The Portland Trail Blazers held a press conference Friday morning to introduce Joe Cronin, a longtime team executive, as the team's interim general manager. Sitting next to Chansi Billups and the new team chairman Doon Hankins, Cronin answered the Blazers' uncertain present and future questions with thoughtfulness, candor and humility that portland's hierarchy has long lacked.
Here are three key messages from Cronin's first appearance in the media as the trailblazer's chief decision maker.
Cronin was nothing more than an interim manager
All the reports suggest that Cronin will get a real chance to lift his temporary label and succeed Neil Olsh as Portland's full-time general manager. In the Blazers' first home game since Olsh's departure, he and Jody Allen sat on the sidelines and engaged in ongoing discussions with the Trail Blazers owner, who was known for not interfering.
Cronin reiterated on Thursday that the boss had assured him that he would have every chance of winning the job.
Joe Cronin said the company owner told him he would have the opportunity to compete for the job permanently.
What's more, he already has his own autonomy, and he's actively looking for ways to improve the Blazers' roster. Like Olsi, Cronin needs approval from Allen and vice chairman Bert Cold before sending the deal to the league office, but he has full authority to negotiate a possible deal with other teams.
Cronin said that if he got a "yard line" deal, he would go to Jody Allen and Bert Cold and ask for their consent. Right to trade.
Hankins clarified Thursday that the group was "not in a hurry" to appoint a permanent successor and said there was "no timeline" for the search process. It seems that Cronin will have enough time and opportunity to prove that he is the right person for this position.
As Olsi's number two figure over the past few seasons, Cronin hopes to take a different path from his former boss when it comes to team building and media interaction. Reporters on Thursday spoke as if he could.
Changsi Billups has every chance to continue as Blazers coach
Damien Lillard has once again publicly stated his intention to stay in Pitland. While Lillard's initial reaction to Olsi's dismissal was largely a nostalgia for their decade-long working relationship, his succinct response on social media to ESPN's worrying story about his upcoming contract extension more clearly reflected his views on the Blazers' management reshuffle. Olsey was gone, and he wasn't upset.
Billups' reaction to the man who hired him less than six months ago — remember, amid growing controversy and local criticism — was always more skeptical of being fired. His relationship with Olsi dates back more than a decade when they were with the Los Angeles Clippers. Years before he considered becoming head coach, Olsi publicly praised Billups' potential off the pitch. It was clear that the tacit understanding between them had played a big role after Billups succeeded Terry Stotts.
You won't know on Thursday, though. Billups even said he was happier to be part of the Trailblazers under Cronin and Hankins than Olhi and former CEO Chris McGowan, who resigned last November.
"In fact, I 'm [coming to Portland] more excited to be with the new team." , Billups
Than Lupus and Cronin are older than he and Olsh.
As Denver-area high school students, they often confronted each other on the court and even met at the 1994 Colorado Championship. Cronin's team won, Bilupps said, thanks in large part to "the big man who beat everybody in the middle," he was referring to Cronin.
Any time a general manager who has just hired a head coach is fired, the inevitable tensions are expected. Maybe it will come as the honeymoon period of Portland's new think tank passes, or as Cronin's position at the top proves temporary. While financial considerations have largely ensured that Billups won't leave, the Blazers' new manager may still want to pick their own coaches.
For now, however, focusing on this issue is tantamount to asking for trouble. Cronin and Billups not only have a good relationship, but they also have a similar vision of how to move Portland forward.
Personnel changes are inevitable
Cronin watched the Trail Blazers concede points on an 11-15 run at the start of the season, and despite their more aggressive defensive system than Lups, they struggled to catch goals. Still, it's clear he's not like his predecessors, who believe the Trail Blazers' defense is 29th and then exited in the first round of the playoffs a year ago more because of coaching issues than lack of personnel.
In fact, Cronin's game on Thursday all but guaranteed that the Trail Blazers would make adjustments to the existing lineup.
Cronin said he knew the team needed to make some adjustments to the squad, "We will. ”
For these changes, the importance of timeliness did not disappear in Cronin. He understood the importance of emergency when it came to rebuilding work like facing Portland. Still, Cronin won't rush to take the steps he deems necessary to improve the team. Raising the cap for an experienced team is not easy, but it is a task ahead of him.
Joe Cronin: "I want to be patient, not reactive, but I do want to make an emergency call and find out what's out there. We wouldn't be afraid to do it if it was necessary. ”
"We have been a stable team for many years, but now we have a bottleneck. How do we compete? How can we walk into the stadium with our heads held high and know we're going to the game?"
"What changes we need to make – that's the biggest challenge." - Cronin
Winning a press conference shouldn't be worth celebrating. It's not like Cronin, Billups, and Hankins reinventing conversations with the media or providing any revelations about the Trail Blazers' offensive plans — not to mention particularly surprising.
Olhi has a habit of creating bad news in the rare opportunity to interview. According to news reports on Thursday, it would be shocking if all this happened while Cronin was at the helm. If Cronin's actions as Portland's chief decision maker are quickly rewarded, his days at the top could be lasting.