Pretty good article in the Washington Post on the Blazers’ summer and the transition to a post-Lillard team. Best of all, it’s by Ben Goliver! https://apple.news/ABpf-WTTYSgiRX41rENI2wA
The Blazers waved goodbye to Damian Lillard. Now what? SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Portland Trail Blazers rode out the aftershocks of their seismic Damian Lillard trade along the Central California coast, flying south to spend long training camp days in a sweatbox gym and cool evenings at a Ritz-Carlton with panoramic views of the Pacific. While 5,000 Milwaukee Bucks fans rallied to welcome Lillard to his new home Saturday, about a dozen University of California Santa Barbara students clustered outside Robertson Gymnasium on Wednesday for a peek at the rebuilding team he left behind. Directly across Ocean Road, a similarly sized crowd queued up for service at a bicycle repair shop. The post-Lillard Blazers might lack superstar magnetism and championship aspirations, but they boast plenty of promise and intrigue. Scoot Henderson, a teenage rookie with blazing speed and a brick-wall physique, is the likeliest candidate to be the next face of the franchise. Deandre Ayton, the No. 1 pick in 2018 who came within two wins of an NBA title in his third season, is the new starting center after being cast off by the Phoenix Suns at 25. Malcolm Brogdon is the only player on the reshaped roster over 30, and he enters the season as a potential trade chip. Yet the organization’s biggest headline-maker this summer was General Manager Joe Cronin, a soft-spoken former college basketball player who oversaw a months-long saga that began when Lillard requested a trade to the Miami Heat on July 1 and ended with the Sept. 27 deal that instead sent the seven-time all-star guard to the Bucks in a three-team deal that also included the Suns. Portland then flipped Jrue Holiday, acquired from Milwaukee, to the Boston Celtics, and the deals together netted Ayton, Brogdon, Robert Williams, three first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps. Cronin took his share of arrows during the ordeal: Miami-based media members accused him of trading Lillard to the Bucks rather than the Heat out of spite; social media critics labeled him a liar for drafting Henderson with the No. 3 pick rather than following through on stated plans to trade for veteran help to appease Lillard; a Bleacher Report story indicated Cronin and Lillard weren’t speaking to each other when they crossed paths at the team’s practice facility in recent weeks; and Lillard snubbed Cronin from his lengthy goodbye letter to Portland on social media despite name-checking dozens of current and former Blazers employees. The most ferocious critiques began to fade once training camp opened, but moving on from an 11-year marriage between franchise and superstar requires time and introspection. “[Lillard] and I went through it this summer,” Cronin said. “It wasn’t always amicable and perfect. To be omitted from that [letter], I didn’t take as anything more than it being a hard summer that we had both gone through. I wasn’t one to be thanked at that moment. … Our directions didn’t line up. Things didn’t work out. We had pure intentions in our desire to build a winner around him. We were just unable to pull it off. I don’t think that was a lie. We just couldn’t get it done.” Turning the page Nearly a month before the Lillard trade was consummated, Blazers owner Jody Allen delivered a course-setting message to the organization’s lead business executives. The media-averse Allen took control of the Blazers and the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks following the 2018 death of her brother, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. In March 2022, the Seahawks traded longtime quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos after a decade-long run that included winning the Super Bowl following the 2013 season. The split was combative and emotional, but Seattle’s record improved last year in its first season without Wilson. Life went on. When Lillard delivered his trade request, Blazers executives were caught off guard and unsure how to proceed. After all, he was a franchise icon who had clinched playoff series victories in 2014 and 2019 with buzzer-beating three-pointers and led a run to the 2019 Western Conference finals. Lillard had also signed a four-year, $176 million contract extension in 2022. Eventually, the organization fashioned a two-track approach: Plan A if Lillard was traded, Plan B if he returned. As the summer unfolded, Lillard’s position hardened, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo called for his organization to display its championship commitment, and the outline of satisfactory trade packages emerged during calls with rival teams. Though Cronin viewed the start of training camp as his deadline, the Blazers stumbled into complications as they tried to walk both paths. What should they tell season ticket holders during renewal phone calls? Which players should they highlight when announcing the team’s schedule? Should they mention Lillard at all? The winners and losers of the Damian Lillard trade to the Bucks Blazers President Dewayne Hankins recalled Allen putting an end to the mounting questions during a Zoom call in early September: “We really need to move on. We’ve got great young talent. We’re not like other rebuilding teams who don’t have a strong core of young players. It’s time to turn the page.” Those marching orders led the Blazers to ditchPlan B and remove Lillard entirely from their promotional materials in favor of Henderson, guard Anfernee Simons and other members of their young core. Inside the organization, the transition had begun. Meanwhile, the fan base was coming to terms with Lillard’s probable exit, and season ticket holders renewed at a 93 percent rate, up six percentage points from the previous season. “We wanted to honor Dame’s trade request,” Hankins said. “If we promote him, are we being true to our fans? That was the moment when we started saying that this was a new era. It’s really hard to lose a legend like Damian whose number will go in the rafters as soon as possible. At the same time, I think we’re prepared. Our next step is getting our fans to fall in love with these guys.” Share this articleShare Cronin’s talks with the Bucks and Suns intensified in the days before the trade, and his vision for the new roster clarified. Henderson would take the reins from Lillard. Ayton would arrive as the trade centerpiece, giving Portland its first 20-point, 10-rebound threat since LaMarcus Aldridge left in 2015. And the wave of draft picks would help the Blazers address roster holes as Henderson, Simons and 2022 lottery pick Shaedon Sharpe grow together. Portland concluded Miami didn’t have the pieces to beat that well-roundedpackage, and Cronin proceeded with a deal that defied Lillard’s preferred destination, comfortable that he “did right by Dame” because Milwaukee was a ready-made title contender. The Blazers took great care to send Lillard off with warm wishes publicly. Cronin began his media day address Monday with an extended acknowledgment of Lillard, and Hankins said his staff is mulling how to best recognize the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, including the possibility of a statue outside Moda Center. “We’ve retired a lot of numbers,” Hankins said. “We’ve had the conversation: Is there another level of honor that we need to create for him?” Take two When Cronin took control of the Blazers in December 2021, his stated goal was to build a contender around Lillard. Things didn’t go according to plan: Lillard missed most of the 2021-22 season with an abdominal injury, and Portland traded several high-priced veterans with an eye toward setting up big additions. But the Blazers mostly struck out once they entered buyer mode, landing Jerami Grant from the Detroit Pistons in a 2022 trade that wasn’t enough to meaningfully lift their playoff potential. Lillard’s new extension didn’t buy the organization more time, and its path to contention evaporated during a 33-win campaign last season. Portland then unexpectedly jumped upto the No. 3 spot via the draft lottery, giving Cronin the choice of selecting Henderson, who might turn into a perennial all-star, or trading the coveted pick to boost Lillard’s supporting cast. Lillard said in April he was “just not interested” in playing alongside another rookie, but Cronin was incredibly intrigued by Henderson’s potential. “The sky’s the limit for Scoot. He’s as talented as anyone who’s ever come through here,” Cronin said, including Lillard in his comparative assessment. “It’s a really interesting combination of high-end physical capabilities — strength, balance, speed, explosiveness, verticality — and then his ability to really run that position. It’s so rare to have a really, really high point guard IQ at that age with those physical tools in one bundle.” Henderson, 19, arrives with two years of professional seasoning on the G League Ignite, and he got a head start on his acclimation to the Blazers with two months of offseason training and a recent minicamp with his teammates. The Georgia native is living with his 23-year-old brother C.J. and his two bulldogs, Xero and Reign, and he is tuned into Blazers Coach Chauncey Billups, who makes for a natural mentor given his long NBA career and championship pedigree. Years ago, Henderson sought out Lillard for advice on how to handle the pain of missing late-game shots. Lillard told him to never “dwell on a miss,” and Henderson “took that with me.” Confidence no longer seems to be an issue. “The biggest thing is my maturity, how I can approach older guys and pros with respect and at the same time telling them what’s real,” Henderson said. “I’ve got the people around me to do it. That’s all I can ask for. I’m in a blessed position. Not a lot of rookies get this position where they can come in and really serve an impact to the team. I think rookie of the year is very possible. People can doubt all they want.” Brewer: Something new for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard: A fellow star Cronin envisions the Blazers building a “fearless, fast and really dynamic” identity around their “electric” guard core, and Ayton should help address the team’s long-standing issues on defense. Portland has ranked in the bottom five in defensive efficiency in each of the past four seasons, while Ayton started at center for top-10 defenses in Phoenix for the past three years. To really make noise, Portland will need Ayton to become a full-fledged star by elevating his consistency on both ends. After years of rumored unhappiness in a reduced offensive role with the Suns, he said he was glad to be on “a team that has my back and wants me to be here and succeed.” Ayton must get comfortable in the Blazers’ up-tempo approach after years of slow play with the Suns, and going from demanding veteran Chris Paul to the youthful Henderson will be an adjustment on several fronts. Yet Ayton said he believes he “most definitely” has a chance to earn his first all-star selection in Portland. “I’m in a position where there’s no excuses,” Ayton said. “It’s really all on me. That’s why I’m really glad I’m here. My goal for Portland is to help them win and show them how to win.” In his farewell letter to Portland, Lillard said he “believe[d] a day will come where I put a Blazers uniform on again.” But as he took pictures at Milwaukee’s media day, he marveled while posing alongside Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez.The four players have combined for 18 all-star selections — a championship-ready collection of talent Lillard never enjoyed with the Blazers. The only all-star in the Santa Barbara gym this week was Billups, Portland’s coach, who embraced his team’s sharp change of direction by setting the tone with a four-hour-long opening session. As he took in the action, Cronin noted that “losing a player like Dame is never a moment to celebrate,” but he savored the “positives” that come with new faces, enhancedroles for returning players and a second chance to build a winner around a prized point guard with the game and charisma to lead a franchise. “A lot of people are doubting us because we’re young,” Henderson said. “We’re the underdogs in most cases, but we’ve got some real dogs.”
Came up as pay for me as well. I'm sure there's much better ways around it, but my go to is a quick CTRL-A, CTRL-C, and then paste it elsewhere to read before the pay pop up shows up.
"When Lillard delivered his trade request, Blazers executives were caught off guard and unsure how to proceed." ... stop it Ben, quit smootching. Blazers did everything they could this summer to nudge Lillard into trade request. No "new" veteran Free Agents were acquired. No trading of future picks to get talent was orchestrated. The rookie rebuilding train was steaming into Portland, with a VIP caboose to take Lillard to a different location.
What difference making free agent were they supposed to sign? What trade for a difference making vet was available for future picks? If you can't answer these questions with substantial evidence to support your answers then you are making a dishonest argument.
the Blazers were baaad in a lot of departments. Role players were needed in multiple positions. Lillard gave Cronin the hot bed opening 24 hours to at least show something serious about building a winner. The Blazers drafted 3 rookies, then resigned 2 players who were already on the losing Blazers. Cronin claimed championships with Lillard. Lillard just wanted a competitive playoff team. Cronin hit full rebuild, and is now saying "he doesn't think he lied, he just couldn't get things done." The only real evidence that Cronin did "try" to build a winner this summer... is the players Portland got back after Lillard was traded. Leading up to the big trade... Portland signed an army of rookies, G-League guys, make no moves for vets. The only moves we heard were rumors. Lillard's sneaky agent called those "upgrade the Blazers" rumor teams, and said they were either faked, or Cronin never picked up the phone. Who to believe in the Blazer gossip world? Speculation and imagination over Lillard's ousting is now a dream from the past. I'm just glad the drama is over, and we can watch basketball soon. I'll leave the armchair GMing moving forward up to Blazer fans with a better CPU. My tablet is being held together with duct tape.
You didn't address the only two questions that could make any of this Cronin's fault. The rest simply doesn't matter.
it's a complex question. The rebuild around Lillard started in summer of 2022. You'd have to go way back there to start fixing the Blazers. Nate tried to drill me on the Danny Marang bullet point "what would you do different.. hmmmm??" Somewhere in a different thread I finally conceded to Nate, and put together a pretty fancy team for the Blazers to roll with to start 2023. But it included trading future picks. Which loops back towards we wouldn't have Scoot if Cronin pushed had his chips in like he said he would. It's a no win question. Like WhoppR in Wargames constantly fighting an unwinnable nuclear battle simulation.
Why are you avoiding the question? Everyone in the know says there was nothing available for the 3 that would be as good as Scoot this year. You'd have to trade Simons as well. And there was definitely nothing available that would be as good as Scoot and Simons this season. The reality is that picking Scoot was the best win now decision available, by pretty much all accounts. Just like picking Sharpe was last season.
I agree. The only false part of that statement is that they were caught off-guard. They failed to find a trade for Simons plus #3 for a needle moving player that got us into contention. The only rumored trade was OG and Toronto reportedly balked at #3 plus Simons for OG (insanity itself), and asked for us to include Sharpe, and Joe wisely told them to spend the off-season in South Beach, pounding that pristine white sand.
Not only that, but come on, we spent all summer talking about this, Dame is traded, its over with. Can't we just drop it and look on to a nice young squad with tons of potential?
