Joe Cronin has developed a pretty good reputation among Blazers fans, and for good reason. He's been willing to take risks in the draft and in trades and it's set the Blazers up for future success. He's added Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Shaedon Sharpe, and Donovan Clingan in the past few years — a pretty impressive resume in his tenure as Blazers GM.
In 2025, he pulled up for a heat check by trading back and drafting Yang Hansen in the first round of the draft. Hansen has become a fan-favorite in Portland, and understandably so, but from a strictly basketball standpoint, this was a home run swing with a real possibility of striking out.
Was now the right time to take a swing like this? Specific players aside (it's easy to say the Blazers should have drafted Cedric Coward after he's impressed early on) it probably would have behooved the Blazers to look for a high-floor player who they were highly confident would produce at an NBA level.
After all, outside of the four guys I mentioned above, the Blazers have far more question marks than exclamation points throughout the roster. Kris Murray, Rayan Rupert, Scoot Henderson, Caleb Love, and Sidy Cissoko are all going to get real minutes this year, and there's a chance none of them are long-term answers at their respective positions. In such an important developmental period for the franchise, the pressure on hitting this pick feels even higher for Cronin.
Again, I'm not saying that Hansen will be a bust. He has plenty of talent to be a good NBA player and I remain giddy about the thought of him tossing dimes in Moda Center. But with so many other questions on this roster, adding another one in the draft was always a strange decision.
Drafting Yang Hansen might not have been necessary
Sometimes, doubling down is the right approach to take. But doubling down on a position after successfully hitting on that same position in the prior draft is a strategy that could age poorly when we look back in five years.
There are no "sure things" in the NBA Draft. But there are players who are more likely than others to produce immediately. Instead of picking up a guy like that, the Blazers took a huge swing with Yang Hansen. Whether or not it actually works out, it's a departure from the norm for Joe Cronin. Sometimes sticking with the norm is good, though.