Exclusive Is Joe Cronin a good GM?

[PCmor7]

Got Deni for a song.
Got Matisse for nothing.
Got Toumani as a throw-in.
Got Robert Williams for Jrue ... then got Jrue back for a guy that started five games this season and also got back a couple of future second-round picks we thought we were giving up.
Rebuffed the pressure to trade Dame to the Heat for scraps and instead traded Dame for Jrue and a bunch of draft capital ... then got Dame back for nothing.
Signed Duop Reath, who turned out to be a useful player, then flipped him for Vit, who has the opportunity to be an even more useful player.
Drafted Rayan Rupert in the second round, and was forced to let him go only because he signed Sidy Cissoko and Caleb Love, who turned out to be even more useful players.
Unloaded Gary Payton III for five second-round picks.
Hired Mike Schmitz as assistant GM.
Hired Tiago Splitter as assistant coach, who then became what turned out to be a more than capable head coach when thrown into the fire.

If you still are questioning whether Cronin is a good GM after this ^ and what was saw on the floor last night, I'm not sure what anyone can tell you. At this point, I think the resume and results kind of speak for themselves.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

Got Deni for a song.
Got Matisse for nothing.
Got Toumani as a throw-in.
Got Robert Williams for Jrue ... then got Jrue back for a guy that started five games this season and also got back a couple of future second-round picks we thought we were giving up.
Rebuffed the pressure to trade Dame to the Heat for scraps and instead traded Dame for Jrue and a bunch of draft capital ... then got Dame back for nothing.
Signed Duop Reath, who turned out to be a useful player, then flipped him for Vit, who has the opportunity to be an even more useful player.
Drafted Rayan Rupert in the second round, and was forced to let him go only because he signed Sidy Cissoko and Caleb Love, who turned out to be even more useful players.
Unloaded Gary Payton III for five second-round picks.
Hired Mike Schmitz as assistant GM.
Hired Tiago Splitter as assistant coach, who then became what turned out to be a more than capable head coach when thrown into the fire.

If you still are questioning whether Cronin is a good GM after this ^ and what was saw on the floor last night, I'm not sure what anyone can tell you. At this point, I think the resume and results kind of speak for themselves.

Agree and nice write up.

i only disagree with Rupert being let go for more useful players. We don't need a more useful player as our 12th man. Rupert has higher potential than Cissoko which is obvious.

 

[BassPlaya]

Rupert has higher potential than Cissoko which is obvious.

How is that obvious?

 

[PCmor7]

Agree and nice write up.

i only disagree with Rupert being let go for more useful players. We don't need a more useful player as our 12th man. Rupert has higher potential than Cissoko which is obvious.

I agree Rupert has the higher ceiling, but I also think for that spot on the roster, you're looking a lot at fit. Sidy has one huge, undeniable advantage on Rupert and that's his ultra-aggressive mindset.

Also, we can't deny that 12th man spot was vital for the Blazers this season because of all the injuries, and Sidy filled it and did well. I don't think Rupert was ready to step in like that. Sidy was kind of our Dillon Brooks -- just all attitude player who got dirty and freed other players to do their thing.

Rupert might go on to be the better player eventually, but I don't know if he would go on to be a better Blazer than Cissoko, just because of roster composition and fit.

 

[Natebishop3]

I agree Rupert has the higher ceiling, but I also think for that spot on the roster, you're looking a lot at fit. Sidy has one huge, undeniable advantage on Rupert and that's his ultra-aggressive mindset.

Also, we can't deny that 12th man spot was vital for the Blazers this season because of all the injuries, and Sidy filled it and did well. I don't think Rupert was ready to step in like that. Sidy was kind of our Dillon Brooks -- just all attitude player who got dirty and freed other players to do their thing.

Rupert might go on to be the better player eventually, but I don't know if he would go on to be a better Blazer than Cissoko, just because of roster composition and fit.

I also think the Blazers have watched Rupes for several seasons now and clearly they decided to move on.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

How is that obvious?

How is it not? Have you paid attention to Ruperts games the last month?

 

[Sheldon Shape]

How is it not? Have you paid attention to Ruperts games the last month?

I don't see it as particularly meaningful. I can see Sidy being a better compliment and pushing other players in practice.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

I don't see it as particularly meaningful. I can see Sidy being a better compliment and pushing other players in practice.

Not sure how a 33 point, 4 steal, 10 rebound and 10 assist game isn't meaningful.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Not sure how a 33 point, 4 steal, 10 rebound and 10 assist game isn't meaningful.

No stakes. Nobody to have to share the ball with. No organization. No team plan. I'm happy for him but until he's playing on a competitive team it doesn't mean much yet.

 

[BassPlaya]

How is it not? Have you paid attention to Ruperts games the last month?

I've seen the numbers, but I don't know the context. What I have seen is that Sidy does things Ryan can't do. He can leverage a #4 out of the restricted area. He has a ton of grit and mettle. My quote of you was about your words...potential....and obvious. I don't see the obvious thing that you apparently do.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

I've seen the numbers, but I don't know the context. What I have seen is that Sidy does things Ryan can't do. He can leverage a #4 out of the restricted area. He has a ton of grit and mettle. My quote of you was about your words...potential....and obvious. I don't see the obvious thing that you apparently do.

You are able to have your own opinion. If you look at the last 15 games of Sidy, they have been horrible. I just haven't seen something from him that makes me think we must have him.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

No stakes. Nobody to have to share the ball with. No organization. No team plan. I'm happy for him but until he's playing on a competitive team it doesn't mean much yet.

Thats fine to wait and see. I just don't see Sidy ever having a game like that, low stakes or not.

 

[Pinwheel1]

I was one of Rupert's biggest fans, even after he struggled in some games. When you don't get consistent minutes, it's harder to gauge a player's performance. That said, I also said many times that I did not want to cut Sidy. I like his potential as well. It was a tough call IMO.

I wish we could have kept both. There seem to be more players these days who either go undrafted or get cut who turn out to be solid players.
Which means if we lose one, then it's pretty easy to find another one to sit on the end of your bench until needed.

 

[wizenheimer]

Got Matisse for nothing.

now, Cronin was in the position of either trading for something or seeing Hart probably walk in the off-season. Still, it was essentially Hart + 2 seconds for Thybulle + late 1st. Not 'nothing'

then matching the offer sheet for Thybulle from Dallas; then paying Thybulle 11M/year for 3 years to only average 36.7 games played a year

*****************************************************
"Unloaded Gary Payton III for five second-round picks."

lol....ok....I get that your goal was to burnish Cronin's resume, but that's burnishing on steroids. Here was the trade:



* so, they got the 43rd pick in the 2023 draft they used on Rupert....when Toumani was still available
* the 2024 second they sold for cash
* the 2025 second fell within it's protected range and was not conveyed
* the 2026 second has fallen within it's protected range and will not be conveyed to Portland
* Portland gets the Warriors 2028 second; but they also have to send their own 2nd to the Warriors. That's a wash

so what you claim is a trade for 5 seconds, was really just a trade for one 2nd and some cash

besides all that, Portland only had Payton to dump because Cronin foolishly signed an injured Payton to a max-MLE contract just before he underwent surgery. This hard-capped the Blazers for the season. Payton only played 15 games for Portland averaging 4 pts and 3 reb. This situation was not a success

what Cronin has demonstrated, unlike Olshey, is a willingness to accept his mistakes and work to correct them, and the Payton timeline is an example of that. It took him too long to correct the Simons mistake but he eventually did. He fucked up by lusting after Ayton and landing him in the Dame trade, but was willing to pay Ayton 25M this season to play for the Lakers. He resigned Nurkic but attached him to the Dame trade a year later. After overpaying Simons, his next 2nd contracts were market value for Sharpe and Camara. That's a nice change from the Olshey days