Evanson: When it comes to the Blazers, it’s out with the old and in with the new, and all with losing in mind — seemingly

Welcome Donovan Clingan.

Portland took the center from the University of Connecticut with the No. 7 pick in last week’s NBA Draft and in the process continued stock-piling apparent talent to pair with their already potential stars. But as we get further removed from the Damian Lillard generation and ever closer to what fans and the organization hope the team is opposed to what it once was, who the team values and the direction general manager Joe Cronin wants to go is becoming ever more apparent.

Veterans are out.

Anyone who makes “real money,” is out.

And winning in the immediate future appears far outside the plan of a man who mostly works in the shadows.

The idea — I guess — is to build around blue-chippers the likes of second-year point guard Scoot Henderson and third-year off guard Shaedon Sharpe, in addition to cutting payroll in the interest of avoiding the league’s luxury tax.

I say that because as we speak, Cronin appears to be working feverishly to offload 25-year-old Anfernee Simons, along with veteran forward Jerami Grant. In addition, he already moved veteran guard Malcom Brogdon to Washington as part of a draft day trade that brought 23-year-old forward Deni Avdija to Portland at what appears to be a franchise friendly contract (Four years/$55 million).

What does all of that mean? Younger, cheaper, and more of the losing you and I are sadly becoming accustomed to.

And that’s okay, I suppose. After all, no one living in the real world thought this process was going to painless. Things always get worse before they get better, but with every day, month and year that we grow further from the trade that shook the foundation of Rip City, patience with that pain dwindles, and with it goes the confidence in the plan we’re watching playout.

Amidst the reports of potential trades involving Grant and Simons, is the reported notion that the front office is not only bracing for but working towards another losing season with next year’s draft in mind. If true, that would mark two-and-a-half years and upwards of three seasons since the Trail Blazers laced their shoes with winning in mind.

Are you cool with that? Because while I understand the idea of talent acquisition, I also believe strongly in developing a winning mindset in and around that talent. That may not mean winning at the highest levels, but it does mean at the very least an effort to do so.

Losing with intent is a dangerous game. While there are examples in adjacent sports of success in the wake of such (see baseball’s Astros), it’s tough to find the same at the NBA level.

It didn’t work for Philadelphia for two of their three number one picks are no longer with the team; it hasn’t worked for Charlotte or Washington over the years; and look what it did for Portland last season, one in which the team ended up with the No. 7 pick despite finishing the season with the league’s third worst record.

That’s not much of a reward for six months of pain and suffering.

The flipside is that maybe this will work. I like Henderson despite his struggles last season, Sharpe remains an intriguing talent, and Avdija feels like one of those pieces that fits nicely into a core of top-tier talent.

Add Clingan whose potential is intriguing, along with a handful of complimentary pieces, and maybe you’ve got something going forward: Talent, potential, and cap room to enhance a roster that is a piece or two away when Cronin and the organization feels it’s time to win.

But while we’re all hoping for the best, I think it’s fair to at least for now expect the worst — for it appears that’s still what the franchise is aiming for.