The plan for the 2024-25 Portland Trail Blazers is to compete every night, play hard, play fast and continue working toward developing talent and an identity.
Those are the same objectives the Blazers had entering last season, which ended with a 21-61 record, tied for the second-worst record in franchise history.
This season could end with a similar record, but general manager Joe Cronin says wins and losses won’t define the season.
That would be counterproductive to the bigger goal of securing another crack at landing the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.
Cronin can’t say that out loud, of course. Nor can coach Chauncey Billups, who enters his fourth season having never had a competitive roster that wasn’t torn apart by injuries, failed roster experiments or the desire to secure lottery picks.
However, the Blazers have taken clear steps in recent years to improve their chances of finishing high in the lottery and no offseason moves were made to bolster the roster.
“We know this season, it’s going to have its ups and downs,” Cronin said during Monday’s media day in the Fountain Room at Memorial Coliseum. “We like who we are, but we also know we’re not ready to win at a high level yet.”
In other words, the Blazers, who begin training camp on Tuesday, plan to take their shot at landing Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, regarded as the top prospect in what’s considered to be an extremely deep 2025 NBA draft class.
Given how last season went after trading Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks, the only way to avoid another losing season in the deep Western Conference would have been to make massive roster changes involving adding veteran talent.
To be fair, while such moves might have gotten the Blazers into play-in contention, they would have zero chance to actually make any waves against a conference so stacked that LeBron James and the Lakers and Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors could easily miss the playoffs.
So, the wise plan is to accept losing to secure talent through the draft. The Blazers have added promising talents — shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe (2022 NBA daft), point guard Scoot Henderson (2023), and center Donovan Clingan (2024) — via lottery picks.
That trio isn’t remotely close to being able to play winning basketball today. When they are, the Blazers could shift gears to add pieces around them.
“Until those guys take steps and start playing winning basketball, we’re not going to win at the level we need to,” Cronin said. “So, part of it’s up to them. When will you guys be ready? When will you take these next steps, and when can you really impact the game instead of just showing flashes or have a good five-game run.”
In the meantime, Cronin said he wants to see the team develop a mentality of connectivity, competitiveness, grit and high character.
“We have a roster that we really like,” Cronin said. “We’re happy where we are right now, but we love where we are headed. But to do that, we’ve got to take steps. We have a lot of talent on this roster, but a lot of it’s untapped potential.
“There are numerous young guys who have multiple steps they still need to take. We have a lot of veterans, if not all of them, who have at least one, maybe two more good steps in them. And our challenge this season and in the short term overall, is to keep developing and get these guys as good as possible.”
The same plans were derailed last season by a massive number of injuries. Sharpe missed 50 games, Henderson missed 20, guard Anfernee Simons sat out 36 and forward Jerami Grant played in just 54.
Remaining healthy, Billups said, will make all the difference.
“I think just having some consistency with people being on the floor is the obvious thing,” Billups said. “I sat in the press conference with you guys too many times before games, saying, ‘I don’t know who is playing.’ So, I’m really looking forward to not having to do that as much with you guys.”
Should the Blazers experience better luck on the injury front, the hope is that the franchise can at the very least play with cohesion.
“I just want our guys to be connected,” Billups said. “I want our guys to know each other. I want them to play for each other.”
Doing so could help the Blazers discover answers to numerous questions across the roster.
Which two guards will make for the best backcourt fit? Is center Deandre Ayton a building block, or should Clingan be the center of the future? Can forwards Deni Avdija and Grant get the job done, or must the Blazers look to upgrade that position even beyond potentially adding a talent such as Flagg? Are any depth pieces worth keeping around, or might they eventually go the way of former recent young projects Nassir Little, Keon Johnson, Gregg Brown III, Trendon Watford, and CJ Elleby.
“One thing we’re really hoping to find this year, throughout this season, and definitely by the end of it, is more clarity,” Cronin said. “Last year, I don’t know how much clarity we walked away with. We saw flashes and capabilities, but we didn’t see sustained production or sustained cohesion.
“And I think this year, we need to build on that. We need to have a better feel and understanding of what we are, what moves we need to make, what additions we need to have, what’s going really well. We need just more focus on what our long-term outlook is going to look like.”
The Blazers also must at least become entertaining and competitive. The Blazers didn’t merely lose a lot of games last season, they often got pasted.
The average margin of defeat was 118.1 to 103.
Two of the Blazers’ three 60-point defeats in history came last season (at Miami and at Oklahoma City).
They lost other games by 39 (at Sacramento), 37 (at home to Minnesota), and 36 (at Dallas). On seven additional occassions, they lost by 20 or more.
Reducing the number of blowout losses, discovering continuity, watching players improve, and moving toward a general direction would all contribute to a successful season for the Blazers as they build toward what they hope will be better years in the future.
“We want to continue to build that foundation of prepping us for the long term,” Cronin said, “so that we can have sustainable success.”
— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)
San Antonio Spurs players Victor Wembanyama (1) and Chris Paul (3) pose for photos during the NBA basketball team’s media day, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024
Barack Obama and Michael Jordan led the tributes to Dikembe Mutombo following news of the NBA Hall of Famer’s death on Monday.Mutombo, a Congolese centre, who
A new NBA season is upon us and so is the latest installment of The Sporting News' ranking of the top 30 players in the league.Whil
Two days after Jeff Passan’s name was mentioned as a potential replacement for Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN’s most prominent insider is also said to be