Definitely a solid A for me. He traded Dame for another all star and future assets that are Unprotected (that alone is huge and I’m shocked they didn’t put top 4 protection on draft pick or the swaps) The all star he traded for has similar value to Dame across the league so now we’re playing with house money and get to add to our winnings.
This is an A. He extracted an all star 2 way player that every team wants, and a big man who has potential, and draft capital. He also got Dame to a place where he will flourish. Let's see what he extracts from Holiday but it's looking good so far.
Judging Ayton purely as a player, he's an upgrade from Nurk and much more on the youngin's timeline. Projecting the Bucks timeline, the unprotected 2029 1st and options for pick swaps in 28 & 30 are likely to be very valuable. I expect Jrue to garner a haul too, looking forward to it. It seemed obvious to me a few seasons back it was time to trade Dame for both his sake and the franchise's. With a few more years of tread off Lillard's tires, I am honestly surprised Joe did so well. If he brings back a decent forward in the Jrue deal rather then my preferred route of the value coming back in future picks, he'll have put together an actual team for the upcoming season. Yesterday's moves get an A from me STOMP
If no other moves happen, Blazers have already slashed about about 130 million in extended contracts. Financial flexibility of yesterday's trades is A++
Still too early for me as we still have to get a return for Jrue now. But I like every aspect of this so far.
I'm giving Cronin a B. Probably unfair in some ways because there probably wasn't a realistic scenario with the marketplace and ownership where I would have given him an A (or an F). The small things that keep it from an A is that I don't feel Ayton's contract is likely to be seen around the league as "team friendly". Maybe he will have great attitude and production and I'll be wrong about this. We're also back in a position where teams know we need to trade Jrue, but that may not matter if there is enough demand to start a bidding war. No solid player on a rookie deal coming back is a minor negative. I think the Milwaukee picks have upside potential. I'm glad they're 28-30 and not 25-27. I can wait there. This is better than the Miami deal to me for many reasons.
solid B for now, depending on how Ayton pans out here and what we get for Jrue could easily become an A
