Much of the Mavs success has hinged on the acquisitions that Nico Harrison has made. He was an executive with Nike and went to Tigard high school. Closely affiliated with the Blazers from his days at Nike. He is very close with Kyrie and made that deal and supposedly has kind of mentored him and got him to behave. Acquiring PJ Washington and Gafford, plus Derrick Jones Jr to a lesser extent have been amazing moves. Even Jaden Hardy in the 2nd round was a great draft pick, along with Lively. The fact we had this guy in our backyard, close knit with the organization and a team like the Mavs realized his talent and were stuck with Cronin Joe is very sad. Sometimes it’s not the moves you make as an organization, but the moves you don’t that can define where you’ll go.
Cronin & Billups are skipping anything Oregon to hire their Colorado buddies. Their plan of attack has left a dumpster fire of bad NBA basketball in Portland. The NBA designed a ping pong safety net for failed management, and massive TV revenue sharing checks that cover an increasingly emptier Moda Center. Blazer fans that are disappointed with losing can go away. This new Blazers era can cook the books and turn profit without fans buying tickets or tuning in. optimistic approach: complainers need to give management some slack, this "rebuild" is proceeding swimmingly, and a contending OKC-esque Blazers squad is on the horizon. grumpy approach: the other tank squads will eclispe the Blazers rebuild, and keep Portland in rebuilding mode for more then a decade.
Yeah they screwed the pooch on that one too. He would’ve been better than anyone they’ve had since Dunleavy.
I’m sure Nico is good at what he does, but I would bet that Luka had more to do with Kyrie joining the Mavs than Nico did.
Yeah, maybe, but could he have been as successful at getting him to join the Blazers as Sharpe’s backcourt mate? The Mavs are years ahead of the Blazers in the rebuilding process.
Im sure he could’ve done better but of convincing as something than Joe has. as the old saying goes, it’s not who you know, but who you blow
Went to NYC last year with a friend who worked at Nike, we checked out two Big East tournament games at MSG, Nico was there so we went over to talk to him for nearly a half. Blazers got brought up a bit and it sounded like there was no interest in either direction.
I appreciate the link for context and it does make sense that Nico having a relationship with Kyrie helped bring him to Dallas, but lets not get it twisted that Nico would have brought him to PDX if he was the GM. All Star vets do not embrace joining situations like the one in Portland at the time. Dame was here for one and thats not exactly a complimentary mix. I'd imagine the Nets would have been very interested in a package for Kyrie with Dame coming back... lol just thinking of that shitstorm around here giving up the franchise's all time leading scorer for someone as prickly and having the toxic PR challenges (Covid, anti-antisemitism, general nuttiness) that Irving did. Playing alongside Luka replacing Dinwiddie and not a beloved icon like Dame is a vastly better situation. Portland's roster was absolutely awful from years of mismanagement... even with the benefit of hindsight I don't see a clear way the current piss poor situation could have been avoided post Niel. STOMP
I never wanted Irving to come to Portland. I just think his Nike connections and his connections throughout the league, also his eye for talent would’ve been a much better fit for the Blazers. I’m just not impressed with much of anything Cronin’s done.
I thought the haul he got for Dame was surprising and solid. The two drafts he's conducted are still in a wait and see mode, which was expected when drafting such young talents. I was for targeting others, but those guys would still be in the wait and see mode too. The upside of Sharpe and Scoot is obvious, so I understand. I was/am very pleased that he shipped Nurk out and do like Ayton. STOMP
