I believe the word you want there is could, not would. The Blazers have to overpay to retain some players, if it's worth it or not, is debatable. The Pelicans gave CJ a 32M / year extension, so that part I am not sure you are right about. Speculation your honor. This league gave Jordan Poole 32M a year contract, Tyler Herro has a 30M a year contract, Zach Lavine makes 42M When Grant signed his contract, Tobias Harris was making 36M a year, MPJ (a walking injury concern) makes 36M - I think you are underestimating how the current salaries in the NBA look.
I don't give a shit about the NeO years as indication of the Cronin years, honestly. See, I look at this as having a $30+m contract of a small combo guard with no defense and shit for a $30+m contract of a forward with some defense and shit, that's a more tradeable contract imho. So, yes, I think that was a good trade all around. It was not a slam dunk, but it was a good trade both for the time when it was done with the belief that Dame is still around, and still when Dame wanted out. Not great, but an upgrade, for sure. You are entitled to your opinion. I think Cronin clearly upgrade the team's roster balance and options, given the shit hand he inherited and the reluctant owners he has to work with.
again...wut? who signed Simons to his current deal? Nurkic to his current deal? Grant to his current deal? Jody Allen was in charge when Olshey re-signed CJ for 33M/year when I replied to you it wasn't about what Grant might get traded for. It was about the theory that the Blazers would offer Simons a contract 7-10M/year less than his current deal. Dream on. Where is this belief even coming from?
I kinda wonder if Simons and Nurk were re-signed just because we were so low on tradeable salary. We can't do the Ayton deal without Nurk having a somewhat sizeable contract. Maybe Cronin thought Simons would have more trade value than he actually has. Supposedly we shopped Simons/#3 and didn't really have any takers (at least not for the value we wanted.)
Little and nUrk were traded in what most believe has been overall good value considering our superstar wanted out. Using them as ammo to back up bad contracts is not valid because those contracts were traded just fine. I don't see how anyone can expect more at this point in Cronin’s tenure as a GM considering what he walked into and what he has done in two years. Its like people want him to turn shit into gold with magic wand or something…
He can't be a sixth man here. Not if we ever want to get good. His skill set and motivation is toxic to young players, IMO. He sucks at defense because he doesn't care to play defense. Get him out of here. Scoot gets in foul trouble because he cares about defense. I much prefer that for my point guard.
And stoudemire was a better defender and set far better screens and a much better passer. I'm not looking for my short guard to be a shooting guard.
Ok, big whoop. He was 24 last season. The equivalent of Damian Lillard's 3rd year. If you compare their numbers at that time, Simons compares favorably. If Anfernee were a top 10 pick in his 3rd year, fans would be singing a different tune about him. The "he's good, but not a superstar, so lets ditch him and hitch our wagon to Markelle Fultz" logic seems off-based to me.
Who signed Simons? Olshey Who signed CJ ? Olshey Who signed Nurkic? Olshey When Paul was alive he was instrumental in those decisions. Do you think Jody is involved to the same extent? I don't. As for Simons, next contract who the fuck knows how much he will get? Not you or I.
Yes, 100%. I meant shitty players as well as prospects/draft compensation. And of course that is a worse case scenario. But the shittier and worse contract the player, the player the better draft/prospect we should get. And that is exactly what I'm looking for right now.
That's pretty much opinion as well. I also think that when he immediately broke the Dame/CJ combo NeO clung to for more than half a decade is indication to judging him by the NeO regime decisions is wrong. There is plenty that can go wrong from the Cronin decisions, but he seems to follow a somewhat logical course of action given the restrictions he has to deal with - and there seems to be a rather reasonable direction and the will to take big swings both in the draft (Shae), trades (getting DA, Deni) and get some size and talent on the edges, so I, for one, do not think that he is the problem in Portland, I think he does as well as can be expected given what he has to work with.
He's not good. It's not that he's not a superstar. He's not a starting level guard and he's in his seventh season. We aren't in position to keep players like that. There are situations in which he could be beneficial. Teams who already have established identities and are looking for scoring off the bench. That's not us. He's never going to be that for us.
I agree. I entered the conversation based on one persons post essentially blaming Cronin for everything. I find that opinion nonsense and void of context.
I agree that Cronin was dealt a shit hand by Olshey. I'd also agree that he has the Vulcans peering over his shoulder and whispering in his ear for those reasons, I defended what he did at his first trade deadline when he took substantial steps in dismantling Olshey's idiot roster. There was a lot of negativity about those moves around here, especially the Clippers trade. I didn't have problems with those trades....I liked them because at long last, those trades signaled the end of Olshey's era but I'm seeing plenty of similarities between Olshey and Cronin. Olshey overpaid CJ & Turner; Cronin overpaid Simons and Grant. Olshey hard-capped the Blazers by signing Derrick Jones; Cronin hard-capped Portland by signing Payton. Olshey traded two 1st's for RoCo; Cronin traded two 1st's and two 2nd's for Avdija (and yes, I like Avdija's talent, but the price was steep) Olshey wasted TPE's because of bloated team salaries too close to the tax line. Cronin has wasted 26M in TPE's (Hart-Payton-Dame) because of bloated team salaries too close to the tax line you have confidence in Cronin as GM. I don't share it. You have confidence that the contracts the Blazers have are solid tradable contracts, I don't share that confidence either. One reason is that I was assured by other confident posters here that Brogdon had a very tradable contract that might very well fetch back a 1st. But the Blazers had to attach 4 draft picks to Brogdon in order to move him. And last season, Brogdon was Portland's best player so sure, maybe between now and the trade deadline Cronin will reward your confidence. If not then, then maybe next summer. If not then, then maybe by next season's trade deadline.
WRONG...check your dates Olshey was fired 12/03/2021 Simons and Nurkic were resigned by Cronin 7 months later....July, 2022
Well, I don't think Simons and Grant are out of the league standard as shown by the examples I gave above. Turner was a clear overpay by NeO, CJ - again, not sure it was (and I don't want to support NeO in any way shape or form) simply because we have seen another team do it as well, so again, league standard. I thought RoCo was pretty much over the hill when that trade happened, Deni has a big upside - so again, not the same case at all, imho. I have confidence that Cronin has a vision that is somewhat logical, that's as far as I will go. I also do not think that Cronin is responsible for what posters said about Brogdon. Brogdon was a required piece for a big swing for a prospect with a lot of upside, so it seems to me that he was used well as a trade asset, someone like Deni is probably the same as a high-level pick with a much higher floor - which is the kind of swing that is needed, so basically, I see Brogdon + lower level picks for a higher-level pick with less risk (because the floor is higher). It is to me, the same kind of swing OKC made when they traded PG for picks + SGA, the difference being of course that PG was a much bigger piece to trade than Brogdon - which is why OKC got more for him than what Portland got for Brogdon. So, that's the way I look at it. Probably a good get for someone like Brogdon and late picks. It's OK if you disagree or choose to consider this an indication that Cronin will not be able to get value for other assets.
What if he started playing defense like Patrick Beverly? Both seem equally likely to me. But sure, if that were to happen, that would be great.
I agree. Not likely at all. Just trying to gauge the room. Do most want him gone regardless because of no defense or would some be happy with him ling term if he were to accept a role best suited for the team. I have this fools gold future where he accepts coming off the bench in a three guard rotation with him and scoot.
