The interim tag is gone and Joe Cronin has himself a future in Portland. The Trail Blazers signed Cronin to a four-year deal on Tuesday to make him the official general manager of the team according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
ESPN Sources: The Portland Trail Blazers are promoting Joe Cronin to general manager with a four-year contract. Cronin, interim GM since December, takes over franchise at a pivotal offseason and has vowed to continue building around Damian Lillard.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 10, 2022
The Denver, Colorado native has been with the Trail Blazers since 2006 when he started as a Basketball Operations intern. Four years later Cronin worked his way into the Pro Scout/Salary Cap Analyst role and was promoted again in 2014. The former college hoopster who played at Regis University and the University of Northern Colorado became Rip City’s Director of Player Personnel in 2014. Cronin got his tryout as GM when Neil Olshey was relieved of his duties in December and now has the job security as Portland’s choice for the future.
The Blazers went into rebuild mode this season after team building block, Damian Lillard was limited to just 29 games, and his season was cut short on December 31st.
Cronin’s first big moment will come at the NBA Draft Lottery where the Blazers have the sixth-best odds to get the number one pick.
Auburn’s Jabari Smith Jr. is the consensus top prospect in the draft and FanDuel Sportsbook has him with the shortest odds to be the top pick with -105 odds.
