Exclusive Joe Cronin presser

[Strenuus]

Yeah, I think a lot of people are mourning the apparent end of Dame's time in Portland.

It's understandable too. It's that notion of how bad Olshey fucked us during dames prime and the timing of getting the 3rd pick in a bad trade time. I want Dame to win here badly, obviously, but you have to be realistic in the situations you're given and this wasn't the time to swing for that fence. Timing is key, and it showed that setting up the team was needed. It's about accepting that and I know for some that'll be super difficult (and I was resistant to it for quite a while, ignorantly).

 

[Fairly-Hard]

wait wait wait.

what "tough" decision has he made? he has damn near lost every trade at both deadlines, and didn't bother picking up his phone during both drafts.

Wait wait wait?
You are actually in the war room and know all this?
I’m gonna have to take what you say way more seriously now that I know you are right there in the action. Or non action as you say.

 

[e_blazer]

Your post is butthurt.

Posts can cause that problem.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I think what yesterday represented was the beginning of the realization we need to think about post-dame era.

It's a weird place, and we may be here for years. But I'm glad we started it while he was still in his prime and the trade market for the pick was barren.

Some of us been here for a while

 

[Tince]

Yeah, I think a lot of people are mourning the apparent end of Dame's time in Portland.

When do you expect Dame to demand a trade now that Portland drafted a 19 year old?

 

[Strenuus]

Some of us been here for a while

Sure, it just didn't make sense until we got this pick and seeing the trade market. And I think Dame is a smart (savvy) enough guy to understand it too.

That is not to say he won't ask out. Just that he understands it. The next year is going to be so interesting.

 

[HailBlazers]

When do you expect Dame to demand a trade now that Portland drafted a 19 year old?

And Dame was caught completely off guard.

 

[Chris Craig]

I'm curious, please identify who is treating Dame like a nobody?

Those who are referring to him as a 33 year old has been, and want him traded.

 

[blazerkor]

When do you expect Dame to demand a trade now that Portland drafted a 19 year old?

It seriously might have already happened or Dame is waiting to get back from his trip to do it in person. Last night Joe did the exact thing that Dame said a couple weeks ago would make him have a different conversation with the team aka asking out. @bemac said that it had to be a nightmare for Joe trying to do this rebuild while walking a tightrope because we all love Dame so much... the answer to that terrible problem is just to make Dame ask out. I think last night he did that... unless he has something really fancy planned for the next two weeks but I don't think he does.

 

[Chris Craig]

Who's "giving up" on Dame?

Jeez, did people do this about Dirk Nowitzki on Dallas?

Those that are giving up on him and want him traded and are referring to him as the 33 year old. It's disrespectful.

 

[Strenuus]

And Dame was caught completely off guard.

He was? When? Where?

 

[Tince]

It seriously might have already happened or Dame is waiting to get back from his trip to do it in person. Last night Joe did the exact thing that Dame said a couple weeks ago would make him have a different conversation with the team aka asking out. @bemac said that it had to be a nightmare for Joe trying to do this rebuild while walking a tightrope because we all love Dame so much... the answer to that terrible problem is just to make Dame ask out. I think last night he did that... unless he has something really fancy planned for the next two weeks but I don't think he does.

I have no information to confirm or rule it out, so yes, it's certainly possible.

If he has "another conversation" and doesn't ask out, that would certainly go against what has been assumed by many.

 

[Tince]

And Dame was caught completely off guard.

He was? When? Where?

Cronin said he informed him Tuesday they were likely to make the pick at #3 and he talked to his agent multiple times yesterday letting them know their plans. Is that true? I don't know.

 

[TBpup]

Those who are referring to him as a 33 year old has been, and want him traded.

One of those things is just a fact. The other doesn't mean they think he is a nobody. They likely believe, he can't win a title here, so would be open to moving him while he has the most value possible (especially with CBA changes coming) and add that value to the rest of the young assets the team has.

Ant
Sharpe
Walker
Scoot
Murray
Rupert

....that is a significant amount of players on your roster that have almost nothing to do with Dame's timeline.

 

[Strenuus]

It seriously might have already happened or Dame is waiting to get back from his trip to do it in person. Last night Joe did the exact thing that Dame said a couple weeks ago would make him have a different conversation with the team aka asking out. @bemac said that it had to be a nightmare for Joe trying to do this rebuild while walking a tightrope because we all love Dame so much... the answer to that terrible problem is just to make Dame ask out. I think last night he did that... unless he has something really fancy planned for the next two weeks but I don't think he does.

Eh, not gonna doom and gloom on what dame may do. I'm just thankful we have a plan regardless of what he does. If he stays, freaking great. I want him here! But we still had to do what's best for the team.

 

[glazeduck]

I don't know what this means, probably absolutely nothing, but a weird thought on Cronin with a bit of inside perspective...

Everyone wants to compare Cronin to Neil, because that's the guy he's replacing, and admittedly, his first few moves and justifications sound similar. But he also worked under Pritchard and Penn. Now, I've never met Cronin, but by most accounts he's a tough, blue collar, bootstraps kinda guy. I HAVE met and worked with KP, Penn, and Neil, and let me tell you, KP fits what Cronin is perceived as being WAAAAAY more than Neil or Penn. KP's a nice enough guy, but in person he's extremely intimidating. Olshey and Penn were... not.

We have yet to see a Pritchslap, but like KP, I think Joe has gotten good value in his drafts so far and has clearly put talented people around him. Maybe that's coming?

Again, could mean absolutely nothing, but worth flagging that he could be modeling his approach on things other than JUST Neil's...

 

[Strenuus]

Cronin said he informed him Tuesday they were likely to make the pick at #3 and he talked to his agent multiple times yesterday letting them know their plans. Is that true? I don't know.

But how is that completely off guard? I heard all that too and that makes it seem he was in the know, and just basic knowledge would tell you that the franchise player would be in the know.

 

[Chris Craig]

I don't think people are treating him like a nobody. I think some people just either are tired of the national soap opera that's playing out or they're just putting the team ahead of the player. I don't think that's a slight to Dame. Other people might feel differently, but I became a Blazer fan before Damian Lillard was born.

Of course, I don't subscribe to the "pick a track" or any absolutes on this.

As an aside, I think it's kind of ironic that Dame had his best season last year and people continue to follow this narrative that the end of his career is imminent. There's no reason in my mind to think he might not have four very high-quality years in him and several others where he's still playable on a good team. What's Chris Paul? 38? He was the piece that put the Suns in the finals two years ago, won 64 games with them last year and had them 16-7 early in December this season, and Dame, I think, is a better physical specimen than him. We've been playing "the windows closing" card for at least four years. It motivated us to make bad trades for players like Covington and Nance.

Dame was disrespected by Cronin and the Blazers, who failed and are still failing to be upfront. He is being disrespected by people on here who are waving him off and want to see him traded to make way for a new era. He has good years left in him, he's not getting ready to turn 40 yet.

 

[blazerkor]

One of those things is just a fact. The other doesn't mean they think he is a nobody. They likely believe, he can't win a title here, so would be open to moving him while he has the most value possible (especially with CBA changes coming) and add that value to the rest of the young assets the team has.

Ant
Sharpe
Walker
Scoot
Murray
Rupert

....that is a significant amount of players on your roster that have almost nothing to do with Dame's timeline.

Trendon, Keon, hell even Nas and we have a team option on Knox who is only 23. I think the only player we have under contract that really fits Dame's timeline is Nurk. This team is in a youth rebuild it just so happens to have a superstar at the height of his powers, Nurk, bird rights on Jerami and Matisse as a RFA. I find the 10 guys who fit a youth rebuild more compelling evidence of where the team is headed.

 

[Tince]

But how is that completely off guard? I heard all that too and that makes it seem he was in the know, and just basic knowledge would tell you that the franchise player would be in the know.

If you take Cronin at his word, there is no way one could say Dame was caught totally off guard. I also agree it would make sense they were in communication about the move (or lack there of) prior to the draft.

 

[Chris Craig]

I don't know what this means, probably absolutely nothing, but a weird thought on Cronin with a bit of inside perspective...

Everyone wants to compare Cronin to Neil, because that's the guy he's replacing, and admittedly, his first few moves and justifications sound similar. But he also worked under Pritchard and Penn. Now, I've never met Cronin, but by most accounts he's a tough, blue collar, bootstraps kinda guy. I HAVE met and worked with KP, Penn, and Neil, and let me tell you, KP fits what Cronin is perceived as being WAAAAAY more than Neil or Penn. KP's a nice enough guy, but in person he's extremely intimidating. Olshey and Penn were... not.

We have yet to see a Pritchslap, but like KP, I think Joe has gotten good value in his drafts so far and has clearly put talented people around him. Maybe that's coming?

Again, could mean absolutely nothing, but worth flagging that he could be modeling his approach on things other than JUST Neil's...

I was hoping, and he even said he was going to be transparent. He says one thing and then does another. He held a PC last night, and said pretty much nothing with a thousand words, other than that he's not going to take any risks, and hopes to pull a rabbit out of his ass on the trade market/free agency.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Those that are giving up on him and want him traded and are referring to him as the 33 year old. It's disrespectful.

Excuse me while I clutch my pearls.

 

[Chris Craig]

If you take Cronin at his word, there is no way one could say Dame was caught totally off guard. I also agree it would make sense they were in communication about the move (or lack there of) prior to the draft.

They last talked two days before the drafts when trades were still being discussed. Dame was probably hoping one of those would go through. I will say it's interesting he said he didn't want rookies, but has been talking a lot with Scoot pre draft.

 

[Chris Craig]

Excuse me while I clutch my pearls.

Don't clutch them too hard.

 

[blazerkor]

Dame was disrespected by Cronin and the Blazers, who failed and are still failing to be upfront. He is being disrespected by people on here who are waving him off and want to see him traded to make way for a new era. He has good years left in him, he's not getting ready to turn 40 yet.

I'm not waving Dame off, I wanted us to do right by him but now I hope he does right for himself and stops listening to Cronin's lies about putting a veteran contending team around him. The people that wanted Dame traded before last night I didn't get. I still want Dame here for my own selfishness but I'm both a Dame fan and a Blazers fan and the two are on separate paths, in my opinion. They have been on separate paths for a while and Joe keeps saying that he'll correct that trajectory and continues to do the opposite. The guy has made two moves that don't say youth rebuild... the trade for Grant and re-signing Nurk. He's made a bunch of other moves that directly fly in the face of putting a contending veteran team around Dame.

 

[HailBlazers]

He was? When? Where?

Should have used green font. Last thing Joe is going to do is leave Dame in the dark.

 

[blazerkor]

They last talked two days before the drafts when trades were still being discussed. Dame was probably hoping one of those would go through. I will say it's interesting he said he didn't want rookies, but has been talking a lot with Scoot pre draft.

I bet Scoot was at Formula Zero and Dame just likes him but I seriously doubt Dame likes him as a teammate but maybe I'm wrong about that... it wouldn't make sense but again sometimes things don't make sense to me.

 

[PCmor7]

Dame was disrespected by Cronin and the Blazers, who failed and are still failing to be upfront. He is being disrespected by people on here who are waving him off and want to see him traded to make way for a new era. He has good years left in him, he's not getting ready to turn 40 yet.

I don't see that at all, but I won't try to dissuade you.

 

[Tince]

They last talked two days before the drafts when trades were still being discussed. Dame was probably hoping one of those would go through. I will say it's interesting he said he didn't want rookies, but has been talking a lot with Scoot pre draft.

"Dame and I last talked Tuesday morning... He's not in Portland right now...had a long talk Tueday morning, you know that was two days before the draft, so, you know, there's stil a lot of things that can happen, often teams don't show their hand until Wednesday, or today, or even sometimes during the draft; but, umm, we had a long talk about trade possibilities, we had a good discussion that there is a strong likelihood we're going to draft here at 3, we didn't know exactly what player would be there.

Haven't talked to him since Tuesday. Been in contact with his agent Aaron Goodwin, Wednesday, today multiple times during the draft, keeping him apprised what are plans are, of 'hey we're going to draft here' and try to communicate so we are all on the same page."

 

[Strenuus]

Dame was disrespected by Cronin and the Blazers, who failed and are still failing to be upfront. He is being disrespected by people on here who are waving him off and want to see him traded to make way for a new era. He has good years left in him, he's not getting ready to turn 40 yet.

Here's my issue with what we were handed since we were awarded the #3 pick:

Our options to use that + ant + Nurk (eh) were minimal. We could have gotten a guy who may play 30 games a year or 70 games a year, or 70 games in 2 years. Is that worth the risk? (Zion)

Or do we risk it on a #4 option on a contender (who was thrusted into a #1 because booker went down) then traded to the nets where they went 13-15 as a #1 (bridges) + they were asking for too much

Porzingas no, brown no, anyone else really doesn't elevate this team to think it'd win a championship. So they (Joe and Co) had to have a backup plan. And maybe we can get some luck, some early dividends, etc. And I want to keep Dame! I want to win with him! But the timing didn't make sense to swing for it. It sucks, but it's the reality today.