The Portland Trail Blazers don’t have much to crow about during their 9-15 start to the 2025-26 season, but General Manager Joe Cronin and fellow franchise leaders might take solace in a recent article from The Athletic [subscription required]. In a leaguewide poll, the media agency asked executives to name the best front offices in the NBA. Portland received no votes for the Top 10 rankings but they did get 1.5 nominations for management groups “on the rise”. That left them sixth in the category,
but it’s something.
The article explains:
The Trail Blazers are in a cycle of constant change. Earlier this year, [franchise owner Jody] Allen agreed to sell the team to an investment group headed by Tom Dundon, who owns the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. In October the FBI arrested their head coach, Chauncey Billups, as part of its gambling investigation.
Amid the noise, the Blazers have developed players. They insisted upon a gem in the trade that sent Damian Lillard out of town a few years ago, when they got the Suns to include second-round pick Toumani Camara, who’s now one of the league’s best defenders. And the Deni Avdija trade could end up a franchise-changer with Avdija emerging as an All-Star candidate.
That Avdija and Camara are good players is not new news for Blazers fans, but it’s good to see fellow NBA leaders noticing.
