Trail Blazers News: GM Joe Cronin Clearly Confident In Team's Present

He made minimal trades in-season.

Relatively new Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin seemed to suggest that the club opted not to make major moves at the NBA trade deadline because Cronin is was looking primarily towards building with his current roster, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian.

“If there’s great value, we’ll add picks. If it’s great value, we’ll add players,” Cronin said. “But generally speaking, the deals we were pursuing were more player-oriented. Could we find a guy that provides immediate and long-term help? And is there proper value there?"

To wit, the only move the tanking Trail Blazers made at last month's trade deadline was to get rid of a draft pick, a protected second rounder, to acquire intriguing young guard Dalano Banton. Cronin suggested that he could have made more draft asset acquisition-oriented maneuvers.

“We received lots of offers," Cronin indicated. "I think it did make it somewhat more difficult to pry from us because we are happy with who we have and where we’re at. So, of course, we always want to be opportunistic and not just be thorough in this market, but have a great feel for what our options are and what’s available.”

Keep in mind: the Trail Blazers are 18-46 and just games away from officially being eliminated from the postseason. This team has a ways to go before it can really contend.