Portland Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin expresses patience for Damian Lillard trade talks

Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin made his first public comments on Monday since Damian Lillard's trade request on July 1. He declined to speak on any trade negotiations, but said that the organization will be patient with Lillard's situation.

"We're going to do what's best for our team and we're going to see how this lands," Cronin said. "And if it takes months, it takes months."

Lillard ― the Trail Blazers' all-time leading scorer ― requested a trade after 11 seasons with Portland. He turns 33 years old this week and is coming off one of his best seasons. He averaged 32 points and shot 46% from the field, both career highs. However, the Trail Blazers missed the playoffs for the second straight season, the longest streak in Lillard's career.

In any deal that the Trail Blazers look at, the goal is to come out with the best outcome, whether that's a young player or a win-now player, according to Cronin. The general manager wants to maximize his return, which he said can be difficult in the current market.

"It's just hard. How do you replace Damian Lillard? Who is the person on the marketplace that is available that is better than Dame?" Cronin said. "We've been trying for 18 months to find the Dame equivalent ... that's the challenge."

Cronin admitted that he didn't do enough to keep Lillard in winning positions.

"I do feel like I failed Dame," he said.

And as much as the relationship between the organization and their franchise player is tight, the front office will still prioritize team needs first.

"Dame's obviously a very important person and player to us. What the rest of his career looks like matters to us. And we care about that," Cronin said. "At the same time, we have to do what's best for us. And we've got to find the right deal."

The Blazers have done this before, working with key players CJ McCollum and Josh Hart in the past to trade them away. However, none were as monumental as Lillard, who led Portland to its first conference finals appearance in 19 years in 2019.

Cronin said he still likes Portland's talent base with or without the guard. The Trail Blazers re-signed forwards Jerami Grant and Matisse Thybulle, and selected guard Scoot Henderson with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft. Even though Henderson is 19 years old, Cronin believes he will be a win-now player soon.

But, it will likely have to come with Lillard on another team for the first time in his career, something that was never part of the general manager's plans.

"The goal's always to have Dame as a Trail Blazer," Cronin said. "It always was and always will be. We wanted him to retire a Trail Blazer."