Cronin becomes permanent GM

[mighty_duck]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33892196/sources-portland-trail-blazers-elevate-joe-cronin-interim-permanent-gm

[mighty_duck]

I wasn't very impressed by the way he handled the teardown of our team at the trade deadline.
We lost a lot of solid assets in CJ, Powel, RoCo, Nance, and got very little in return. It felt like in every deal, we were getting the short end of the stick. Not a great start.

While I like the teardown plan, I didn't like the execution.
Let's hope he does better this offseason.

[JRoy]

He has a lot to prove

[BlazersBroncos]

I loved the CJ trade and think that gamble on the pick conveying was well worth it, even if it didnt pan out.

The LAC move was pretty trash, we should have come out with a FRP IMO. But Keon showed a bit more than I expected, albeit I expected nothing.

I am interested in seeing him moving forward, even if I have some doubts.

[Case2012]

The logic and reasoning behind Cronin's moves were incompetent. The amount of assets given up to get those players only to receive basically nothing in return for them was the worst trade deadline in the teams history. There's a reason why all the national writers were shocked at how bad our deals were.

Cronin sucks at this... He's really really bad trades. It's one thing to shed future salary, but to get nothing in return is another. Can you imagine the return we could've gotten in picks of we had Sam presti, Danny ainge, or Buford as a gm? What Masai could've gotten?

Further, I'm terrified of what he does this summer. I have a feeling all the moves he made were to get Jeremy Grant, re-sign a washed Joe Ingles, give nurkic 18 million and max out Simons. Hopefully we land Murray but I wouldn't be surprised if he blows the draft too.

You gotta remember he's been through 3 GM's as an assistant, so I'm sure he's had a lot to do with trades in the past and it's not just olshey to blame for giving up all those picks. I'm not hyped on Johnson, or Didi as prospects at all. Lastly not getting the better of the pelicans own pick or LA's pick was another colossal failure.

He seems like a really nice guy though.


The only thing I can think of to justify this, is that the team will be sold this summer and it didn't make sense to hire a new GM right before the sale.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

The logic and reasoning behind Cronin's moves were incompetent. The amount of assets given up to get those players only to receive basically nothing in return for them was the worst trade deadline in the teams history. There's a reason why all the national writers were shocked at how bad our deals were.

Cronin sucks at this... He's really really bad trades. It's one thing to shed future salary, but to get nothing in return is another. Can you imagine the return we could've gotten in picks of we had Sam presti, Danny ainge, or Buford as a gm? What Masai could've gotten?

Further, I'm terrified of what he does this summer. I have a feeling all the moves he made were to get Jeremy Grant, re-sign a washed Joe Ingles, give nurkic 18 million and max out Simons. Hopefully we land Murray but I wouldn't be surprised if he blows the draft too.

You gotta remember he's been through 3 GM's as an assistant, so I'm sure he's had a lot to do with trades in the past and it's not just olshey to blame for giving up all those picks. I'm not hyped on Johnson, or Didi as prospects at all. Lastly not getting the better of the pelicans own pick or LA's pick was another colossal failure.

He seems like a really nice guy though.


The only thing I can think of to justify this, is that the team will be sold this summer and it didn't make sense to hire a new GM right before the sale.

Agree with all of this but we gave him a 4 year contract so looks like the team is buying into whatever vision he is selling.. which as a longtime front office employee is almost certainly "more of the same".

#6 for Grant incoming any day now.

[Case2012]

It's probably gonna to be 6 for Grant, Hayes (classic reclamation move by olshey/Cronin) and a second.

You have to be really good at trades and drafting if you're not a destination for free agents and clearly we are lacking in the trade dept.

Our salary cap expert gm also helped negotiate all those horrible deals given out in 2016, and all the other horrible deals almost given out before that. Let's not forget about the dead money we have on the books either. Brilliant!! Especially considering the moves we made to get under the tax the last several years.

Ughhhhhhhh.. SELL THE TEAM JODY!!!

[JRoy]

The logic and reasoning behind Cronin's moves were incompetent. The amount of assets given up to get those players only to receive basically nothing in return for them was the worst trade deadline in the teams history. There's a reason why all the national writers were shocked at how bad our deals were.

Cronin sucks at this... He's really really bad trades. It's one thing to shed future salary, but to get nothing in return is another. Can you imagine the return we could've gotten in picks of we had Sam presti, Danny ainge, or Buford as a gm? What Masai could've gotten?

Further, I'm terrified of what he does this summer. I have a feeling all the moves he made were to get Jeremy Grant, re-sign a washed Joe Ingles, give nurkic 18 million and max out Simons. Hopefully we land Murray but I wouldn't be surprised if he blows the draft too.

You gotta remember he's been through 3 GM's as an assistant, so I'm sure he's had a lot to do with trades in the past and it's not just olshey to blame for giving up all those picks. I'm not hyped on Johnson, or Didi as prospects at all. Lastly not getting the better of the pelicans own pick or LA's pick was another colossal failure.

He seems like a really nice guy though.


The only thing I can think of to justify this, is that the team will be sold this summer and it didn't make sense to hire a new GM right before the sale.

Agree with all of this but we gave him a 4 year contract so looks like the team is buying into whatever vision he is selling.. which as a longtime front office employee is almost certainly "more of the same".

#6 for Grant incoming any day now.

If that is the deal, I’m done with this team and I’ve been a fan since Walton.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

The logic and reasoning behind Cronin's moves were incompetent. The amount of assets given up to get those players only to receive basically nothing in return for them was the worst trade deadline in the teams history. There's a reason why all the national writers were shocked at how bad our deals were.

Cronin sucks at this... He's really really bad trades. It's one thing to shed future salary, but to get nothing in return is another. Can you imagine the return we could've gotten in picks of we had Sam presti, Danny ainge, or Buford as a gm? What Masai could've gotten?

Further, I'm terrified of what he does this summer. I have a feeling all the moves he made were to get Jeremy Grant, re-sign a washed Joe Ingles, give nurkic 18 million and max out Simons. Hopefully we land Murray but I wouldn't be surprised if he blows the draft too.

You gotta remember he's been through 3 GM's as an assistant, so I'm sure he's had a lot to do with trades in the past and it's not just olshey to blame for giving up all those picks. I'm not hyped on Johnson, or Didi as prospects at all. Lastly not getting the better of the pelicans own pick or LA's pick was another colossal failure.

He seems like a really nice guy though.


The only thing I can think of to justify this, is that the team will be sold this summer and it didn't make sense to hire a new GM right before the sale.

Agree with all of this but we gave him a 4 year contract so looks like the team is buying into whatever vision he is selling.. which as a longtime front office employee is almost certainly "more of the same".

#6 for Grant incoming any day now.

If that is the deal, I’m done with this team and I’ve been a fan since Walton.

Don't worry, we will get 2 second round picks back. Maybe 3.

[Case2012]

I just don't understand how you get a promotion after trading Roco, Powell, Nance, and CJ for one future late first, and 2 seconds. It's almost like we were more worried about sending them where they wanted to go rather than getting a good return, and frankly I think that's what happened. Yes, the NO pick was a lottery pick but not negotiating for the better of those 2 picks was crazy. Griffin owned Cronin in that deal. The pelicans have an their own picks, all of LA's picks, and all of MIl picks, and that's the best we could do?

I do like Winslow and Hart, but NO had Herb Jones and Trey Murphy but we got Didi instead.. and LA had Boston Jr and Tre Mann but we got Keon (look at his percentages before the deadline). Just awful returns.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I just don't understand how you get a promotion after trading Roco, Powell, Nance, and CJ for one future late first, and 2 seconds. It's almost like we were more worried about sending them where they wanted to go rather than getting a good return, and frankly I think that's what happened. Yes, the NO pick was a lottery pick but not negotiating for the better of those 2 picks was crazy. Griffin owned Cronin in that deal. The pelicans have an their own picks, all of LA's picks, and all of MIl picks, and that's the best we could do?

I do like Winslow and Hart, but NO had Herb Jones and Trey Murphy but we got Didi instead.. and LA had Boston Jr and Tre Mann but we got Keon (look at his percentages before the deadline). Just awful returns.

Yup, and I dont even like Winslow or Hart very much either, neither should be starting for a quality team. The best piece back was that potential lottery pick but CJ pulled the Pelicans to the playoffs and now Milwaukee's 2025 pick is almost worth nothing.

I'll eat crow if the Blazers are able to use that salary flexibility to improve themselves but it looks like we will just resign Ant and Nurkic and not have any under-the-cap flexibility so color me skeptical.

In short, I think Cronin completely bungled it top to bottom I don't like anything he got back. If this all wasn't setting up a Damian Lillard trade then it is an even deeper purgatory than we were in before.

[Dame Lizard]

I'm not happy with this, but time will tell.

The one good thing is that given it's a multi-year deal, he has time to build something and the four year tenure makes him accountable for the mid-term success of the Blazers (i.e. he has a bit to consider beyond poor YOLO win-now moves).

If it were just a 1 year extension, then a #6 for Grant deal would almost be certain, as Cronin would be gunning for short-term success you'd assume.

[Norm2953]

Let's just hope Cronin makes reasonable decisions.

We'll know where things stand in a week. His job will be a lot easier if Portland gets a top 3 pick.

[PDXKnight]

Not a fan per say but i’ll give him a chance. He reminds me of a john nash mediocre at best gm who gets fleeced

If portland gets the number 1 pick maybe he looks genius but even if i still decry the norm trade and it scares me as to what he’s capable of in terms of screwing it up. Cj trade was alright, probably the best we could expect but the norm deal was epic bad in terms of return unless that pick flew our way

[Goldbum]

Well we knew this would happen

[Moonbeam]

I suppose I can understand the need for a permanent GM ahead of this pivotal offseason, and therefore can understand the move to give the position to Joe in the absence of any better candidates, it seems crazy to lock him in for 4 years. He does not have any previous GM experience and his short tenure with Portland has included some very questionable moves, to put it mildly. Four years seems to be a big investment.

[Dame Lizard]

I suppose I can understand the need for a permanent GM ahead of this pivotal offseason, and therefore can understand the move to give the position to Joe in the absence of any better candidates, it seems crazy to lock him in for 4 years. He does not have any previous GM experience and his short tenure with Portland has included some very questionable moves, to put it mildly. Four years seems to be a big investment.

Completely agree about the 4 years - seems strange. Having said that, Chauncey signed a long-term coaching deal. Somewhat comes with the territory.

I'm worried, because we have an owner whose commitment to the team is uncertain, and a GM who has no track record.

I think the New Orleans deal was the right move (it's just a shame Paul George getting Covid ruined things), but the Clippers deal was horrifying.

[monopoman]

I suppose I can understand the need for a permanent GM ahead of this pivotal offseason, and therefore can understand the move to give the position to Joe in the absence of any better candidates, it seems crazy to lock him in for 4 years. He does not have any previous GM experience and his short tenure with Portland has included some very questionable moves, to put it mildly. Four years seems to be a big investment.

Completely agree about the 4 years - seems strange. Having said that, Chauncey signed a long-term coaching deal. Somewhat comes with the territory.

I'm worried, because we have an owner whose commitment to the team is uncertain, and a GM who has no track record.

I think the New Orleans deal was the right move (it's just a shame Paul George getting Covid ruined things), but the Clippers deal was horrifying.

As I have said in other threads PA wanted the vast majority of his fortune donated to charity, even if his sister loves owning the Blazers they might end up being sold just to get more cash so she can push that plan forward more.

Keep in mind when PA died the will didn't just give her everything with the caveat that she could do whatever she wanted with it.

[PDXKnight]

I suppose I can understand the need for a permanent GM ahead of this pivotal offseason, and therefore can understand the move to give the position to Joe in the absence of any better candidates, it seems crazy to lock him in for 4 years. He does not have any previous GM experience and his short tenure with Portland has included some very questionable moves, to put it mildly. Four years seems to be a big investment.

Yeah i don’t get it. But id we had some of the juice the guys on 620 are drinking maybe we’d think a turd in a punch bowl is a bar of gold…

[Wizenheimer]

I just don't understand how you get a promotion after trading Roco, Powell, Nance, and CJ for one future late first, and 2 seconds. It's almost like we were more worried about sending them where they wanted to go rather than getting a good return, and frankly I think that's what happened. Yes, the NO pick was a lottery pick but not negotiating for the better of those 2 picks was crazy. Griffin owned Cronin in that deal. The pelicans have an their own picks, all of LA's picks, and all of MIl picks, and that's the best we could do?

I do like Winslow and Hart, but NO had Herb Jones and Trey Murphy but we got Didi instead.. and LA had Boston Jr and Tre Mann but we got Keon (look at his percentages before the deadline). Just awful returns.

ok...question: can you recall at any point in NBA history when a non-all-star has been traded for a GUARANTEED lottery pick? I sure can't. There are always conditions and protections attached to picks for less than elite players. It took a perfect storm of bad luck for the Blazers to lose the 2nd lottery pick. Apparently, Cronin is an idiot because he couldn't anticipate the total collapse of the Lakers or Paul George getting Covid on the day of the play-in game. If he's healthy, the Blazers have the 11th pick today

there is only one GM that would have traded a 1st for RoCo, Powell, or Nance, and he's out of a job.

there seems to be an article of faith in Blazer nation among some fans that the players Portland traded had more value than Portland got for them. That Cronin was turning down 'better' trades and accepting worse ones. Where is the proof of that? I sure haven't seen it. The only 'evidence' I've seen, from Jake Fisher, says the opposite. He said there were a couple of other offers for CJ from Atlanta and Dallas, compare them to what Portland got:

* Atlanta - Gallinari + filler + a future protected 1st
* Dallas - Powell + Kleber + filler + future protected 1st (before the Porzingis trade)
* Pelicans - Hart + Louzada + 21M TPE + 3.3M TPE + future protected 1st

sure looks like the Blazers did fine if it's true those were the offers. Now, I suppose you can factor in Nance, but I don't think he was significant at all because he was injured at the time and ended up only playing in 15 of 36 games for the Pels. Of course, he's always injured and is just about guaranteed to miss significant time next season. Further, it's just about certain RoCo was not going to re-sign in Portland; and the nature of Powell's contract and talent didn't have him carrying any significant positive value

another blatantly obvious factor is that Cronin was not operating with a free hand. He had instructions from Seattle and it's obvious those instructions were:

* dismantle the latest dumbass reboot of olshey's rinse-repeat-dead-end rosters
* get under the tax
* significantly reduce future payroll

it's possible (but unlikely?) there were other offers out there but they required Portland to take on too much future salary, and that was a no-fly zone because of having to re-sign Simons and Nurkic

Sure looks like Cronin hit the supposed benchmarks from the Vulcans. The 4 players he traded were hogging half of the Blazer payroll, but they didn't have a smidgeon of upside. They had Portland's trajectory flat-lined and were primary reasons for Portland's purgatory. The had to go. It's pretty easy to imagine that Cronin hit some home runs in the eyes of the Vulcans so it's little wonder why they gave him the job

if there are valid complaints, and I think there are, they are with Seattle a lot more than they are with Cronin