Trail Blazers News: Joe Cronin Seems To Temper Expectations For 2024-25 Season

Matt Levine | Apr 18, 2024

The Portland Trail Blazers 2023-2024 season was one to forget. They missed the postseason for the third straight year and didn't show much promise toward things getting any better soon. With another crucial offseason coming up for the organization, general manager Joe Cronin seemed to temper expectations for next season.

He mentioned that the Blazers are determined to let their young players figure it out so it could be a minute before the team starts winning. This isn't going to be what most fans want to hear about the direction of the team.

"We're heavily invested in a lot of our young guys, so development will continue to be our focus. We're not going to win at an extremely high level until some of those guys are ready. At the same time, we have to put those guys in the best environment."

Joe Cronin: "We're heavily invested in a lot of our young guys, so development will continue to be our focus. We're not going to win at an extremely high level until some of those guys are ready. At the same time, we have to put those guys in the best environment."

— Sean Highkin (@highkin) April 15, 2024

Portland does have some nice, young pieces along the roster but at some point, they do need to find some direction. This team has been at the bottom of the Western Conference for years now and the fans will start to get frustrated if things don't change soon.

After trading away star point guard Damian Lillard last offseason, the Blazers knew this would be a transition type of season. But their young players will need to step things up as time goes on. The Blazers have normally been a competitive team, even in their non-contending years, so if anything, the team needs to find a way to start building back toward that type of identity.