Portland Trail Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin spoke to reporters Thursday evening to discuss the franchise’s quiet NBA Trade Deadline. The Blazers were one of just five teams to stand pat prior to Thursday’s deadline at Noon Pacific, not acquiring or moving any players.

Cronin discussed a range of topics, first acknowledging the lack of involvement by Portland in his opening statement.

I know a lot of fans prefer a bit of action, we do too. We’re always looking for ways to participate in these windows and find guys who can help us be better. But this time around we just didn’t find the value, so we decided to pass, and for us that’s a good thing.

We have a group of guys we’re really excited about, a group of guys that at the start of the season we wanted to see take big steps both individually and collectively and we’ve seen a lot of that this season.

For us it’s let’s keep going, let’s keep building, let’s keep getting better day to day and when this next transaction window hits this summer, we’ll see what that entails.

He hinted that the front office might have gotten close to pulling off a few deals, but the right moves didn’t materialize.

I would say we got fairly close on a few things, nothing that dragged out all the way through today. A lot of this stuff was exhausted over the last couple weeks, but there are a few that made sense for us and — we thought — for the other team, but it just didn’t happen.

Aggressive-wise, we’re always try to be really aggressive, and often that means just canvassing the league. We want to stay engaged with all these teams, really communicate, talk about needs with each other and how we can help each other. That’s our level of aggression, just stay connected with all these teams through this whole process.

Cronin also said the process of setting up a trade can take place over multiple transaction cycles. This was something the organization saw in its prior acquisitions of forwards Jerami Grant and Deni Avdija.

[Something] I find really valuable about trade deadlines is the foundation you can lay. While you might not be able to get something done in February, what opportunities does that open up for a later period, call it the summer? We’ve seen that really with two main guys on our roster right now. Jerami Grant, two years ago, there was a lot of work at the trade deadline, couldn’t get anything done. Four months later that trade with Jerami right before the draft went really smoothly because we had just so much pre-work on that. And then Deni Avdija, the same thing, laying that foundation. Lot of talks in February, heavy talks at the draft, finally we got the deal done. That provides value.

On that topic, Cronin highlighted what kind of value he was looking for.

We value good players on good contracts who can contribute to this team long term. It depends if you’re trying to add or subtract. If you’re trying to add, is that right value? Is that the player that fits cap-wise, talent-wise, positionally, skillset-wise? Conversely, if you’re trying to subtract, are you extracting enough value? Are you getting what you would deem the right package back.

With the Blazers winning nine of their last 10 games, Cronin touched on the Blazers’ recent winning ways and if this hot streak changed his approach heading into the deadline.

Our approach remained the same. We’re heavily focused on the big picture. While we’re happy about the way things are going — and of course, my job is to weigh that and make sure that I’m putting the right dynamics around this team and had to consider not rocking the boat — but big picture is way more important for me. I want to build a sustained winner. The way we’ve played recently hasn’t weighed on these decisions.

And what he’s hoping to see over the final 31 games:

The goal for the rest of the season is really the goal from the beginning: continue growth. We’ve taken some good steps, we’ve got a lot more steps to take. We want to see those individually and collectively, from our young guys, and from our middle-age vets to our older vets. These guys keep getting better together and individually.

As far as our projection as a team and just what do we look like from a talent standpoint, that’s our challenge always is to keep accumulating talent, keep getting as high end as we can as far as the players we’re adding and the capabilities that these guys bring.

For me, a lot of that still comes with the development. We have a really talented group of guys that are capable of taking multiple steps. For me, if they’re playing well and they’re getting better daily and learning how to win and build that winning, competitive mentality, for me, that’s real progress for them.

A reporter asked Cronin how far the franchise is from entering a season with goals of making the playoffs. Cronin said he hopes that isn’t too far away.

I hope not far. They’ve taken some really good steps this year. Some of these young guys have proven to be capable of playing winning basketball, I’d say especially the second half of the season. As we continue to build and continue to add players here and get more capable, we hope sustained winning isn’t too far away.

In response to a question about two timelines on the roster in terms of veterans and youth, Cronin acknowledged there are two timelines on this roster, but said that isn’t unusual for rebuilding teams. He said organizations must find a balance between the two.

I would argue a lot of us exist in two timelines scenarios where you see a lot of rebuilding teams, we intentionally have veterans around these guys for a lot of reasons: to provide leadership, to provide functionality on the court, to provide more talent to a group that may not be ready to compete on nightly basis. So eventually, as this roster grows and as we continue to work towards being a sustainable winner, we need to figure out that balance, that’s one of our big challenges.

… Some of [the vets] have expressed questions about where this teams is headed. It never got to a point where it’s “get me out of here.” It’s more, “what is my role? What does my outlook look like on a young, rebuilding team?”

… I wouldn’t call them concerns but it’s always something we’re always mindful of is that balance [between veterans and young guys]. It’s not just the amount of guys, the types of guys you’re trying to blend together, but it’s also the roles. How are we hurting the vets? How are we hurting the young guys and their development? It’s a constant balance that I don’t think we’ve perfected. Our vets, I think really highly of. Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton, Robert Williams. These are really good players, really good guys, really good teammates. They’re providing value, and that for me is most important.

Cronin touched on barriers with the current Collective Bargaining Agreement and its impact on league transactions.

In the past, the previous five years prior to this new CBA, I think we saw first-round picks flying around like crazy — an unprecedented amount of first-round picks going out and swaps. I think that definitely tightened up during this transaction cycle. So it’ll be interesting to see if that continues to be tight or if that loosens up.

He also gave a positive review of Portland head coach Chauncey Billups’ performance this season.

I think he’s done a great job. This year, [the goal] was take steps. And player development is critical for us having so many young guys, and I’m really proud of the growth that we’ve seen from really every guy. And how do you merge that in a team environment and start really establishing the style of play that he wants to play? And I think, especially over the last 10 games, you’ve seen that.

Finally, and potentially most telling, Cronin was in favor of the Blazers aiming for the Play-In.

I think it would be unfair to take it away from them. For me, I’m so proud and so excited about these guys that the sky is the limit. Go guys, go win, let’s see what you can do, and I’m here to support it.