Another stupid Cronin transaction when Brown was available for cheaper. We get it. Cronin made a lot of mistakes and continues to do so. I'm happy he didn't further screw things up by trading both our lotto picks. Let's see if he can actually get some good young talent back for Dame. I'll be the first to give him credit.
Because we needed another short guard? You’re bashing on signing a short guard and then suggesting they sign another short guard.
Brown played primarily at SF the last two years. He's two inches taller than Simons or GPII. He's an excellent defender both in Denver and previously in Brooklyn. He would've been an exceptional addition last summer and it made no sense to target the clearly inferior GPII.
Well ideally sure we'd get a great tall two way 6'9" forward that can be a quality backup or occasional starter. None were available for the MLE though, its probably the hardest position to fill in this league. There's rarely starting/backup level players available for the MLE. If you can add one at any position you do it. Brown plays backup SF just fine. Blazers were playing Keon Johnson at guard last season. If they had wanted to win Bruce Brown would've been a great bench addition last year. Plus a 7 foot vet minimum guy to fill in for Nurks injuries. Could have totally changed the Blazers season last year if they had those contributors, didn't trade Hart, and didn't tank. I don't want to get in an argument about that hypothetical vs where we are now with Scoot, that wasn't my point. I'm just saying Brown was a great signing option and clearly much superior to GPII. It would've been very easy for a competent GM to make those two moves last year if they truly wanted to try and win. It seems Cronin either sort of stealth tanked or has a mixture of incompetency that is concerning.
the one thing that kinda sucks about signing Matisse now and not being able to dump Nurk/dame yet is it ate up space that could have been used to make Grants contract a declining one. Assuming they moved off of Dame and didn’t resign Grant, they could have made this year like 40+ million and then had it be a nice little 25 mil contract in remaining years. Instead it increases to 36m. Sucks.
I think declines are limited to 8% or something so it couldn't quite drop that much; but yes the contract could've been structured to decline and worth more in a trade next year or especially two years from now. However the player option in year 5 is a huge problem with trade value. If Grant is good he will bolt or get a raise, if he sucks the team is stuck paying it. Really hurts the trade value.
One guy rates this as one of the worst re-signing deals: The Portland Trail Blazers likely entered this offseason under the belief that any hope they had in keeping Damian Lillard happy began with bringing back Jerami Grant. Well, as soon as the market opened, they routed every Brink's truck in the Pacific Northwest in Grant's direction and quickly got his commitment on a five-year, $160 million deal. And guess what happened? Lillard decided he was done with Portland, anyway. Assuming the Blazers eventually grant Lillard's wish—at least by trading him somewhere, if not to his preferred destination of the Miami Heat—you'd think they would want to immediately pivot into a long-term rebuild around Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. Portland insists that isn't the case, though. "Our goal is to win to keep moving forward," Blazers general manager Joe Cronin told reporters. "We feel like our talent base is high." Portland, for the record, went a combined 60-104 over the past two seasons, and that was with Lillard making 87 appearances. If Dame couldn't elevate this roster, who on earth is supposed to do that now? Good luck if the answer is Grant. He's a fine player, but the only team that leaned on him as a primary option was the Detroit Pistons, who went 43-111 during his two-year tenure. He simply isn't worth this kind of coin—his 14.0 career player efficiency rating is actually a tick below league-average—and the only (relatively) reasonable rationale for the overpay was to keep Lillard happy. That obviously didn't happen, putting Portland in a wholly troublesome spot with Grant. At this pay rate, he might be impossible to trade for the next few seasons without incentivizing a team to take on his contract. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10083720-biggest-re-signing-mistakes-of-2023-nba-free-agency
I have no problem with Jody spending money on the Blazers....if she didn't sign good players for attractive contracts, people would bitch about how "cheap" she is. Jerami is a great piece at a position of need who wants to play for the Blazers....that doesn't happen all the time.
Blazer fans love Jerami Grant. He plays much better then semi-retired Carmelo Anthony. Jerami said he likes the direction Cronin is taking this team. More tank vacations for lottery picks is a luxurious contract incentive.
I actually think we fell bass ackward into a great deal for GP2. Five 2nd round picks for half a season of the MLE? It's perhaps my favorite Cronin move.
I commend the fact that he recognized that it was a stupid signing and immediately remedied it. Olshey never would have done that.
I would have preferred James Wiseman but that decision has less to do with Cronin than it does with Jody/Vulcan being cheap.
