Blazers GM believes the organization let down Damian Lillard by not building a championship team - "It was a failure on my end"
Damian Lillard is perceived as one of the most loyal players to the Portland Trail Blazers. Despite the fidelity, the organization has failed to bring home a championship with the seven-time All-Star and this has haunted Blazers GM Joe Cronin.
This is Cronin's 17th season with the Trail Blazers and he was made the 11th general manager in franchise history on May 9, 2022. As he sat down on his executive chair, he had the daunting task of building a championship-contending roster around Damian Lillard.
Joe Cronin "I do feel like we FAILED dame" #ripcity https://t.co/D090rHf44z
Cronin had limited time to make moves and instead of improving the roster, the team recently got younger and the biggest acquisition he made was signing Jerami Grant.
The last straw for Lillard, according to reports, came when the team was not able to move No. 3 pick Scoot Henderson for a veteran piece to help the team compete.
With Lillard now being the biggest piece to potentially move in this year's free agency, it hurts Cronin that this is happening and he sees this as a failure in his tenure.
Cronin said:
"I don't feel that I did everything I could because I didn't get done what I needed to get done. In that sense, I do feel like I failed Dame," Cronin said. "Our goal was to win now as quickly as possible. If he didn't feel that way, it was a failure on my end."
Damian Lillard and his best season with the Portland Trail Blazers
As the time of Damian Lillard in a Portland Trail Blazers uniform is about to end, there are many memories that can be told of his 11-year stay with the organization. Back in 2018-19, the team had its best finish with Lillard before getting swept by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.
Lillard finished that season with 25.8 points, 6.9 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals while playing 35.5 minutes per game. His best teammates at the time were CJ McCullum dropping 21 points per game and Jusuf Nurkic averaging a double-double a night.
Damian Lillard in 2019, down 3-2 facing elimination
32 points (17 in the 3rd)
5 assists
4 rebounds
48/46/100 shooting splits
Clutch performance to force game 7 https://t.co/RuOcwGTwA6
There was a good upside for the Portland Trail Blazers at the end of that season but instead of going up, the team went down. The next two seasons both resulted in first-round exits and in Lillard's apparent final year last season, the Trail Blazers didn't even reach the play-in tournament.