Cronin, Blazers want to go all-in, but only for the right deal

Cronin stated to reporters on Feb. 10 that the organization is dedicated, “borderline anxious” even, to swing for the fences and get the kind of players who will take this team to the next level.

But as Cronin said, the organization and Lillard can’t afford a strikeout either. If the team’s swing flys out to centerfield and doesn’t net the needed talent to win a title, Lillard might go his whole career without a ring. If you swing and miss, Lillard likely doesn’t finish his career in Portland.

Cronin ended up not swinging at all at the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 9, instead making some moves around the margins that helped the books, build more assets and give the team some young talent that could potentially blossom into role players on a title team, or at least be good enough to help bring better talent to Rip City.

“We want to be championship level, so for us it was disappointing,” Cronin told reporters on Feb. 10 about the trade deadline. “We’re borderline-anxious to push all of our chips in, we can’t wait for that moment to happen. It just hasn’t come up yet.

“It’s my job to be the voice of reason, to be very diligent, to not make a big mistake, to not get the wrong guy, to not overpay, to not give up on somebody that could eventually become a really good player.”

Here’s a quick breakdown of the deals, one of which took a little longer to go official (more on that in a bit).

Josh Hart was traded to the New York Knicks in a four-team deal that brings in Cam Reddish, Ryan Arcidiacono and a lottery-protected 2023 first round pick from the Knicks. The deal also nets Matisse Thybulle from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for a Blazers 2029 second round pick and a 2027 second round pick sent to Charlotte.

Portland’s other trade involved the Golden State Warriors and Detroit Pistons. Kevin Knox II is coming to Portland from Detroit while Gary Payton II is off to Golden State in exchange for five second round picks.

However, Payton failed the Warriors’ physical, giving the team a Sunday, Feb. 12 deadline Josh Hart was traded to the New York Knicks in a four-team deal that brings in Cam Reddish, Ryan Arcidiacono and a lottery-protected 2023 first round pick from the Knicks. The deal also nets Matisse Thybulle from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for a Blazers 2029 second round pick and a 2027 second round pick sent to Charlotte.

Portland’s other trade involved the Golden State Warriors and Detroit Pistons. Kevin Knox II is coming to Portland from Detroit while Gary Payton II is off to Golden State in exchange for five second round picks.

The Athletic first reported that Payton was being given Toradol to deal with abdominal pain, something the Warriors believe should have been relayed before the deal.

If the league finds Portland guilty, punishments could include a loss of draft picks, fines or possibly reexamining the deal altogether. Not a great spot to be in.

For now, another key component to the two trades are the trade exceptions garnered, an $8.3 million trade exception from the Payton trade and a $7 million trade exception from Hart’s deal.

Add it all up and Portland got back two former lottery picks (Reddish and Knox), a defensive stopper in Thybulle, six picks (one first and five second) and $15.3 million in trade exceptions.

None of them are moves to make Portland a contender in 2023, but they are moves to make sure the Blazers aren’t just standing idly by.

Fans are certainly tired of hearing the same promises: Wait until the summer, wait until next year, wait until this player develops, etc. What’s different this time though is Cronin, and there’s no hiding the goal for him, head coach Chauncey Billups and Lillard.

They all know they need to start winning as soon as possible.

“You look at what we did and we’re not looking at it saying, ‘Oh, this makes us 10 times better than we were before,’” Lillard told reporters on Feb. 10 following a 138-129 loss to Oklahoma City. “It was more of a calculated day for us than anything, that was my impression. Just to put ourselves in position to do more things to improve the team going forward.”

That Thunder loss left Portland (27-29) sitting in 12th place in the Western Conference entering a Monday, Feb. 13 matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers, a half game back of the No. 10 seed and 2.5 games back of No. 6.

The record for the Blazers likely isn’t changing much from the projections before the trade deadline. Some fans will hope to miss the playoffs in hopes of a lottery pick. Others just want to see some winning now.

For now, Cronin and the Blazers are going to ride in the middle of those wishes, pleasing no one who comes to the Moda Center.

There’s more promises on the table, and Cronin has earned a little time thanks to the honesty he’s given about what the goals are.

But make no mistake, if there isn’t a team around Lillard that contends for a title soon, that thin ice will certainly snap.

“It takes two to tango, you gotta have the proper package to go get (something like the Kevin Durant trade),” Billups said. “That’s a really, really hard job sitting at that table that Joe is sitting at. I know all of us really trust and believe in Joe, what he’s done thus far in his short amount of time, and I trust and believe in the moves he’s making right now in a major way.”