Game Thread NBA PLAY-IN - PELICANS @ CLIPPERS - APRIL 15, 2022 - FRIDAY - 7:00 PM (PDT) TNT

I guess the silver lining may be that if getting Grant was contingent on the 11th pick, the Blazers may have to look elsewhere...assuming the Pels win tonight

but if Cronin trades a 6th or 7th pick for Grant....hoo boy!

 

Reggie Jackson is my big worry. That guy could start jacking up shots and shoot something like 4-19 like he did in the previous game against the Pelicans.
Jackson did only take 9 shots in the last game of the season, going 3-9 for 7 points. Norman Powell was 6-11 for 20 points.
With George out, who's going to be the one to take George's shots? Please don't let it be Jackson.
In the 3 games in April, Jackson shot 31% from the field and 12% on 3-pointers.
Normal Powell in his two games shot 57% from the field and 70% on 3-pointers.
Norman Powell may be the guy that rescues our possible lottery pick.

 

Clippers win tonight. Blazers get the pick. PG13 craps the bed in the playoffs/play-ins (but should be fine given Covid-lite). Irony of ironies would be a false positive.

What chance did the experts of sports media give for the Lakers and the Clippers both missing the playoffs? Vegas should be a little nervous … but no. Clippers play as a team and are the better team. Remember, it’s called Good Friday not F-the-Blazers-Friday. And #6 moves into the top 4.

 

They protected it top four after it was already protected as far as we were concerned 14-30, so they gave us a ten pick window and all Cronin could negotiate when he should have known that he was making their team much better was getting the Bucks 2025 first rounder (Giannis will be in the prime of his career turning 30 during the 2024-25 season and is under contract for that season without any option)... also top 4 protected for the Pels?!?! Cronin fucking sucks at this shit, he needs to go back to being a consulting voice and not a decision maker. If I had my way we would get rid of 95% of the front office that was under Neil and bring in a brilliant basketball mind with some fresh perspective. That's if we end up with the Pels pick or not.

 

No playoffs for the city of Los Angeles? I think the refs help the Clippers tonight

 

This is a deep draft with several SF/PF/C prospects that would be available with our draft pick. I can't imagine Cronin trading it away for a guy like Grant.

 

Cronin seems like a guy that could get fixated on an idea so yeah, if our pick moves back, I could see him just giving it up for Grant. Like I said earlier, even if we move up and the pick is obviously too valuable to give up for Grant, I could see Cronin giving the Pistons as much as our entire war chest of four future firsts for Jerami.

Really, if the pick doesn't convey and Cronin isn't fired fairly immediately we know that the Vulcans don't give a shit about this team. I think that the drama of today should prove to those people in Seattle, just how reckless Joe was with the few proven assets outside of Dame that we had and they should move on from him as a GM candidate or at least hire a President of Basketball Ops to make the real decisions and relegate Cronin back to just being a voice in the ear of an expert instead of the decision maker who tells the Vulcans what is best for the team.

 

We need to let it play out and see what happens. If the Blazers are noticeably better next season, why should Cronin be fired? Because you don't like how he did it?
Of course, if the Blazers are worse next season, yes, he should be fired.
I don't think the Blazers are going to be worse next season than the team that couldn't win a road game until they played Houston.

 

OK I am trying to spin this so I am not too pissed tonight. If the Clips lose then at least that means:

A: The Clips miss the playoffs after all the moves and money they spent. I can enjoy that.

B: I read an article on the Pistons and they clearly are trying to make a "splash" in free agency. They will have somewhere around $25 million in cap space available this summer. If the goal is to really make a splash, wouldn't dumping Grant's 20 million be even more appealing than the actual pick? So maybe they make the trade even if it means taking a future #1 pick?

 

Yeah, they protected it top 4. They didn't own it 15-30. So they put one contingency on the pick. 1 isn't a lot of contingencies .
You're stance of how shitty he is is noted. He should have been able to land us siakim, and Anthony edwards for 3 of our starters. What a shit bag.

 

I can't imagine a guy who has been in NBA front offices for 13 years and been an assistant GM for the last 4-7 giving up CJ, Norm, RoCo and Larry for Hart, Winslow, Johnson, second round picks and a first that could so easily not convey but Cronin sure did that shit... sorry I forgot to mention all of the millions in cap savings that he is planning to just repurpose to guys that were already on the fucking roster.

 

There might be a small gap between me thinking that he should have gotten a late lotto/mid first that would convey in this years draft plus a solid role player for CJ and saying that he should have been able to land a proven all star and one of the best up and coming talents in the game for three of the four quality guys we gave up.

 

And all signs looked like we were going to get a late lotto. And then the Lakers melted apart.

As for the Clippers trade, there wasn't 1sts to be had in all reality. I guess that doesn't stop us from crying that he should have gotten one for them somehow.

 

In your scenario aren't we better because Ant popped and Dame is now healthy? What does that have to do with not getting enough value back for CJ, Norm, RoCo and Larry? No, I do not give this guy more chances to give more teams gifts. He is the interim GM and I don't think Vulcan would keep someone interim into next season so it would mean signing him to a contract that would be for more than just next season. There is no letting this play out and then whatever because there will be more damage that Cronin can do this off season. Let's just get a clean break from the Olshey era and see what someone who has no connection to Olshey's plans would do.

Like I've said, I can see us giving Cronin the GM job if we hire a President of Basketball Operations who is the actual decision maker and will prevent us from getting fleeced again.

 

You're acting as if the only three teams in the NBA are us, the Pelicans and the Clippers... I think it's been made pretty clear that for Joe and CJ the Pelicans were the only option because of some bullshit loyalty but really there was no reason to take these deals. One was just pure shit and the other is still and was at the time very precarious. At the trade deadline the Lakers were already melting, they were four games under .500 and had just lost to us. If Cronin couldn't foresee that CJ would make the Pelicans a threat to make the playoffs that's even more damning, isn't it?

 

We're going to find out just how good Norm and RoCo are tonight.

 

You're probably right about B. but A. has some serious problems. The Clippers will get Kawhi back next season and had a chance for PG to get used to playing with Norm and RoCo who they will most likely retain for far less money than they're currently paying him. So we're not exactly going to get the last laugh on a team that will be a stronger contender next season because of the gift we gave them.

 

That 2025 Bucks pick will be better than 11 imo and we won’t trade it for Grant. Looks like we gave up Norm, RoCo, and CJ for Cap Space flexibility…Ouch.