Portland Trail Blazers: Cronin Playing Himself Out of a Job?
Chris Phillips
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The Portland Trail Blazers are being very active at the trade deadline, despite what one moron projected would happen. Their moves are puzzling, to say the least. Is Joe Cronin trading himself out of a chance to be the permanent GM?
The Portland Trail Blazers are being very active at the trade deadline, despite what one moron projected would happen. Their moves are puzzling, to say the least. Some might even say the return they got on these moves is disappointing. Which begs the question: Is Interim General Manager Joe Cronin playing himself out of his chance to be the permanent GM?
In my opinion, Cronin is doing just that with these trades. Let me preface it by saying that the Portland Trail Blazers’ return for CJ McCollum was good. However, will these trades be enough to keep Damian Lillard happy and return the Trail Blazers to playoff contention?
First, there is a possibility that this group can positively answer the question above. Also, there may be some more moves from Cronin. For now, let’s just live in the moment. And right now, the future for the Portland Trail Blazers is Lillard, Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart, Jusuf Nurkic, CJ Elleby, Justise Winslow, and Nassir Little. I don’t expect recently acquired Eric Bledsoe to make an impact. He may be a buyout candidate.
Lacking direction
Unfortunately, the Portland Trail Blazers only got one lottery-protected first-round pick. When you consider they traded both Norman Powell and McCollum, it’s a very disappointing result. Cronin followed that up by selling away a young player with upside, Walker, for an injured Joe Ingles. This move is another cap clearing space move. There are already some reports out that pending free agent Ingles fully intends to re-sign with Utah this offseason.
What is Cronin’s plan? It looks like the Blazers expect to go after a big free agent/max player. To me, that seems like he’s putting all of his eggs in one plan. What happens when Cronin can’t land that type of player? Better yet what happens when he has to overpay for a lesser player, just to save face?
Sounds kind of like the situation that the former Portland Trail Blazers GM, Neil Olshey, ended up getting himself into. This does not sound like a very good plan this time either. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Related Story: Blazers open trade season with head-scratching move
What do you think of Portland Trail Blazers Interim GM Joe Cronin’s trades this week? Let us know in the comments section below.