A new Portland Trail Blazers era was officially ushered in on September 27 last year when Damian Lillard was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. While the unofficial end likely occurred when Scoot Henderson was drafted in June, it wasn’t until the spring that we could all move on.
Those three months featured the almost-daily rigmarole of whether Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin would cave and send the then seven-time All Star to the Miami Heat. Or stand fast, waiting for a better offer to come across his desk.
The latter prevailed and Cronin’s patience paid off when the Bucks emerged as a suitor, willing to give up real assets in return for a player posited by many, as the franchise’s greatest ever.