The Portland Trail Blazers are officially heading into a brand new direction after trading franchise star Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks last week. At Media Day on Monday, both Joe Cronin and Chauncey Billups spoke out on the blockbuster for the first time.

All quotes via Sean Highkin:

“I want to open up thanking Damian Lillard for 11 incredible seasons with us. Obviously a Blazers legend. We're excited to see what he has in store next and we're rooting for him,” said Cronin.

“Dame's in a position where he's on the best team he's ever been on. I'm really excited for him,” stated Billups.

Interesting to see those comments from Cronin after the reports that he told Dame “there is no coming back” after trade talks with the Heat weren't progressing this summer. Via Chris Haynes, Damian Lillard also said Cronin wouldn't even speak to him when he came into the Blazers facility to work out in recent weeks. But, in the end, the GM is obviously going to thank Dame for all he's done for the franchise.

Billups was also vocal on just how good of a job he thought Cronin did of getting nice pieces in return for both the Dame deal and the Jrue Holiday trade:

“I think Joe did an incredible job this summer. His patience, he was diligent the whole time, wasn't reactive at all, and stayed disciplined to what we wanted and needed. You rarely see big trades go down where everybody did well and feels good.”

Overall, the Blazers got quite the haul including Deandre Ayton, Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams, the Warriors' 2024 first-round pick, A 2029 Celtics' first-rounder, and a 2029 Bucks' first-round selection. Plus, a couple of pick swaps.

Not bad. Portland gets to retool and Lillard gets to chase a title. A win-win.