Riley wasn’t willing to give up the farm for Dame because it didn’t make us sure-fire contenders and would cripple our future. Remember, he has to balance winning now with winning in the future too.
So many wanted him to cave and just give Portland whatever just to make a move.
Now we are looking decent with room to improve at the deadline:
- Lowry’s fat expiring that’ll have the final year half paid by that point
- Duncan Robinson who’s contract may no longer be seen as a negative
- An improved Hero who will fetch more now
Riley isn’t perfect but he’s damn good.
I think nearly everyone was against giving the whole bench and all our picks for Dame - that being said, I still think Herro, Lowry or Duncan, Jamie or Jovic and 3 picks is more than reasonable for both sides. We still maintain most of our depth, lots of our youth and sure, we lose the picks, but we were never the type to commit to the draft anyway.
That being said, Portland are looking like the losers here seeing how Ayton is a no-show and Scoot is struggling big time to start