Rumors

The Portland Trail Blazers have exercised the 2027-28 team option on the contracts of centers Donovan Clingan and Yang Hansen, General Manager Joe Cronin announced today.

NBA.com

“A lot of times these deals are tricky to come by, especially for a high variance player like Scoot has been so far, where has shown some really great moments, and then some other moments where there are still questions about his game,” Cronin said. “But speaking from a Trail Blazers perspective, he is definitely a high-priority player for us. I would love it if he were here with us long term. And if it doesn’t happen this offseason, I wouldn’t be too concerned with it. We still have one more offseason to deal with it.”

New York Times

"I've studied Ja Morant for a long, long time, and I'm very, very confident that he's a good guy," Cronin said. "Just the intel work and the study about him as a teammate and a member of a community, I don't have any concerns there. I also have a lot of faith in our environment and our ability to support him. Being around Dame Lillard and Jrue Holiday is a blessing. ... They'll be impactful for Ja in their leadership, in their friendship, in their mentorship. Our organization as a whole, I think we do a good job of supporting players and keeping them in a safe and healthy, respectable environment. So this is a fresh start for Ja and I think he's going to thrive in this environment."

ESPN

Sean Highkin: Joe Cronin on Yang Hansen: "I thought he had a really promising offseason. He was really good in Summer League and played really well with the Chinese national team. Even before that, he had some good moments with the Remix."

bsky.app

Sean Highkin: Joe Cronin says Scoot Henderson is "still high-priority" and there's "seemingly mutual interest" in doing an extension before the opening-week deadline but no sense of whether it will ultimately get done.

bsky.app

Sean Highkin: Joe Cronin on Ja Morant's off-court concerns: "Who Ja is as a person doesn't concern us. We've studied him for a long time and we're very confident that he's a good guy. I also have a lot of faith in our environment and our ability to support him."

bsky.app

Ramona Shelburne: Joe Cronin says Jrue Holiday will play some at the wing this year. Obviously the team has a lot of guards and bigs, so playing Holiday at the wing should help balance the team.

Twitter

Sean Highkin: Joe Cronin says that the entire team is "fully cleared and healthy" with the exception of Shaedon Sharpe's meniscus surgery.

bsky.app

Ramona Shelburne: Blazers GM Joe Cronin on the acquisition of Ja Morant: “Just straight belief in Ja. Our view of Ja as still a very high-level player. …I’m sure there will be questions about fit, but we’re very focused on talent.”

Twitter

Sean Highkin: Blazers media day will begin at 9am on Monday 9/28 with GM Joe Cronin, president of business ops Dewayne Hankins, head coach Micah Nori and most players expected to speak. Will be live streamed as usual.

bsky.app

Sean Highkin: Tom Dundon is here for the Blazers' second game of Summer League, sitting courtside with Joe Cronin and Micah Nori.

bsky.app

Sean Highkin: Joe Cronin: "The best part of my job, my favorite thing that I do, is I have a front-row seat to watch people live their dreams. It's such a cool and unique thing to watch people do what they love and go on their paths. To be next to Micah through this, couldn't be more excited." Micah Nori starts out by thanking the Timberwolves organization. "Without them and the success we've had the last five years, I'm not here."

x.com

It’s worth noting that former Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd has quietly been connected to Portland within league circles. Yet, will that chatter lead to anything more substantive now or in the future?  Now, Portland’s current price range for a head coach is well below Kidd’s remaining contract with the Mavericks, which is for four years and $40 million, according to ESPN. Kidd also expressed a desire to make front office personnel decisions before Dallas hired Masai Ujiri and Portland general manager Joe Cronin signed a multi-year contract extension in April of 2025.  Thus, while the stars may not align on paper for a pairing with Kidd at this juncture, there’s been enough scuttlebutt leaguewide worth keeping tabs on looking ahead. 

HoopsHype

League sources tell The Stein Line contributor Jake Fischer, furthermore, that two additional previously unreported names have also advanced to those stages: Boston's Tyler Lashbrook and Utah's Mike Williams. Sources say various candidates will fly into Portland this weekend as the process continues. Portland's search has been multilayered to date and thus challenging even for NBA coaching insiders to track, given that some candidates have spoken primarily to Blazers general manager Joe Cronin, while others have spoken directly to new Blazers owner Tom Duncan and some have spoken to both.

marcstein.substack.com