reading between some pretty obvious lines I think it was the trade of Hart to NY that showed that Cronin had no intention of trying to re-tool around Dame. That closed the coffin and drafting Scoot was just the last nail
I did not watch the game. Looks like he had great stats other than his +/- ( -5) Looks like NY's bench kicked ass. They won with all their starters having a negative +/-
Philly seemed open to the idea of Hart being the guy in the starting lineup to beat them. The law of averages would suggest this is a sound strategy for the 76ers. We'll see if he can continue to go 4-8 from deep into he upcoming games.
It made no sense because months earlier we traded the assets for the Duren pick to get Jeremi Grant. Either build with vets or build with youth for the future, you shouldn't do moves both those directions at once. Hart was a better two way player and much cheaper. If we weren't ever gonna build around Dame should've traded him when Olshey was fired. I always look at it as the Clippers trade being the key moment of the current path and the end of building a realistic winner around Dame. A competent owner would've first made a long term GM decision, have a long term plan, then start working on big moves. Instead we traded multiple starters for some Didi guy, a 2nd round pick, and cash multiple days before the trade deadline. Never understood how fans thought we were going to then take steps to put a winner around Dame.
Sucks even more to realize the big prize we got for sending away Hart was using a FRP in a super deep draft and ending up with Kris Murray..... Reminds me of the Swanigan pick. Even not considering Scoot we have 3 rookies taken later that are all much better players. That's for a 21 win team and a very old rookie with little upside.... pathetic. Hart was an awesome player here, even when his jumper wasn't falling. Enjoyed watching him, his hustle, defense, rebounding, pushing the ball and his two way contributions. Haven't enjoyed that as much for any Blazer since Wes Matthews.
I don't have an issue with what they got for Hart. He wasn't coming back and you got a 1st round pick out of him. I take more issue with what they got for the pick. In a re-Draft, Camara and Rupert are 1st rounders, Murray is not. So it worked out, but value wasn't maximized as much as we would have liked.
I wanted us to give up the pick to Chicago to get our 1st back. Not sure if Chicago said no or we never asked.
He's absolutely my fave Blazer of about the last five years. Like Jimmy Butler he proves it's not about size or athleticism, it's about wanting it. Plus he's genuinely a funny guy.
I never had a problem with the Powell+RoCo trade like many here did. I did not believe either player had much value, especially RoCo. It was a necessary salary dump that I suspect was mandated by Seattle. And I thought the CJ+Nance trade fetched a good return that was accidentally made a little less good by PG13 getting Covid. Those two trades went a long way toward dismantling Olshey's expensive, undersized, dysfunctional roster. And it had clearly shown how dysfunctional it was by being 13 games under .500 without a healthy Dame to carry the load. After that trade deadline, I was pro-Cronin but your statement I highlighted about Portland trying to go two directions at the same time has altered my perspective on Cronin to this point. That was a major Olshey fault and it appears Cronin may suffer from the same disease. He subtracts CJ-Powell-RoCo-Nance, then adds Hart-Grant-Payton-Winslow. He subtracts Hart then adds Thybule. He subtracts Dame-Nurkic-Little, but then adds Brogdon-Timelord-Ayton. And while he's doing all that he's tanking the shit out of three straight seasons with the most blatant tank-job possibly heading into the worst draft class in years. And with next season's draft class reportedly being excellent, Cronin's vibe is that he may actually try to win with a less talented roster than the ones from the Dame years. It makes no fucking sense. There's no direction unless of course 2 or 3 directions at the same time count as one; it's dartboard roster exchanges, crotch laceration from fence-wire, and steady incremental downgrades in talent while barely dodging the luxury tax. He can't even reduce the payroll while carrying a bunch of rookies and less talented veterans This does not look anything like competent rebuild. What it looks like is a 'half-assed-wtf-why-not-retool-rebuild' hybrid with a quartet of '3rd-4th-options-and-6th-men' masquerading as 1st and 2nd options, assembled by a GM (working for a I-don't-give-a-shit owner) hoping nobody will notice.
As long the team is under current trust management, Im convinced their business/performance plan is, keeping the product fresh enough to sell in a small market and stay out of cap hell. You'd think by tanking again and creating the excitement of another possible high pick, would be enough to accomplish the goal. Plus it buys Joe and Chauncey more time in the organization.
it's almost like there is no plan...there are 3 or 4 plan options and Cronin's spinning wheel keeps spinning
Cronin keeps getting punked trading Blazers. The guy is wicked smart and knows what he's doing. He built a flashy team with shooters that can get hot, but struggle really bad defensively. Hiring oft-injured ballers turned the Blazers into the banged up Grizzlies. Joe has a coach who is well respected in the league, hugs for everyone. Cronin's Blazers are a hybrid. Good enough to be OK, and bad enough to be the worst. The Blazers have Spurs, Hornets, Wizards, and Brooklyn bits whipped into a giant bowl of ping pong balls.
Never understood this... why people think Hart "wasn't coming back" yet we opened up 160 million for Jerami Grant? Murray was a head scratcher of a pick at the time just like Swanigan, especially when there was so much higher upside talent and interest from other teams in trades.
