End of Season Presser Today (4 Viewers)

[BassPlaya]

Cronin Summary 4/30/2026

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Big Picture​

Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin says the team made meaningful progress this season, showing growth despite injuries, but still has clear weaknesses to fix.

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Key Takeaways​

1. Season Evaluation​

• Overall: encouraging but imperfect
• Strong development and playoff experience, but inconsistency hurt them
• Injuries actually helped evaluate players by forcing bigger roles and exposing ceilings

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2. Biggest Team Needs​

• Shooting is the #1 issue
  • Poor spacing clogged the offense
  • Led to turnovers and inefficient scoring
• Need to upgrade overall talent, both:
  • Internally (young player development)
  • Externally (trades/free agency)

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3. Roster Outlook​

• Optimism around young core (Scoot, Sharpe, others)
• Damian Lillard’s return = major boost
• Many players showed flashes of high upside, but:
  • Consistency is the biggest gap

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4. Offseason Strategy​

• Open to:
  • “Big splash” moves (star acquisition)
  • OR smaller improvements
• Will NOT sacrifice long-term future for short-term gain
• Plan to be aggressive but disciplined

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5. Coaching Situation​

• No final decision yet
• Interim coach (Tiago) is a candidate
• Running a wide search with no set timeline
• Refused to clarify Chauncey Billups’ status due to league restrictions

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6. Ownership (Tom Dundon)​

• Highly involved, competitive, and engaged
• Wants:
  • Continuous improvement across all areas
  • Smart roster building
• Cronin strongly pushes back on “cheap owner” narrative:
  • Says Dundon is willing to spend big when it matters (even taking on large tax bills)

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7. Young Player Development​

• Scoot Henderson:
  • Rough injury start but strong finish + playoff growth
• Shaedon Sharpe:
  • Took on bigger role early, later disrupted by injuries/rotation issues
• General theme:
  • Development is on track, but roles + health impacted consistency

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8. Team Identity Issue​

• Core problem:
  • Inconsistent performance
  • Flashes of high-level play, but not sustained

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9. Other Notes​

• Open to re-signing key players like Robert Williams
• Monitoring NBA rule changes (like anti-tanking)
• Some internal mistakes (like travel issues) were acknowledged and owned by Cronin

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Bottom Line​

• The Blazers are on the right trajectory, but still incomplete
• Priority = shooting + consistency + talent upgrades
• They’re balancing:
  • Competing now
  • Not screwing up the future

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If you put that together....outstanding.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

You are skeptical of absolutely everything so you should just not waste your time and continue believing the clickbait media.

If I'm skeptical of everything, wouldn't that include the clickbait media? (This is like the difference between Academic Skepticism and Pyrrhonian Skepticism.)

 

[inconceivable]

I have a gut feeling it was Zion Williamson, but that’s just a guess. And I think it didn’t happen because the asking price included Deni

Rightfully so. I mean, I wouldn't trade Deni for Zion

 

[andalusian]

Blazers fans had blind faith in the last 5 years of this shitty team. lol. I knew the truth in 2021 and was right every single year. So glad I didn't waste my time on such a sorry era of the Blazers.

I would suggest posting every other day for 5 years about a team you do not like might be considered a waste of time, but you do you...

 

[inconceivable]

maybe the coaching position isn't really available. just a negotiation tactic to pay tiago less.

 

[julius]

maybe the coaching position isn't really available. just a negotiation tactic to pay tiago less.

I think that would backfire. It's highly likely Tiago would get a job elsewhere, and if they want to low-ball him, and there isn't anyone significantly better lined up, he's in a win win situation and the team is in a typical Blazery situation.

 

[Samuel]

I would suggest posting every other day for 5 years about a team you do not like might be considered a waste of time, but you do you...

stop, this is my absolute favorite type of post. ‘yall should go outside and touch grass’ <posted from the internet>

 

[Cugel]

POR got as far as DEN and the best player in the world.