The Portland Trail Blazers have reached a multi-year extension with GM Joe Cronin, reports ESPN's Shams Charania. Jody Allen made a public statement in the Blazers' official release:
Here's the official release on Joe Cronin's extension, featuring a rare public statement from Jody Allen: pic.twitter.com/YtqWf3gZEd
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) April 7, 2025
Blazers fans should feel good about this decision to retain their once-polarizing GM. Cronin took over as Neil Olshey's replacement in 2022. He hasn't been perfect by any means, overvaluing players like Jerami Grant and Robert Williams III. But Cronin has done a solid job overall, specifically navigating the Blazers' rebuild in the post-Damian Lillard era.
Joe Cronin is changing the Blazers' identity for the better
Last summer's trade for Deni Avdija is turning into a massive win for the franchise. He also did a great job acquiring Toumani Camara as part of the Deandre Ayton-Jusuf Nurkic swap in the multi-team Lillard deal.
It's too early to officially declare whether he hit on Portland's recent top ten picks, but Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, and Donovan Clingan have all at least shown individual promise as players that can potentially become starters on a playoff team (it would have been nice to have Amen Thompson, but it's hard to fault Cronin for that when the consensus was that Henderson and Brandon Miller were in a tier of their own as prospects).
The Blazers have ranked in the top five in defensive efficiency since Jan. 19, as Charania notes. We are finally seeing Cronin's vision for this Blazers roster coming to fruition.
The most impressive aspect of Cronin's roster building is how he's known exactly the type of identity he's wanted to have as a team that is long, athletic, and gets it done on the defensive end. He then identified and targeted players, such as Camara and Avdija, who could fit this mold with their versatility.
In the Lillard-CJ McCollum era, the Blazers experienced a ton of regular season success as a high-octane offense. But they weren't physical or defensive-minded enough to have that success translate to the postseason. Cronin is flipping the Blazers' identity around for the better and building a team that is better equipped for postseason success in the coming seasons.
The next two summers are going to be crucial as the Blazers enter a new phase of their rebuild. They still have several veterans to consider moving off of and could have a lot of cap space to work with in 2026 if they play their cards right.
There are still glaring questions surrounding Portland's roster, but Cronin should be the one who gets to see his rebuild all the way through. He's shown enough for the Blazers to give him that vote of confidence.