TangerineStrong3781 | Lakers

160 | 7 hours ago

He could play sure, he’s on the active roster

CulturalXR | Bulls

92 | 7 hours ago

Yes, he’d be allowed to. No, he probably wouldn’t.

NoeWiy | Trail Blazers

91 | 6 hours ago

He could play now, but he’s said that he wants to take his normal preseason rituals into next season.

Also, at his “welcome back” q&a, someone asked him if he’d return if the blazers were in the WFC, and his answer was “if they make it that far, they don’t need me, I wouldn’t want to mess up their chemistry”

forsuredudelol | Knicks

29 | 4 hours ago

What a good response from him honestly

Joezepey | Knicks

49 | 7 hours ago

Honestly they could put him at the half court line on an end of the quarter possession and he’d probably have a positive impact

Penguinho

45 | 6 hours ago

He’s eligible, and if the Blazers made the Finals they’d find a way to get him on the court, even just for token minutes. He’s at worst a top-three player in Blazers history; getting back to the Finals for the first time in 34 years, they’d find a way.

JeanRalfio | MIN

11 | 5 hours ago

Have him start the game Willis Reed style.

First-Throat-877

-26 | 6 hours ago

top 3? nah. that would be. Sheed then Stoudamire, then Bonzi, Qyntel Woods, Ruben Paterson, Zach Randolph.

grudgepacker | Bucks

9 | 6 hours ago

LONG LIVE JAILBLAZERS

First-Throat-877

-1 | 5 hours ago

Steve Smith should be part of the jail blazers. but like as the straightlacd friend who gets roped into their shenanigans

scotishstriker | Trail Blazers

1 | 5 hours ago

Dame is above all those you listed, you trying to troll with the Kobe “stopper” Ruben Paterson.

First-Throat-877

-3 | 5 hours ago

yall blazers fans have done a bad job educating your nephews on your culture.

gene_parmesan_666 | Supersonics

2 | 5 hours ago

You know they fuckin won a title in 1977? Bill Walton is above everyone you listed dumb shit

Penguinho

8 | 5 hours ago

sir, i believe you have been whooshed.

gene_parmesan_666 | Supersonics

1 | 4 hours ago

Copy

First-Throat-877

-1 | 5 hours ago

they didnt even steal that title so… no Bill is not.

scotishstriker | Trail Blazers

1 | 4 hours ago

Who would you pick top three Mine are Dame, Clyde, Walton in that order. Sabonis gets an honorable mention. I would love to see one of the current roster become one of the greats. There is so much potential in Scoot, Sharp, Clingan and the others. If they keep that core they may well be in the same tier as the spurs and thunder in how well they set themselves up for dynasties.

Neptune28

1 | 4 hours ago

What about Sabonis?

Neptune28

1 | 4 hours ago

What about Brandon Roy?

OpeDefinitely | Pacers

13 | 7 hours ago

yes

Nails__DeChamp | Magic

12 | 7 hours ago

Tristan Thompson played in the 2023 playoffs for the Lakers after playing 0 games in the regular season.

I forget how it works though, don’t teams need to submit a playoff roster? (Is it 15 guys? And do they get to declare a new roster each round, or they just declare it once at the start of the playoffs? Or is this not even a thing any more? I know the 2019 Warriors left Damion Lee off, which got some criticism when they ran out of shooters at the end of the Finals and they were not able to activate him).

GarageFridgeSoda

7 | 7 hours ago

Same rules as regular season. You have 15 guys on the roster total but only 13 are ‘active’ for a game.

Nails__DeChamp | Magic

1 | 5 hours ago

But when can teams add or remove from the 15 guys on the roster?

That get declared at the start of the playoffs, and then cannot be changed again? (Or is this incorrect?)

Lucky13200 | Celtics

1 | 5 hours ago

Yes, (unless you get an exception because you cant field 8 players which would require a forfeit).

TheCeilingIsTheRuuf | Bulls

9 | 7 hours ago

There’s no rules for playoff eligibility except free agents signed after March 1st

gilady7

2 | 5 hours ago

Not signed after March 1, it’s waived after March 1 by 1 team, then signed by another

AlarmedAd451

5 | 6 hours ago

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t that be over a year since he got injured? I feel like he may be able to play at that point. I know he’s older, so maybe recovery is slower than it is for other players.

LarBrd33

8 | 6 hours ago

The actual recovery time for that injury is around 9 months. We’ve seen multiple examples of this. Tatum’s own doctor was involved in a research paper recently than said return to sport in 9 months. Durant would have come back far sooner if not for COVID and his team being trash. Tatum was asked recently and admitted he could have been playing NBA ball at 240 days. He waited two extra months to get closer to his star form and clearly is still working off some rust, but 8-9 months was when he was probably cleared. Even when (34 year old) Kobe and (32 year old) Nique got this injury decades ago, they were back in 8-9 months. The medical science has improved since then.

Also worth mentioning that Tatum was asked months ago about his recovery and whether he has talked to Lillard and he casually mentioned that Dame was further along than him in rehab.

All to say, I’d guess Dame could probably play right now, but with no realistic hope of a title he might as well just spend the extra months working off all the rust and getting as close to possible from a cardio and muscle standpoint. Kobe, while cleared and ready, was 34 years old and probably didn’t have peak conditioning. That likely contributed to him fracturing his knee in only 6 games. Fluke or not you gotta figure they have that in mind with an older player like Dame.

AlarmedAd451

2 | 6 hours ago

Interesting it’s 9 months. That’s honestly pretty cool, considering that injury meant the end of a players career just a few years ago. I would bet he only plays if they make the finals.

LarBrd33

3 | 6 hours ago

32 year old Dominique Wilkins got this injury in 1992. He was back in 9 months (283 days), averaged 30+ (2nd only to Jordan in scoring) and made the all-nba. That was 35 years ago and medical science has only improved.

AlarmedAd451

2 | 6 hours ago

Oh, I didn’t know that. I’m just starting to try and get into the NBA after only lightly following it for a year or two now, so good to know.

LarBrd33

2 | 6 hours ago

Nique was a huge outlier. Many careers have been ruined. But I just point it out that it wasn’t unthinkable for there to be a full recovery.

StoreNo163

3 | 6 hours ago

He can definitely play but being older, he wants to be healthy in the long run. If they end up making a big push, somehow, its hard to think he isnt second guessing this decision

brnccnt7

2 | 6 hours ago

About as likely as Bronny winning finals mvp

Dusty_Negatives | Trail Blazers

2 | 6 hours ago

So your saying there’s a chance!

ZestycloseZeta | West

1 | 6 hours ago

Legality wise? He can [same rule for player eligibility as regular season, same technicality that has him eligible for the ASG] Injury recovery wise? He better not be allowed [for his own health]

PeterFoox

1 | 33 minutes ago

I mean just sub him in garbage time so he can drain some threes

Iwentoofar

1 | 5 hours ago

that would be hilarious for him if he didnt get to play

Gloomy_Mango6

1 | 5 hours ago

As long as a player is on the “Active Roster” they can play, so Dame can play…. 2-way players can not.

Eastern_Antelope_832

1 | 5 hours ago

A couple guys have done it before, not playing in the regular season but playing in the postseason.

If the Blazers had a cinderella run, I activate Dame. He’s probably only good for like 5 minutes per game, but you bet I’m putting him in the end of quarters. Think the Bulls and Jud Buechler getting crunch time seconds of PT.

If the Blazers made the Finals, would Dame be allowed to play?