Trade Hart/Winslow/Didi/Keon/pick or CJ/Norm/Nance/Roco?

I agree with that...then lets see how things shake out, you know I'm on record to wanting a new GM/Pres, but regardless who it is, Im going to sit back and see what kind of a season we have next year and how the players involved in trades did.

 

Hey, if Joe is hired it won't be like I'll be as mad as I've been every season for like six seasons that we still had Olshey but Olshey also factors into this for me. Joe is inseparable from Olshey because he was Olshey's chief advisor for many years. When being introduced he said when asked if he was in scouting or the cap expert that he was both but that wasn't it that he'd been given the freedom to design a lot of the trades that we'd actually made and was part of the decision process in contracts offered as well. Now Joe was trying to show how qualified he was to be our de facto GM for the rest of the season but it pretty much makes it so we can't separate him from all of the shit most of us hated that happened during Olshey's tenure, especially the last five or six years while Cronin was his right hand.

So, I'll hope that he does a lot better because our team needs him to be but in no way will I be excited to support Cronin if he's hired... which better happen or not happen pretty fucking soon. These dumbasses in Seattle need to put this franchise on steady footing in order for it to make big decisions right now regarding the roster without having GMs around the league give us less than optimal value for our assets because they don't think the people they're negotiating with have a solid position to negotiate from. It's why there are rarely lame duck GMs because they get taken advantage of but this situation is far worse.

 

Yeah, Joe was Neil yes man and if the "cause" stuff hadn't happened he still be here probably. He would not have made those two trades the way they came down either.
So, Joe got the interim post because Jody/Bert & Vulcans were probably pleased with the overall.

 

This was a Great Exodus of talent from Portland. Not as severe as Roy and Oden leaving from injury, but maybe even more dispiriting. Because it was done with no real road map for a future. Because it was self inflicted.

Self-inflicted like the horrendous contracts we handed out in 2016 that hamstringed our franchise for years afterward.

Self-inflicted like the 7 years of decision to bring back CJ even when it was clear he was a terrible fit next to Dame.

Self-inflicted like the decision to trust Aldridge to re-sign instead of bailing on us without compensation.

I don't know, man. Every time I think, "This shit has broken me as a Blazers fan," and I come back for one reason or another.

I hope Simons comes through as an elite player, and Nas gives us something amazing. Because I see nothing new emanating from trade or the draft that gives me any hope for the future.

The Suns, Bucks, Griz and maybe Sixers are just more interesting teams right now to watch. They seem to do shit that's smart and interesting and fun and forward thinking. I don't even know why I should care about Portland anymore, other than Dame.

I haven't looked at this forum in 6 weeks, and I probably won't again for a while. I might be done this time. These were the trades that did it.

 

Not trying to be snarky, but "hindsight" for a fan should have been "foresight" for a highly paid GM.

 

I take it you don't believe the reports that CJ was allowed to pick the team he was traded to?

If the deciding factor was CJ wanting to be a Pelican, the whole "this was the best deal available because this is the deal we took" argument falls apart.

 

I don't recall anybody saying he got to pick the team. Rather, they considered his desired situation in the decision making process.

I'm not even convinced it was the best deal, and haven't said that it was. Rather it's similar to what I expected we'd get. Though I obviously hoped for more (Simmons being the best case scenario).

But if the difference was marginal I wouldn't be too upset about them putting CJ in a good situation.

I've seen no evidence there was a much better offer out there. As such, I'm not about to be upset about it.

 

New Orleans is the 2nd smallest NBA TV market behind Memphis, though Memphis has more population.
Maybe CJ is a small-market kind of guy, but it doesn't seem like a preferred destination in general.
https://hoop-social.com/nba-team-market-size-rankings/

 

It was preferred because he looked at the team and who was on it and how he fit. Not the market size.

 

Did he fit better there than the other options? Maybe that's why they were able to offer more? Maybe they were more interested in winning?

 

Did you sit on every conversation? Are you Cronin? Do you think every trade rumor you hear is true? And that every rumor you hear means those are the only offers made?

 

Cronin said he left value on the table! A league insider says the common thought across the league was that it was a good value deal for New Orleans. And you just choose to ignore that for whatever reason, so whatever.

 

I misheard something in translation. But Cronin himself admitted he left value on the table and Fisher said that the league thought it was a good value for the Pelicans and Fisher said that you'd think the Blazers would be able to get more pick compensation, so it's pretty obvious that Cronin could've/should've done better.

 

I haven't claimed any trade rumor was true. I have generally only accepted rumors which are supported by actual events.

Did you perhaps reply to the wrong post?

 

What? Them making the playoffs didn't determine whether or not they had a lottery pick though so that makes no sense.

 

Did he? I'm not sure. I haven't seen that quote. Judging on the way you've misquoted me and refused to support the claims you're making I'm not inclined to believe your version of events without something to substantiate them...

 

Yes of course. But you nor I know how next season will go.
I am not going to grade a GM based on hysterical rants by fans who seem to know it all. I'll wait to see the results.

 

Lottery pick extended to 25

 

Great post. I also feel super depressed about this franchise, similar to signing Evan Turner or the Oden/Roy injuries.

Sure some fans are going to want to actually see the games played next year until they judge Cronin and this franchise. Other Blazer fans are just happy no matter how terribly run the ship is.

But I've followed this team for enough decades to know when the plans can succeed, are closer to the 50/50, or are extremely unlikely to succeed. There just isnt a realistic series of events between now and we'll into next season that can get this roster to a promising level of eventually contending.

It's depressing because as you say Cronin did it by his and ownership own choosing, not a injury or free agent exodus or other outside event. Or a star trade that didn't pan out. It was done by sheer incompetence.

I also do wonder at times if I'd be more happy just not following this franchise at all. It seems like a painful sadomasochism relationship more often than actual enjoyment of watching the team.

 

It was a good value for New Orleans. As long as they were willing to take on salary, anybody who got CJ was going to get a good value.