Damian Lillard
De’Aaron Fox
Jamal Murray
Kyrie Irving
Chris Paul
D’Angelo Russell pic.twitter.com/RnDFehdOjp – 9:47 PM Mark Kreidler @MarkKreidler
Big Ten could add Oregon + Washington, with their athletic budgets. Add Stanford, need an offset…maybe Notre Dame? And blammo — you’re at 20 teams. – 8:53 PM David MacKay @DavidMacKayNBA
It’s really a testament to what Damian Lillard built and became that any rumors of big-names wanting to play here could seem plausible or true. And even if they aren’t, the fans still have Dame and are still fortunate for that. – 8:12 PM Arash Markazi @ArashMarkazi
USC plans to continue its annual tradition of playing Notre Dame. The storied football rivalry began in 1926 and will continue with USC in the Big Ten. A lot will obviously change with USC leaving the Pac-12 but the Trojans will still play UCLA and Notre Dame every season. – 8:00 PM Christos Tsaltas @Tsaltas46
Definetely this was a great deal. Anfernee Simons agreed to a 4-year, $100M deal with the Blazers. It’s clear he’s going to be the franchise’s next leader in post-Lillard era. That’s big! #RipCity
sdna.gr/mpasket/980710… – 7:04 PM