At General Manager Joe Cronin’s exit interview, he was asked about the biggest issue plaguing the Portland Trail Blazers.
“I think our biggest issue is just consistency,” said Cronin.
“Inconsistency” is an interesting choice of words from the GM, as the ambiguity creates more questions rather than providing an answer. Some may argue the opposite: The Blazers have been plenty consistent, but the problem is that the constant is bad. When a team averages the most live-ball turnovers in the NBA by a wide margin, that’s consistency.
The Blazers aren’t inconsistent with regard to turnovers or poor shooting; they’re consistently below average. Reading the tea leaves seems to suggest that the Blazers need to tighten things up and add pieces that elevate the team’s weaknesses from “consistently bad” to “consistently good”.
Even a bump up to “inconsistent” would be a welcome change, because it indicates that the team’s performance in certain areas is a coin flip every night.
Blazers have the assets to find Deni Avdija a co-star this summer
With the Blazers finally making the playoffs, the team’s 2026 draft pick has been conveyed to Chicago, which converts all of Portland’s future picks to tradeable assets. As of now, the chest is as full as it’s been in recent franchise history, consisting of 15 picks and swaps between now and 2032.
Fresh off his only playoff experience in his career, Deni Avdija has shown that he can get it done, but his game has such a unique flavor that he needs a very complimentary piece to get the most from it.
Avdija ranked first in drives per game last season, and among the players in the top-25, he ranked third in assist percentage. While it’s a great indicator of drive-and-kick potency, AST% is a bit of a tricky stat to quantify, because it only tracks actual assists.
The Blazers finished third-worst in three-point percentage during the regular season and second-worst in the playoffs, which nullifies that part of Avdija’s offense; with a handful more makes, Deni would be one of the top drive-and-kick players in the NBA.
Trey Murphy III would be a perfect fit in Portland
Trey Murphy III is the ideal partner in this arrangement; he checks all the boxes: he’s a prolific volume shooter that excels as a play finisher, most of his shots come from spot-up shots and kick-outs, and he is an extremely capable defender. Murphy is under contract through 2029, and he’s just 25 years old, the same as Deni.
The most compelling case for Murphy’s acquisition is that New Orleans is an ideal trade partner—they’re at the crossroads of a rebuild and a fire sale, looking to take on bad contracts in exchange for players and lucrative draft picks. The Pelicans sacrificed this year’s pick for the rights to draft Derik Queen and appear starved for recuperation. Of all their current core, Murphy will command the highest price, one that new owner Tom Dundon will likely be willing to pay.
Because Portland doesn’t have a pick in the draft, the team doesn’t have to wait until draft night to make trades. This gives the Blazers an edge in talent acquisition as the returning assets aren’t subject to the upcoming draft order.
Whichever direction the team decides to take, Dundon has indicated that he’s willing to push in his chips to acquire a winning player, and so the offseason should be an exciting one for Blazers fans.
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