Joe Cronin Press Conference | 2024 NBA Draft | Portland Trail Blazers

Joe Cronin Press Conference | 2024 NBA Draft | Portland Trail Blazers

do we do we like the one day draft or the the one day first round yes for coverage wise yes because we won’t be here till midnight like last year nice check back in tomorrow check back in tomorrow yeah all right everyone welcome ask you question let me know if you have a question you raise your hand I will throw it to our okay thank you um round one of the 2024 draft is over um I don’t believe I’m talking tomorrow so I always like to thank all the hardworking people in our organization that put in all these hours over the course of the year to evaluate these drafts and you know do such an incredible job figuring out the next players for us to add um it’s a long list of people but they’re worthy of being called out Andre Patterson Sergei Oliva Mike schmidtz Asia Jones Sharice Sam BJ Domingo Tina Thompson swanga lamani Nico Matthew Danny Connors Jake Fox Sean Kylie Zach Williams so many people contribute to this draft process you know it’s a it’s a lot of work the Ops people Nick West Monae Jones that bring all these players in you know this year we brought in north of 50 and it’s just a lot of work that um compiles into tonight one person um Donovan kingan who a player where really really high on a player we had ranked very highly a player that um we think is going to be a great addition to this franchise because of many reasons you know who he is as a person the type of player he is the defensive prowess that he brings the winning mentality um a lot of good um features and Donovan has an extremely bright future um we have a a a trade that’s been reported I can’t get into that tonight in this press conference probably Circle back on things in a couple weeks on that one so let’s open it up how soon did you zero in on Donovan being soone you coveted and how confident were you that maybe he could be there at 7 and did you consider moving up M this is where like I just give so much credit to our Scouts like they were all over him a year ago they loved him last year as a freshman and then you know we just studied him closely closely or closer and closer as you know these last two seasons went on um and you know when the lottery played out the way it did um we thought there might be a chance it’s just hard you just don’t know how it’s going to play out especially over the course of six weeks but even going into tonight into the draft I thought this was one of the drafts where it was really difficult to predict what was going to happen between picks three and six and I think that played out to where um General consensus or a lot of the mock drafts um probably saw a surprise at least one surprise maybe two and it worked out to where Donovan got to us so you know for us that was one of the easier selections we’re going to we’re going to ever make did you try to get up to three we talked um we you know it’s we try to I think it’s something we do well is we’re really diligent and we really work the phones you know we were looking at move up move back move in move out scenarios had dozens and dozens of them and you know you just try to plant as many seeds as possible and keep all your options open because literally as as the draft plays out you know your whole perspective can change giv what happens at 3: or 4 and you know eventually you say okay we’re home or we’re not you know you got to figure out like what’s your threshold and just working through all these scenarios okay if this happens what’s our pivot you know if this breaks wrong for us what do we have lined up to do there so we were looking at carry at everything Joe was he number three on your board um he was I don’t like to give the number just because I don’t want to put any added pressure on him but we had him we had him higher than we took him Joe um on the broadcast and I guess online there was a lot of there there were reports that Memphis was trying to get up to six to get to get Donovan but you guys were potentially trying to W that off with a move of your own it seemed like the high drama point of the first round at least what was that like for you guys in the room and how how tense were those moments for you guys it’s it’s my favorite part of the job the draft day in general but specifically those moments when you have some control you’re able to maneuver a little bit yet there’s a lot of it that’s not up to you and you just kind of have to wait it out and ride that wave and this one ended up being like that where you know like I said earlier you have all these contingencies and once certain things happen and we knew we were likely um going to be fine at 700 or getting what we hoped at 7 um it was good but those moments right before that those are as tense as they come for us in this profession you know game winners and you know in the off season Joe for the last couple years you’ve talked about wanting to get bigger Longer stronger more athletic you made Moves last year where you got probably two of the more higher and athletic bigs Donovan kind of goes back to a more traditional model how does he kind of fit into what you guys are doing was that purely based on talent and even if he goes away from kind of the archetype you guys have talked about preferring and then how does he fit with scoot going forward yeah um definitely becoming more physical more athletic bigger like you said it’s been a continued priority of ours and I think we did that today and a lot of the things we were talking about um defensively Donovan Donovan to me is an interesting defender of course he’s he’s more of a drop big that’s best around the rim I mean it’s what he does best is protect the rim but um his his IQ and his feel and his ability to navigate and react and and you know play the right angles or you know adjust his depth depending on you know who you’re playing against and what you’re trying to take away I think Donovan’s going to be a nice versatile Defender that you know in general is just going to up our defense something that we’ve continually tried to do and we’re starting to get better at but we still have a long ways to go there you know I think Rim protection it was a huge has been a big hole of ours and um Donovan helped solve that problem as for been and Scoot I think um anytime you get a defensive anchor that can play behind you know your talented guards I think that’s a huge huge part of this but also you know someone that can play you know do a good job on the other side of the ball he’s a great screen Setter he’s going to be a good role guy he’s got great hands he’s got a good feel he can pass he can play off the move a little bit um you know he’s got some some work to do like a lot of young big men but um we like where where he’s headed skill-wise uh Joe rotation wise you know you still have da here and Rob if he’s if he’s healthy theoretically still here like just you know just you know you have those guys that are kind of already established guys in the league and if they’re healthy or you know guys if are going to play a lot of minutes and like do you see Donovan playing you know alongside either one of them or starting over either one like how like how do you see all that kind of playing out yeah I think you know as we approach this we’re still in such a talent acquisition mode that we’re not super concerned about who’s playing ahead of who or who’s playing next to who um it was more for Donovan it’s it was obviously get a really talented guy who addresses some huge needs for us specifically you know like we said the rim protection the defense the rebounding the offensive rebounding um you know part of this is we want we’re building a competitive culture we want these guys to come in and compete and you know earn whatever minutes and rolls they get and you know when you’re when you’re a rebuilding team like we are and you’re trying to take that next step you know we need guys that um are capable of coming in and winning jobs and that’s what we’re looking forward to is just being more competitive Joe um I’ve read some people believe that Doan will be able to extend his shooting range a little bit I I was curious about your offensive expectations for him y um Donovan you know he he came here and worked out for us and it was good to be up close with him and watch him shoot a lot of perimeter shots and I do think it’s something that he’s going to be able to do someday it’s he’s pretty comfortable and he’s got a good touch you know these shooting in the NBA is complicated and difficult even for a lot of the guards coming in like he’s got a lot of work to do but I do like his his feeling his hands and his accuracy and just his overall skill set you know my favorite thing about him offensively I just think he’s an underrated passer I really like some of the plays he made for Yukon who ran a really intricate offense with a lot of cuts a lot of high IQ players and Donovan was an addition to that style of play not you know a negative on that end Joe you mentioned that love draft night and you mentioned that Donovan was really high on your board so I was just curious what that moment was like in the room when you see Charlotte pick who they pick and you bet on yourself you don’t try to trade up in this draft try to trade away more assets and you see that that you see that moment pay off and you know you’re going to get your guy so just what was that moment like in the room it’s it’s a cool moment you know there’s there’s all of us who have been working this draft and you know just this roster so so hard over the Year to you know have a moment where you’re hoping something happens and then it actually does and you know everyone’s just happy you know you we all do the the clap that people see on TV but it’s literal you know just it’s relief it’s Joy it’s optimism it’s excitement so you kind of go through all those arrays of emotions and then you know shortly after it’s okay well what’s next you know you get to enjoy it and then you’re trying to okay what else are we trying to do here I know you talked about town acquisition and and guys competing but DeAndre was pretty much probably the most celebrated and hyped asset that you guys got last year in the trade evolving Dame you called them a top five Center nine months later you’re drafting a center is this a no way an indictment on Aon season or what you believe his future is I mean at some point someone’s got to go right well I don’t know about go I think well first off Donovan you know he’s got rookie year can be can be interesting you know he’s got a lot to learn still the NBA is going to be an adjustment but as far as DeAndre goes I’m really excited about DeAndre I mean obviously we sought him out last summer and um I thought we saw some really good things from him as the season went on I mean DeAndre is incredibly talented a really good player in this league so you know I just keep I always go back to this but we’re not good enough to be content at any one position or even just at the starting position like we’ve got to build depth we’ve got to get real players all throughout this roster and that’s my Challenge and that’s why I’m going to continue to do even though you know sometimes like for me it’s a success if you’re finding other players are going to challenge some of your best players okay we’re doing good because we’re continually building our talent base Joe you said that after that moment of Celebration wears off it turns to what’s next and what else you trying to do here M what’s next next what else are you trying to do here what the next couple weeks look like as you you move past the draft MH yeah so I mean tomorrow you know go through the second round we have two picks there 34 and 40 which um are pretty good picks so obviously we’ll get get that accomplished and figure that portion of you know the next step in the process figured out uh beyond that get into the offseason and still look for ways to get better I mean like I said we’ve got to continue to build this Talent base and you know we’re committed to scoot and shading being a massive part of what we’re doing and how do we find ways to you know give them the support they need and make them better and maximize their development so it’s continually seeking players that we can add to this roster that we can grow with and build together with do the last one here in that you’re committed to this young nucleus is it likely that some of the older guys might get moved um I don’t I don’t know if I’d say likely I think um throughout this whole offseason I’ve been open-minded um again with the mindset that we need to get better and I think in some ways we need to get different so I think my goal is to just you know really work the phones and be open-minded and be opportunistic about you know Finding players that can help us in not just the short term but the long term and I think you’ll see that theme with you know some of our additions that we are looking at you know putting a Runway here that where these guys can be really good for uh hopefully a long time and just trying to find guys that fit that mold all right thank you thanks everyone yeah

Portland’s General Manager talks about drafting Donovan Clingan and much more following Round 1.

𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠 » http://www.instagram.com/trailblazers
𝗧𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 » http://www.twitter.com/trailblazers
𝗧𝗜𝗞𝗧𝗢𝗞 » https://www.tiktok.com/@trailblazers
𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 » http://www.facebook.com/trailblazers

🖥️ Visit our website for the latest news, videos, podcasts, photos and more: http://www.trailblazers.com
🎙️ Listen to Trail Blazers podcasts: http://www.trailblazers.com/podcasts
📺 Watch Trail Blazers games on Root Sports https://northwest.rootsports.com/trail-blazers
🏀 Subscribe to NBA League Pass: https://rip.city/LeaguePass
📲 Download the Trail Blazers mobile app: https://www.nba.com/blazers/app
🎟️ Buy game tickets: https://www.nba.com/blazers/single-game-tickets?utm_source=youtube
👕 Rip City Clothing : https://ripcityclothing.com/