Ranking the 3 biggest fleeces Joe Cronin has pulled off with the Blazers
By Reese Kunz
2. Sending CJ McCollum to New Orleans
CJ McCollum trade
The Blazers also received Tomas Satoransky and Didi Louzada in the deal. The 2022 first-round pick they acquired was No. 5 to 14 protected and failed to convey, as the Pelicans landed the No. 8 overall pick. As a result, the pick turned into the Milwaukee Bucks' 2025 first-round pick. That pick is top four protected, but the Blazers moved it in the Jerami Grant deal with the Pistons (it was traded again and now likely will be the Knicks' who have the rights if it lands between picks No. 5-30).
The Blazers have very few pieces to show for the McCollum deal, although it did help them land Grant. But that also has much to do with the fact that Cronin and the Blazers make poor trades following the CJ deal, willingly moving on from up-and-coming guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker and finding little value in the Josh Hart deal.
When the Blazers moved on from NAW in exchange for Joe Ingles, ESPN's Zach Lowe on "The Lowe Post" podcast mentioned that Alexander-Walker was a "smart flier for a team to take," which seems even more evident now. Meanwhile, Josh Hart was on an expiring deal and likely to leave in free agency regardless, but the Blazers received zero significant assets in exchange for their trade with the Knicks.
McCollum is arguably one of the top ten Blazers players of all time, but the Blazers were wise to move on from him when they did, especially given his age and contract.