Making Sense of a Senseless Summer

[GEE]

<<Insert SNL Debbie Downer GIF>>>

Just kidding of course, but I am at least glad to see an increase in participation around here. However crazy our ideas, theories and outright conspiracies... As long as we show some damn respect for eachother, as fans for the same team, this will remain a fun place to vent.

I'm having similar feelings as last year... a heavy dose of WTF? But for me, after Maluach almost fell to us, feeling shocked when he slipped past TOR, but then getting snatched up at #10... I like some wasn't thrilled by any remaining player in the draft, so taking that "big swing" on Yang was just fine by me. Learning that they have been scouting him for two years makes me feel a whole lot better, and I have also since seen some clips of what this kid can do, so I wil be very much looking forward to seeing him in Summer league action, along with Love (to a lesser degree).

Making sense of this.... I'm trying..... Free-Agency is just hours away! This is the next phase. Guys are re-signing deals as I type, and new info is coming off the wire constantly. Cronin looks available for business with major flexibility with lots of KNOWN merchandise available for the other NBA teams to shop for. Open for business as usual, with the usual suspects. But Cronin at least appears to be happy holding, until the right Simons-like deal finally presents itself.

Cronin appears to me as more Pritchard than Olshey and I've applauded most all of his, Smart but not-so sexy moves over the years, and like many, I've seen how he takes care of his players when they depart. Now perfectly positioned IMO for a monster consolidation trade, we are at a very dangerous stage where patience and smarts will be key. Making the wrong, Super-Sexy/Super-Stupid trade could set this franchise back another half-decade. For instance: Greek Freak, All-In... Kuminga, hell yeah.... Embid, ZION, Paul George, Ehh, not so sure, and Beal gets a Hell-to-the-NO!

Tough decisions to made about who we keep especially guys 10-15, but that i think comes more after the first 72 hours of Free Agency have past. Sad there won't be "WOJ BOMBS" this year.... SAD. Maybe OUR insider will step his/her game up.

[Walton1one]

Not sure I see the Cronin\Pritchard semblance at all TBH

Also, I don’t understand the Schmitz praise here and elsewhere, has he hit on any of the 7 picks they made yet? 3 of which were in the top 10? 4 drafts now and I would say the verdict is that he is pretty lousy at drafting. Outside of Clingan who was a 2nd team all rookie selection, no other pick has received any kind of honors & in fact, every single one of them (except Walker maybe?) in a “re-draft“ would have been selected lower

Sharpe not on 1st or 2nd team all rookie, will likely have to go RFA to prove he deserves big money

Scoot not on 1st team or 2nd team, may not even start again this year

Murray likely out of the league next year when his contract is up, or on some minimum contract

Rupert, same as Murray, he can’t even get a consistent roster spot and spends most of his time in the G league 3yrs after he was drafted

Walker, he will be lucky if he gets a minimum contract

and then Yang

I mean yikes the return so far on POR draft picks it really poor, especially when you reflect on other players chosen around\after some of these players, I don’t understand how anyone could look at this front office after four years and say yeah, they surely know what they’re doing in the draft?

Would love to see the data\proof of that if you do believe it

But I guess pointing that out makes me negative right? Because the only thing you can do here is give effusive praise?

I think it’s fair criticism, does no one else look at all these picks and think what’s going on here?

[Walton1one]

Scoot, Sharpe, Camara, Deni and Clingan is not a solid core? It's young of course, but full of potential, sorry MJ was not available in the draft.

I thought they drafted him? Yang?

If you want him fired so badly than this is the perfect scenario, start an email campaign, make signs, pick a spot in Portland to burn, graffiti is effective, make flyers, start a podcast, knit little dog sweaters for corgis that's says NO JOE! Get a treadmill and set it up by that fire thing at Moda and just wave at people and say Hi my name is Joe would you like to treadmill with me? Might make some friends and definitely work those legs, good cardio too... get your followers to come to YOU, instead of trolling this place day and night with the same DREK day after day, maybe get a head start on the 2026 draft?

We are here for ya buddy

So, right before you post something like this do you read it before hand and say to yourself, yeah this doesn’t sound crazy at all?

[dckingsfan]

Not sure I see the Cronin\Pritchard semblance at all TBH

Also, I don’t understand the Schmitz praise here and elsewhere, has he hit on any of the 7 picks they made yet? 3 of which were in the top 10? 4 drafts now and I would say the verdict is that he is pretty lousy at drafting. Outside of Clingan who was a 2nd team all rookie selection, no other pick has received any kind of honors & in fact, every single one of them (except Walker maybe?) in a “re-draft“ would have been selected lower

Sharpe not on 1st or 2nd team all rookie, will likely have to go RFA to prove he deserves big money

Scoot not on 1st team or 2nd team, may not even start again this year

Murray likely out of the league next year when his contract is up, or on some minimum contract

Rupert, same as Murray, he can’t even get a consistent roster spot and spends most of his time in the G league 3yrs after he was drafted

Walker, he will be lucky if he gets a minimum contract

and then Yang

I mean yikes the return so far on POR draft picks it really poor, especially when you reflect on other players chosen around\after some of these players, I don’t understand how anyone could look at this front office after four years and say yeah, they surely know what they’re doing in the draft?

Would love to see the data\proof of that if you do believe it

But I guess pointing that out makes me negative right? Because the only thing you can do here is give effusive praise?

I think it’s fair criticism, does no one else look at all these picks and think what’s going on here?

It is interesting that the bad teams continually draft (and develop) poorly and the good drafting teams consistently do the opposite.

It is why I don't pay too much attention with respect to draft order vs. those that are doing the drafting - especially after pick 5, 6 or 7.

Historically (in the recent past), Portland hasn't been a great drafting team (okay, I am understating this).

[Wizenheimer]

Not sure I see the Cronin\Pritchard semblance at all TBH

Also, I don’t understand the Schmitz praise here and elsewhere, has he hit on any of the 7 picks they made yet? 3 of which were in the top 10? 4 drafts now and I would say the verdict is that he is pretty lousy at drafting. Outside of Clingan who was a 2nd team all rookie selection, no other pick has received any kind of honors & in fact, every single one of them (except Walker maybe?) in a “re-draft“ would have been selected lower

Sharpe not on 1st or 2nd team all rookie, will likely have to go RFA to prove he deserves big money

Scoot not on 1st team or 2nd team, may not even start again this year

Murray likely out of the league next year when his contract is up, or on some minimum contract

Rupert, same as Murray, he can’t even get a consistent roster spot and spends most of his time in the G league 3yrs after he was drafted

Walker, he will be lucky if he gets a minimum contract

and then Yang

I mean yikes the return so far on POR draft picks it really poor, especially when you reflect on other players chosen around\after some of these players, I don’t understand how anyone could look at this front office after four years and say yeah, they surely know what they’re doing in the draft?

Would love to see the data\proof of that if you do believe it

But I guess pointing that out makes me negative right? Because the only thing you can do here is give effusive praise?

I think it’s fair criticism, does no one else look at all these picks and think what’s going on here?

that brings up an interesting exercise. If there was a redraft of 2022, how would it look without Blazer homer glasses? off the top of my head:

1 - Banchero
2 - Jalen Williams
3 - Holmgren
4 - Dyson Daniels
5 - Mathurin (came into his own in the playoffs)
6 - Jabari Smith
7 - Jaden Ivey
8 - Jalen Duren
9 - Sharpe/ Keegan Murray
10 - Jeremy Sochan

I'd take Sharpe over Murray, if for no other reason Murray is more than 2 years older than Sharpe. Only 3 players moved ahead Sharpe after being drafted lower. And yeah, that might be debatable

how about 2023:

1 - Wemby
2 - Amen Thompson
3 - Miller
4 - Cason Wallace
5 - Dereck Lively
6 - Scoot/ Keyonte George

the 2024 draft?

well, Edey and Clingan are comparable but Edey was only taken 2 slots behind. Jared McCain clearly the best player drafted after Clingan. Other players that may be comparable to Clingan: Buzelis, Kel' el Ware, Knecht, Yves Missi, Filipowski, Jaylen Wells

I don't have a lot of complaints about this draft. Usually I prefer to roll the dice on wings instead of slow-footed C's like Clingan and Yang. Investing lottery picks in both of those guys consecutively is pretty questionable (especially with Ayton on the roster). Clingan was a dominant force in the paint last season and a great rim protector

but returning to 2023: there are probably 3 or 4 players better than Kris Murray. Not so much better that Portland should be condemned for this pick. But there is something else about this draft: I saw Cronin in a presser talked about how highly the Blazers coveted Camara in that draft. I guess he forgot that he had the 43rd pick in that draft and used it on Rupert while Camara was still on the board. I suppose it's possible they demanded Camara in the Dame trade after seeing him in summer league, but it's just as possible what they wanted was just a young prospect and that's what the Suns had

in other words, I'd say the Cronin/Schmitz duo is about average, at best, at draft evaluations. Maybe a little below average but they don't have any real busts yet. But no home runs either; maybe no extras base hits.

But maybe a bigger picture is this: it's entirely possible at this point that none of Portland's 4 lottery picks will be starting when the season begins because none of them have established themselves as the best player at their position. 4 straight lottery picks and no clear starters? That looks like failure to me

[Norm2953]

First things first, the team gets its first look at Yang in the practices and summer league games

I'm dubious Yang is going to be a revelation for I think the team knows this will be a "redshirt" season
for him, while he plays in the summer league and perhaps get acclimated to living in the USA and
needing to learn English.

I think Ayton will be here this season for Yang isn't ready and unless a miracle happens, TL will get
hurt again. There could be some minor trades to add a shooter to the mix but the team is more or
less set with Jrue replacing Simons.

I think we're looking at another 35 win season with the Blazers looking at drafting 9/10 but who knows,
the team did the league a favor by helping the Celtics get out of their tax apron problems and will get
"rewarded" like the Mavs did and will end up with another top 3 pick in the 2026 draft.

[Walton1one]

Sexton was just traded for Nurkic and UTA gave up a 2nd round pick in that trade, he IMO is a very similar player to Simons, some would say better, some would say worse, but in essence they are similar type players and it is worth noting that neither was traded for anything of value

That might sum up what Simons value was on the market, very little, which sums up the type of value a player like him has to other teams, not much

Read on Twitter

[oldfishermen]

Sexton was just traded for Nurkic and UTA gave up a 2nd round pick in that trade, he IMO is a very similar player to Simons, some would say better, some would say worse, but in essence they are similar type players and it is worth noting that neither was traded for anything of value

That might sum up what Simons value was on the market, very little, which sums up the type of value a player like him has to other teams, not much

Read on Twitter

After this trade. I believe the only true center the Hornets have is rookie Kalkbrenner.

Wonder who has a spare center? And what the trade would look like?

[DaVoiceMaster]

Not sure I see the Cronin\Pritchard semblance at all TBH

Also, I don’t understand the Schmitz praise here and elsewhere, has he hit on any of the 7 picks they made yet? 3 of which were in the top 10? 4 drafts now and I would say the verdict is that he is pretty lousy at drafting. Outside of Clingan who was a 2nd team all rookie selection, no other pick has received any kind of honors & in fact, every single one of them (except Walker maybe?) in a “re-draft“ would have been selected lower

Sharpe not on 1st or 2nd team all rookie, will likely have to go RFA to prove he deserves big money

Scoot not on 1st team or 2nd team, may not even start again this year

Murray likely out of the league next year when his contract is up, or on some minimum contract

Rupert, same as Murray, he can’t even get a consistent roster spot and spends most of his time in the G league 3yrs after he was drafted

Walker, he will be lucky if he gets a minimum contract

and then Yang

I mean yikes the return so far on POR draft picks it really poor, especially when you reflect on other players chosen around\after some of these players, I don’t understand how anyone could look at this front office after four years and say yeah, they surely know what they’re doing in the draft?

Would love to see the data\proof of that if you do believe it

But I guess pointing that out makes me negative right? Because the only thing you can do here is give effusive praise?

I think it’s fair criticism, does no one else look at all these picks and think what’s going on here?

that brings up an interesting exercise. If there was a redraft of 2022, how would it look without Blazer homer glasses? off the top of my head:

1 - Banchero
2 - Jalen Williams
3 - Holmgren
4 - Dyson Daniels
5 - Mathurin (came into his own in the playoffs)
6 - Jabari Smith
7 - Jaden Ivey
8 - Jalen Duren
9 - Sharpe/ Keegan Murray
10 - Jeremy Sochan

I'd take Sharpe over Murray, if for no other reason Murray is more than 2 years older than Sharpe. Only 3 players moved ahead Sharpe after being drafted lower. And yeah, that might be debatable

how about 2023:

1 - Wemby
2 - Amen Thompson
3 - Miller
4 - Cason Wallace
5 - Dereck Lively
6 - Scoot/ Keyonte George

the 2024 draft?

well, Edey and Clingan are comparable but Edey was only taken 2 slots behind. Jared McCain clearly the best player drafted after Clingan. Other players that may be comparable to Clingan: Buzelis, Kel' el Ware, Knecht, Yves Missi, Filipowski, Jaylen Wells

I don't have a lot of complaints about this draft. Usually I prefer to roll the dice on wings instead of slow-footed C's like Clingan and Yang. Investing lottery picks in both of those guys consecutively is pretty questionable (especially with Ayton on the roster). Clingan was a dominant force in the paint last season and a great rim protector

but returning to 2023: there are probably 3 or 4 players better than Kris Murray. Not so much better that Portland should be condemned for this pick. But there is something else about this draft: I saw Cronin in a presser talked about how highly the Blazers coveted Camara in that draft. I guess he forgot that he had the 43rd pick in that draft and used it on Rupert while Camara was still on the board. I suppose it's possible they demanded Camara in the Dame trade after seeing him in summer league, but it's just as possible what they wanted was just a young prospect and that's what the Suns had

in other words, I'd say the Cronin/Schmitz duo is about average, at best, at draft evaluations. Maybe a little below average but they don't have any real busts yet. But no home runs either; maybe no extras base hits.

But maybe a bigger picture is this: it's entirely possible at this point that none of Portland's 4 lottery picks will be starting when the season begins because none of them have established themselves as the best player at their position. 4 straight lottery picks and no clear starters? That looks like failure to me

2023 do-over...

In the 2023 NBA draft, the Portland Trail Blazers select... Amen Thompson.

[Dame Lizard]

Not sure I see the Cronin\Pritchard semblance at all TBH

Also, I don’t understand the Schmitz praise here and elsewhere, has he hit on any of the 7 picks they made yet? 3 of which were in the top 10? 4 drafts now and I would say the verdict is that he is pretty lousy at drafting. Outside of Clingan who was a 2nd team all rookie selection, no other pick has received any kind of honors & in fact, every single one of them (except Walker maybe?) in a “re-draft“ would have been selected lower

Sharpe not on 1st or 2nd team all rookie, will likely have to go RFA to prove he deserves big money

Scoot not on 1st team or 2nd team, may not even start again this year

Murray likely out of the league next year when his contract is up, or on some minimum contract

Rupert, same as Murray, he can’t even get a consistent roster spot and spends most of his time in the G league 3yrs after he was drafted

Walker, he will be lucky if he gets a minimum contract

and then Yang

I mean yikes the return so far on POR draft picks it really poor, especially when you reflect on other players chosen around\after some of these players, I don’t understand how anyone could look at this front office after four years and say yeah, they surely know what they’re doing in the draft?

Would love to see the data\proof of that if you do believe it

But I guess pointing that out makes me negative right? Because the only thing you can do here is give effusive praise?

I think it’s fair criticism, does no one else look at all these picks and think what’s going on here?

Agree - Schmitz has done nothing to earn praise for Portland. The jury is still out on him.

I really did want us drafting Sharpe and Scoot out of those remaining on the board, so I can't criticise Schmitz for that because they were my ideal picks. Honestly, I wanted Murray too .

[GEE]

Senseless... I don't know if that's true if we look at what we did with just Simoms. Cronin valued his player and gave no indication publicly that he wasn't 100% super pleased to hold onto Simons, and kept Simon;s camp from doing anything to affect his value. Laughable now looking at what many thought to be his value, but in the end, Cronin turned that still young but poor fit Guard that didn't learn to play good D into: An all-defensive Vet with chapionship experience, and we got a friggin' FRP. Props when props are due. Cronin's patience paid off and we sent Simons to the Celtics, only one of the greatest franchises in all of sports history. Happy for him, but making friends with Pritchard might take a while. That duo doesn't fit well at all IMO.

Cronin made our defense substantially better with the addition of Jrue for Simons. Worth noting, The position's BBIQ got majorly upgraded as well. Add Holliday to our already strong defensive identity featuring Thybulle, Camara, RWIII (Please stay healthy) and Clingan.... Cronin is starting to make some sense.

... tell me, do you Yang-Bang ?

[tester551]

Not sure I see the Cronin\Pritchard semblance at all TBH

Also, I don’t understand the Schmitz praise here and elsewhere, has he hit on any of the 7 picks they made yet? 3 of which were in the top 10? 4 drafts now and I would say the verdict is that he is pretty lousy at drafting. Outside of Clingan who was a 2nd team all rookie selection, no other pick has received any kind of honors & in fact, every single one of them (except Walker maybe?) in a “re-draft“ would have been selected lower

Sharpe not on 1st or 2nd team all rookie, will likely have to go RFA to prove he deserves big money

Scoot not on 1st team or 2nd team, may not even start again this year

Murray likely out of the league next year when his contract is up, or on some minimum contract

Rupert, same as Murray, he can’t even get a consistent roster spot and spends most of his time in the G league 3yrs after he was drafted

Walker, he will be lucky if he gets a minimum contract

and then Yang

I mean yikes the return so far on POR draft picks it really poor, especially when you reflect on other players chosen around\after some of these players, I don’t understand how anyone could look at this front office after four years and say yeah, they surely know what they’re doing in the draft?

Would love to see the data\proof of that if you do believe it

But I guess pointing that out makes me negative right? Because the only thing you can do here is give effusive praise?

I think it’s fair criticism, does no one else look at all these picks and think what’s going on here?

Agree - Schmitz has done nothing to earn praise for Portland. The jury is still out on him.

I really did want us drafting Sharpe and Scoot out of those remaining on the board, so I can't criticise Schmitz for that because they were my ideal picks. Honestly, I wanted Murray too .

Found Schmitz' burner account...

[Dame Lizard]

Senseless... I don't know if that's true if we look at what we did with just Simoms. Cronin valued his player and gave no indication publicly that he wasn't 100% super pleased to hold onto Simons, and kept Simon;s camp from doing anything to affect his value. Laughable now looking at what many thought to be his value, but in the end, Cronin turned that still young but poor fit Guard that didn't learn to play good D into: An all-defensive Vet with chapionship experience, and we got a friggin' FRP. Props when props are due. Cronin's patience paid off and we sent Simons to the Celtics, only one of the greatest franchises in all of sports history. Happy for him, but making friends with Pritchard might take a while. That duo doesn't fit well at all IMO.

Cronin made our defense substantially better with the addition of Jrue for Simons. Worth noting, The position's BBIQ got majorly upgraded as well. Add Holliday to our already strong defensive identity featuring Thybulle, Camara, RWIII (Please stay healthy) and Clingan.... Cronin is starting to make some sense.

... tell me, do you Yang-Bang ?

We traded an expiring Simons who had minor positive value (yes he's one of the worst defenders in the league, but provides good instant offense from the bench), for a unanimous bad contract in Jrue.

That is poor GM'ing. I'm not arguing that Jrue won't serve a solid purpose providing defense and mentorship (particularly defensively) to Scoot and Shaedon, and hopefully firming a defensive-first mindset for this team. But unless Jrue proves last year wasn't a decline, it was a poor trade.

[Dame Lizard]

Not sure I see the Cronin\Pritchard semblance at all TBH

Also, I don’t understand the Schmitz praise here and elsewhere, has he hit on any of the 7 picks they made yet? 3 of which were in the top 10? 4 drafts now and I would say the verdict is that he is pretty lousy at drafting. Outside of Clingan who was a 2nd team all rookie selection, no other pick has received any kind of honors & in fact, every single one of them (except Walker maybe?) in a “re-draft“ would have been selected lower

Sharpe not on 1st or 2nd team all rookie, will likely have to go RFA to prove he deserves big money

Scoot not on 1st team or 2nd team, may not even start again this year

Murray likely out of the league next year when his contract is up, or on some minimum contract

Rupert, same as Murray, he can’t even get a consistent roster spot and spends most of his time in the G league 3yrs after he was drafted

Walker, he will be lucky if he gets a minimum contract

and then Yang

I mean yikes the return so far on POR draft picks it really poor, especially when you reflect on other players chosen around\after some of these players, I don’t understand how anyone could look at this front office after four years and say yeah, they surely know what they’re doing in the draft?

Would love to see the data\proof of that if you do believe it

But I guess pointing that out makes me negative right? Because the only thing you can do here is give effusive praise?

I think it’s fair criticism, does no one else look at all these picks and think what’s going on here?

Agree - Schmitz has done nothing to earn praise for Portland. The jury is still out on him.

I really did want us drafting Sharpe and Scoot out of those remaining on the board, so I can't criticise Schmitz for that because they were my ideal picks. Honestly, I wanted Murray too .

Found Schmitz' burner account...

Hahaha I'm a Yang flop away from campaigning for us to fire Schmitz, particularly if Essengue, Coward or Bryant look good. No burner for me

[Walton1one]

Now an Ayton buyout? Please tell me the Cronin regime is nearing its end?

[GEE]

RealGM Wiretap
Deandre Ayton To Become Free Agent Following Buyout With Blazers
Jun 29, 2025 10:37 PM

HE GONE! Per Shams, the Lakers are likely to have interest but I bet there will be others with their MLE's. Feels like that marks the end of a big trade scenario. Thought if a big name player was coming, Ayton's exp would be leaving in any package. Maybe Grant is next. Maybe also to the Lakers. Backroom deals maybe? We buyout Ayton knowing Ayton wants LA, LA gets Ayton, Grant comes to LA next in a sweetheart deal for the Blazers? Or did we just kick him to the curb? Seems at least a little strange we'd just cut him for nothing.

[Case2012]

Joe has got to be the laughing stock of the league.

Buying out a 25 year old center on an expiring deal that was the big return on the Dame trade.

I wanted him gone but this is truly pathetic management. Addition by subtraction I guess, but he's not totally useless, he could rebound and drop 20 on any given night. Not even getting a TPE is just poor asset management, which is trade mark of this FO.

They gifted Norm to the Clippers for literally nothing, and now they're gifting Ayton to the Lakers.

[garrick]

What's up with the Blazers FO?

Buying out Ayton instead of trying to trade him for something is just so foolish because you're losing him for nothing. I get there's a logjam at center but if you can even get a couple 2nd rounders those have been proven really valuable even as filler for trades so this move is a real head scratcher.

[DaVoiceMaster]

What's up with the Blazers FO?

Buying out Ayton instead of trying to trade him for something is just so foolish because you're losing him for nothing. I get there's a logjam at center but if you can even get a couple 2nd rounders those have been proven really valuable even as filler for trades so this move is a real head scratcher.

Is there a market for Ayton at $35M?

[Case2012]

What's up with the Blazers FO?

Buying out Ayton instead of trying to trade him for something is just so foolish because you're losing him for nothing. I get there's a logjam at center but if you can even get a couple 2nd rounders those have been proven really valuable even as filler for trades so this move is a real head scratcher.

Head scratcher is a phrase used very commonly when referring to the moves this FO makes. They are very unqualified to run a team and will never have another job in the NBA after the team is sold.