Trying to wrap my head around how this team gets significantly better. MEM is full on tank so POR can make the playin and could end up with no pick this year. What is the point of any of this? Such a weird roster.
Thinking cruelly and without any sentiment:
We've been a lot worse since Jrue came back and Deni got injured. Jrue is either sandbagging it or aged out of usefulness during his injury, or is more injured than he lets on. Move him while you can unless he's teaching the kids good skills.
Will Deni ever be as good as he was before he got injured? If he won't, you gotta be honest about how much worse he will be, and whether the contract extension you'll need to work out to keep him will be worth it. If it isn't going to be in the team's favor, you should move him before other teams cotton on to that fact.
You need to assume Dame will be worse than Caleb Love when he comes back, to be prepared for the worst. Sign Caleb Love, and then assume you now need to get point guards in front of him so he doesn't have to play hero ball off the bench.
Our center situation is kind of a mess. Donovan is plenty young and still learning, but mobile centers with extended range make him nearly useless. He has a year to figure that out, and in the meantime we need to evaluate RWIII's ability to play a full season minus back-to-backs. So far so good, and knee recovery techniques are coming, but is he worth the investment? Maybe! Yang is a huge project and might need to ride the pine behind another team's centers if you think you can get a pick for him.
Grant needs to go, for a ham sandwich and a couple of future second round picks if necessary. Murray is better than him right now.
I think you get better by being exceedingly honest about Deni and Jrue. You need to figure out if Scoot can bring anything to this offense. You need to be honest about our front line needs versus playoff teams. And you need to be willing to move anyone who isn't part of the 2026-27 playoff run. It's also essential you don't trust Damian Lillard's opinions on ANYTHING, because he has the worst eye for talent I've ever seen in an NBA player.
Cronin needs to be cold and calculating in order to meaningfully improve a roster that is running mostly on hopes and dreams right now.