This was the situation whittled down to the basics to me:
In two seasons Joe Cronin has probably added two players (Scoot Henderson & Shaedon Sharpe) that are better than anyone Neil Olshey added in 8 1/2 seasons. Possibly way way better for at least one of them. Like All-Star level someday.
Maybe someone could also make the argument that Jerami Grant is better than anyone Neil Olshey added. (I really liked Aminu in his last years for all he did, so I won't do that. I also like Nurkic when the offense isn't stagnated.)
Jusuf Nurkic was re-signed to the team between Cronin's first and second seasons. Cronin also signed Anfernee Simons to a 4-years extension.
Damian Lillard was playing at all-time high level in his career as a Blazer.
The downside to getting lucky (extremely lucky in my opinion) in the 2022 and 2023 drafts was that several players were asked to sit 10-12 or so games at the end of both seasons.
However, the outlook for the rest of the season in 2022 and 2023 would have been mediocre even if those players had played.
The last trip to the playoffs (2021) ended in a 2-4 series loss in the first round and I think most people would have expected that to be the best-case scenario for the 2022 and 2023 teams.
Anyway, here we are in summer 2023.
We have Shaedon Sharpe. We have Scoot Henderson.
Jerami Grant has just been re-signed.
Drew Eubanks is gone, and Cronin is clearly looking to add more size, the quality is unknown , but he's not looking at 6'9" centers. Several 7-footers in summer league. A 6' 9" power forward and 6'7' small forward with a 7-foot wingspan were drafted.
AFTER TWO SEASONS WITH JOE CRONIN, DAMIAN LILLARD ASKS FOR A TRADE. WHAT THE FUCK.
I'm not mad or sad. Just bewildered.
