I’m a man of my word:
“In Joe Cronin [or JC, since we’re friends now], I will trust forevermore!
“Well, maybe not forever, but I will certainly give him the benefit of the doubt going forward.”
I would encourage you to do the same!
Now for some context, first for the quote above, from my prior article – With The Future Secured, Now What Should The Portland Trail Blazers Do?
(https://oregonsportsnews.com/with-the-future-secured-now-what-should-the-portland-trail-blazers-do/)
“While I can see some level of value in fulfilling Lillard’s wishes… not at the expense of maximizing the return for him. If Cronin can do this, if he can get a crazy stupid haul for Dame in a trade, he’ll have earned my trust.”
For me, the package in totality Cronin (& his Cronies) got in return for Damian Lillard rises to the level of “crazy stupid haul.” And the returns are still coming in, with Malcolm Brogdon expected to go the way of Jrue Holiday, eventually, anyway.
While impressive, this layered trade in isolation isn’t the only reason why I think JC has earned our faith and trust. Rather, it’s his whole body of work that proves rather instructive. From it, we can clearly see improvement, which culminated in this “crazy stupid haul.”
Now let’s take a short trip down memory lane. Short only because Joe Cronin has not been steering the Rip City ship for very long (circa December of 2021). As you’ll see, he’s gotten a lot done in under two years, some great (I think “crazy stupid haul” qualifies as great), good, and not-so-good.
But first, a shout-out!
The lion’s share of the credit for this trip we’re about to take belongs to the Athletic’s Zach Harper: https://theathletic.com/4659031/2023/07/02/2023-nba-free-agency-day-2-grades/(subscription required). In the absence of another source being cited, it’ll be Zach I’m quoting.
First up, The Not-So-Good
There was a flurry of activity in the leadup to the February 2022 trade deadline resulting in 3 trades being consummated:
1. Feb. 4th – Trade with the Los Angeles Clippers (received Norman Powell & Robert Covington from the Trail Blazers)
The Blazers received:
- Eric Bledsoe – “didn’t play a minute for Portland and was waived in July 2022.”
- Justise Winslow – only “played 40 games… and is currently a free agent.”
- Keon Johnson – “played 62 games for Portland, but… only averaged 15.8 minutes and… [shot]36.6 percent from the field.” Has since been traded to the Phoenix Suns as part of the 3-Team Dame Trade.
- 2025 2nd round pick
2. Feb. 8th – Trade with the New Orleans Pelicans (received CJ McCollum, Larry Nance Jr., & Tony Snell from the Trail Blazers)
The Blazers received:
- Josh Hart – “played 64 games for them before being traded [to the Knicks]this past season” as part of the 4-team trade detailed below.
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker – see trade 3
- Tomáš Satoranský – see trade 3
- Didi Louzada – “played seven games before being waived last summer.”
- Future 1st round pick (via Milwaukee) & two 2nd round picks
3. Feb. 9th – Trade with the San Antonio Spurs (received Satoranský) & the Utah Jazz (received Alexander-Walker)
The Blazers received:
- Joe Ingles – “never played for them and left that summer in free agency.”
- Elijah Hughes – didn’t return the following season (22-23) & will play overseas this season.
- 2022 2nd round pick – “became Jabari Walker, who played 619 minutes for them this year.”
Are you dizzy yet!?
I’m guessing you are cause you likely didn’t notice that Jabari Walker’s name was the only one underlined. Why? Well, cause he is all that remains from these flurry of trades. Although, to be fair, the Josh Hart trade did net two additional players on Portland’s current roster (see The Good, trade #2 below).
What hopefully is obvious to you now is the return on these trades was quite underwhelming and thus makes it easy to lump them into the Not-So-Good (or Just-Plain-Bad) bucket. What also is very evident is that Cronin had a very specific objective, with his stated goal being “to balance the roster, to create numerous tools and exceptions and severely pad our cap in order to make transactions moving forward.” (https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/trade-deadline-joe-cronin-blazers-press-conference/283-9cb7aeca-b02a-44c7-8441-ff07afc4d2fc.
A worthy goal for sure, but not at this price point. What there isn’t much evidence of over these 6 days leading into the midday Thursday (2/10/22) trade deadline is JC using much in the way of restraint. He seemingly was willing to pay any price to achieve this objective.
What perhaps should’ve been as plain as the nose on his face then was that he had robbed his team of important veteran depth, namely Larry Nance Jr. and Norman Powell, which ultimately would cost him his franchise cornerstone in Damian Lillard.
During the Blazers’ End-of-Season presser, he still had hope of building around Lillard but acknowledged the importance of veteran depth:
“One element Cronin said was key to winning more games next season: more veteran talent on the roster. Acquiring that talent is just one objective in what Cronin expects to be a busy summer.
“Joe Cronin: ‘The rotation’s going to be much more veteran-laden than it was this year.’ — [Rose Garden Report’s Sean] Highkin.
“Echoing sentiments from the exit interviews with Jusuf Nurkic, Jerami Grant, and Damian Lillard, Cronin praised Coach Chauncey Billups. He acknowledged his own role in creating a flawed roster for Billups to work with.
“Joe Cronin on Chauncey Billups: ‘I think he’s done a great job. I don’t think I dealt him a great hand this season. I don’t think I did him any favors by giving him the lack of depth that would have given him any sustainability.’ — Highkin.
While I still maintain…
“[T]hat pesky trade for Larry Nance Jr…. served as the impetus for Dame requesting a trade… [Due to it being damn near impossible] for Cronin to acquire another impact player beyond Jerami Grant without having the sweetener of a 1st round pick or picks at his disposal.”
…JC didn’t do himself any favors by shipping out valuable veteran role players in Nance and Powell for pennies on the dollar. The very same players (in role, if not by name) he acknowledged his team needed to win more games. And in the absence of Winning Time here in Rip City, the clock struck midnight on Dame Time.
There is a silver lining in these very same 6 days, however. It would seem Joe Cronin learned the value of restraint.
It was widely speculated that the Blazers would also trade for Jerami Grant before the noon PST trade deadline, but Joe stood pat. He used restraint. He was actively learning on the job. He was already starting to evolve. He was becoming more measured; dare I even say, patient. And his patience would soon pay off with his first good trade.
The Good [& one TBD]
1. July 22, 2022 – Trade with the Detroit Pistons [received Gabriele Procida (drafted by Portland with the 36th pick in 2022), the Bucks’ 2025 top-four protected pick (acquired from the Pelicans as a part of the McCollum trade), and two second-round picks from the Trail Blazers]
The Blazers received:
- Jerami Grant – “averaged 20.5 points on 47.5/40.1/81.3 shooting splits in 63 games last season…. [Portland] agreed to a five-year, $160 million deal with Grant this summer.”
- Ismael Kamagate (the 46th pick) – “sent to Denver for a future second-round pick.”
Considering what Cronin had to give up (just one 1st round pick & 3 total 2nd round picks, including Procida), relative to Grant’s high level of production on both ends of the floor, this was at least a double, if not a triple. The only reason it’s not an inside-the-park homerun is the steep price paid to resign him.
More importantly, though, the rumored price tag for Jerami Grant was much higher in the leadup to the 2022-23 trade deadline. By using restraint, by being more measured, JC got Grant for a bargain basement deal comparatively.
As a funny aside, I remember receiving a Tweet notification about this trade while driving. I immediately called my younger brother while simultaneously trying to get the details of the trade on my phone. After going the wrong way on what thankfully was a very short one-way street, I finally conceded and pulled over. The excitement of the trade clearly had gotten the better of me!
TBD) February 9, 2023 – Trade the with Atlanta Hawks (received Saddiq Bey from Pistons), Detroit Pistons (received James Wiseman from Warriors), & Golden State Warriors (received Gary Payton II from Trail Blazers).
The Blazers received:
- Kevin Knox – played 21 games & is returning on a 1-year deal
- Five 2nd round picks from the Warriors, two via Atlanta. “One of [which]ended up as Rayan Rupert this summer,” picked 43rd overall.
Look, if Rayan Rupert lives up to his ESPN top 100 pre-draft ranking (No. 20 overall), no one is going to remember the Gary Payton II free agent flub. Where this could go south for Joe Cronin is if Wiseman is finally able to stay healthy and live up to his immense potential. I would’ve preferred getting Wiseman in this deal, but I am willing to wait to see how this all plays out.
2. February 8, 2023 – Trade with the Charlotte Hornets (received Svi Mykhailiuk from Knicks & draft considerations from both 76ers & Trailblazers), New York Knicks (received Josh Hart & draft rights to 2 players from Trail Blazers), & Philadelphia 76ers (received Jalen McDaniels from Hornets & 2nd round picks from Hornets via Knicks & Trail Blazers)
The Blazers received:
- Matisse Thybulle – played/started 22 games while averaging 7.4 pts on 43.8% shooting from the field & 38.8% from 3 on 1.5 3pm, 3.5 reb, 1.7 stl, 1.4 ast, & 0.8 blk. Portland matched the Dallas Mavericks 3 yr. $33 million offer sheet.
- 1st round pick from Knicks – “ended up being Kris Murray.”
- Cam Reddish – “played 20 games and signed with the Lakers.”
- Ryan Arciadiacano – “waived in April.”
- Draft rights to Ante Tomić – “36 years old and still playing in Spain.”
I would imagine your head is spinning yet again, but have no fear, Zach Harper is here to put our heads back on straight. Here is his beautiful summation of all the trades above:
“Essentially, they sent out Powell, Covington, McCollum, Nance, Snell, and Payton (after just signing him) and got a return of netting five extra second-round picks, Grant…, [Knox], Walker, …Thybulle…, Rupert and Murray….
“Where the Blazers do get a lot of credit with this front office is they draft well. Shaedon Sharpe was a tough prospect to gauge last summer, and they nailed that pick. Their tanking led to them ending up with Scoot Henderson in this draft. Those are good building blocks. The Blazers should lean on their strength of building through the draft and acquire as many picks for Lillard as they can.”
This segways rather nicely to the “crazy stupid haul” they received for Lillard.
The Great
While two trades were made [and, as reported by Woj, another is likely (https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1708516046800359499)], because they were layered, I’ll be treating them as one big trade.
Sep. 27th and Oct. 1st are the dates to remember:
9/27 –Trade with the Milwaukee Bucks (received Damian Lillard from Trail Blazers) & Phoenix Suns (received Grayson Allen from Bucks & Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, & Keon Johnson from Trail Blazers) -&-
10/1 – Trade with the Boston Celtics (received Jrue Holiday from the Trail Blazers)
The Blazers received:
- Deandre Ayton & Toumani Camara from Phoenix
- Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon from Boston, plus
- 2024 1st round pick via Golden State (Top-4 protected) and a 2029 1st round pick from the Celtics
- 2029 unprotected 1st round pick and unprotected swap rights in 2028 and 2030 from the Bucks
Even Woj agrees with my assessment, his word choice is just a bit different. He says “significant,” and I say “crazy stupid haul.” Tomayto, tomahto, it’s just word salad really:
“Even before a potential Brogdon deal, the Blazers have a significant return to show for the Lillard trade….” (https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38538353/sources-celtics-add-jrue-holiday-trade-blazers)
From this trip down memory lane, from this timeline of trades, Joe Cronin’s thought process, as shared with Woj in the aftermath of the Damian Lillard trade, really rings through:
“Through it all, Cronin told himself: Eliminate the emotion, the frustration, the fatigue. And most of all, Cronin implored himself: Don’t settle. Don’t let yourself settle.”
Not only can we see JC learning the value of restraint from this timeline, but we can also clearly see him building momentum as he becomes more seasoned and confident in his convictions. They say experience is the best teacher, and Joe Cronin has not only learned but evolved into what the early returns strongly suggest are the makings of a pretty good General Manager.
And this is something we, as card-carrying members of Rip City, should be able to put our faith and trust in!
After having fully cleaned up the mess of his predecessor, it’s the Cronies’ team now. Let’s just wait and see what he and they can do now. Let’s keep this momentum going!
