I just figured it out. Don’t know why I didn’t see it before. Cronin is accumulating draft picks so we can have a good team just as Lillard retires. Then, all he has to do is go out and find another Lillard, which will be much easier than finding complimentary players.
An older Lillard could lead Simons, Sharpe, and future additions in the twilight of his career. Kidd led Dallas to title late in his career.
We are not a good team. Lillard had a monster triple double last night, and Portland barely beat the road crappy Warriors without Curry. Cronin is accumulating draft picks to enhance the incentives for a new owner to buy this team. The next step is Lillard demanding a trade and getting that 60m per season contract off the books. Vegas anyone ?? They got a nice newer stadium down there. Fancy city, tourist hot spot, warm climate. The NBA is running out of reasons to keep Blazers in Portland. The long road trip time and mileage is enough in itself to justify a theorized new owner's idea of moving the Blazers.
Get a grip. Dame isn't demanding a trade and the Blazers aren't moving to Vegas because they didn't trade for Mo Bamba or Vanderbilt.
I know the root post a sarcasm, but there's some truth in it. We won't compete this year or next. We got younger and longer. We also got more flexible with better future assets. This is going to be a multi-year rebuild.
It almost seems that the trades made today were to ensure that we will be a lottery team and keep our pick. The most glaring indication is that we didn't get one guy over 6'7" even though our center is injury prone and his backup is only 6'10"
A multi year rebuild with an aging superstar. Now that has a chance of working. Bogged down with silly multi year deals to Nurk and Ant, praying Grant stays for a MAX deal... how is that part of a rebuild? To me that is borderline incompetence.
And it's not a bad strategy as long as Lillard is OK with waiting another year. The only move we could have made to make us a contender this year would have been gettin Siakam and it appears Toronto decided to get a real center and stand pat.
Personally I think tank time has already started for management; we'll see if Lillard and company can screw it up.
I'm wondering how long it's going to take before continually outraged posters realize the roster is and has been lacking talent? As such, anyone Portland might have hired as a GM looking to make trades would have been dealing from a position of weakness unless they're giving up future picks which PRAISE THE BBALL GODS! Cronin hasn't done. Even if they did, hopes of a trade or two that magically turns this malaise into title contenders in the tail end of Dame's prime is more of a pipe dream then winning the Wembo lotto. To my view, Cronin is betting on his staff's ability to recognize talent in upcoming drafts. Being a Portland Trailblazers fan and not just a fanboy of a single player, I like that they seem to be taking the long view and acquiring assets to better the team over time. STOMP
If Lillard is OK with waiting another year,the Blazers should be tanking hard by limiting his minutes and playing Sharpe and Walker and the young (good) guys a lot of minutes.
I think Dame knew what he was signing up for when he agreed to the extension. He knows this team will take a season or two to build.
There is no way to know. However, Quick said he talked to the 2-3 agents who represent virtually all the front office people around the league and he says he was told nobody was contacted. It is possible he's making it all up, for whatever reason. At the end of the day, when it comes to coaching or front office interviews, pretty much all we have to go off of is what is on the internet.
