TUALATIN – Portland Trail Blazers franchise chair Jody Allen and co-chair Bert Kolde in December delivered Joe Cronin a directive when they named him interim general manager.
“Build this culture,” they told Cronin.
The spurred Cronin to revamp the organization from top to bottom, resulting in staff changes and, ultimately, a roster makeover that continues when NBA free agency opens Thursday.
The changes most noticeable to the average fan will come on the court. But they will be a byproduct of changes made in the front office since Cronin took over basketball operations.
Cronin has overhauled his staff with multiple key additions, hiring three new assistant general managers in Andrae Patterson, Sergi Oliva and Mike Schmitz.
The overriding goal of the changes was to modernize procedures and practices that better align the franchise with league roster-building trends. That involves boosting the scouting and analytics departments.
“I think there’s probably a pretty big gap between the teams that do it best, and the teams that aren’t so great at it,” Cronin said. “And I don’t know where we ranked beforehand. But our goal is to be one of the teams that do it best. That was something Jody and I talked about a bunch is being way more data driven and way more analytics-based in our approach. In my initial staffing plan, one of the largest allocations of resources we wanted was in the analytics department. We wanted to quadruple it.”
Cronin said Allen has been supportive of his vision and hasn’t hesitated to provide the trust and resources he needed to make it happen. She has been operating, Cronin said, as someone not in any hurry to sell the team, even as news leaked that Nike founder Phil Knight is heading a group seeking to purchase the franchise for more than $2 billion.
“The Blazers aren’t for sale,” Cronin said, echoing what the said following news of Knight’s interest in the team.
Allen was present at the draft, and as soon as the team selected Kentucky guard Shaedon Sharpe, she asked Cronin about the team’s next moves.
“She’s been fully engaged,” Cronin said. “She wants to help us build a winner. It’s insulting when some say she doesn’t care about the team.”
But the proof is in the spending. Cronin said that from the first day of his tenure he has had positive discussions with Allen and Kolde about his vision and received opinions and direction on how to reshape the organization. Then came the resources to get the job done.
Cronin first hired Patterson in January, then added an international scout and Dr. Chantelle Green, director of mind, health and wellness.
Patterson came from Cleveland where he was senior director of basketball operations. In Portland, Patterson has been involved in scouting and player personnel decisions, while being entrusted to help reshape the processes used in a variety of departments.
Oliva and Schmitz arrived June 9. The hires, which came after Cronin was named permanent GM in May, were meant to help propel the franchise into the future.
Initially, the plan was to hire one or two assistant general managers, but Cronin settled on three. Allen supported the idea, which Cronin said was a sign of her financial commitment to the franchise.
“To be able to add both Sergi and Mike, who have totally different skill sets, yet, are elite at what they do, was a huge addition,” Cronin said. “And we felt those impacts immediately. Both those guys came in and have been a massive part of all of the transactions we’ve done thus far.”
Schmitz has more of a scouting background while Oliva’s career has revolved more around analytics and strategy. But they each cross over into other areas, Cronin said, creating versatility at identifying players.
Cronin became the third assistant general manager last year when he was promoted under Neil Olshey, former president of basketball operations. So, having three assistant general managers is not new. However, Cronin said, the staff backing them up is, as well as the skillset the new additions provide.
“We had the three assistant GMs, but we didn’t have the support system behind it,” Cronin said. “Right or wrong, some people just like the smaller staffs. I just prefer more of a bigger one.”
Cronin plans to hire additional scouts, including international scouts, and a director of player personnel, a position he once held.
Oliva is definitely a new-age type of hire. Armed with a Ph.D. in computational complexity and a master’s degree in computer science, Oliva rose to vice president of strategy with the Philadelphia 76ers while diving deep into the analytics side of the game. He then moved to coaching the past two seasons as an assistant in Utah.
This background gives Oliva, who Cronin referred to as a high-end programmer and coder, a nice mix of skills in roster-building and game strategy. With the Blazers, he will focus more on the roster construction side but will also be available to help coach Chauncey Billups.
More hires in the area of analytics are on the Horizon, Cronin said, as the Blazers look to improve their ability to assign value to players and redefine what they are looking for in draft prospects, free agents and trade acquisitions.
“A lot of analytics is building tools to help make our jobs easier or more streamlined or effective,” Cronin said.
Schmitz’s career grew from what Cronin called a “super scout” within the media side with Yahoo Sports, DraftExpress.com and. most recently, ESPN, where he worked since 2017. He also has experience as an assistant coach (Ugandan national team) and video coordinator (G League),
“He’s someone that I’ve always really respected,” Cronin said.
Cronin said Schmitz is an elite talent evaluator with a high motor and passion for the game. His networking skills and ability to build relationships make him invaluable in the arena of identifying talent on an international level.
“Watching Mike develop all of these years and really build a big book on all of these players throughout this world, it was just really impressive,” Cronin said. “I was thrilled that he joined us.”
While the names Patterson, Oliva and Schmitz resonate with Cronin because they are his guys, all that will matter in the end is whether the front office can elevate the franchise to elite status.
The resources are in place. Cronin has his team of basketball brains. Now it’s up to the eclectic group to move the Blazers forward.
“It’s the core of what we do, finding players and then how we acquire those players,’” Cronin said. “We’re all scouts by nature, but it’s good to have those additional skillsets come to the table.”
— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).
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