Did Joe Cronin stumble upon a four-leaf clover?

Make a wish on an eyelash, snap the long end of a wishbone or rub his own shiny dome?

You have to wonder what talisman the Portland Trail Blazers general manager used to so dramatically reverse his team’s fortunes.

It was barely a month ago, remember, that Portland was tragically unlucky in matters of this NBA draft.

The Blazers had the fourth-best odds of landing the No. 1 pick after a laborious 21-61 season. It was a coin flip that they’d at least land in the top four.

Instead, they slipped to seventh in an underwhelming draft.

A karmic rejoinder from the universe for another wasted season?

Oh well. Figures. And then something unexpected happened.

On Wednesday, the Blazers emerged from draft with a player they might well have taken even if those ping-pong balls had fallen their way.

Donovan Clingan was there at No. 7. The defensive anchor of the two-time NCAA champions is a Trail Blazer.

It isn’t necessarily a rip your shirt off and run around the block kind of day for Blazers fans. But not all good things have to be blockbusters. Rebuilds are slow and painful.

Clingan, who was impressive enough in the pre-draft process that Atlanta reportedly flirted with drafting him first overall, figures to be a foundational piece of what the Blazers are building.

That registers as a significant victory for a franchise that needs some of those.

Cronin wouldn’t reveal how high the Blazers had Clingan on their internal ranking of draft prospects, but said, “We had him higher than we took him.”

He added that the Blazers scouts “were all over him last year” and “they loved him as a freshman.”

Clingan is a defensive force. A rim-protector who will help elevate Portland’s perennially pitiful rim protection.

“He will help solve that problem,” Cronin said.

It’s his job to sell his pick, so we’ll let it play out. The pick likely causes some heartburn for incumbent Deandre Ayton, a big piece of the return in the Damian Lillard trade. Ayton came on strong in the second half last year after struggling early in his Portland tenure.

Cronin brushed off any conflict between Ayton and the newest Blazer.

“We’re not good enough to be content at any one position or even just at the starting positions,” he said.

Clingan may not necessarily have the sizzle of some of the boom-or-bust players the Blazers were linked to, like French forward Tidjane Salaun or Colorado’s Cody Williams, but assuming he stays healthy Clingan will almost certainly mature into an above-average NBA center.

What the Blazers accomplished on Wednesday felt dangerously close to progress. The day began with executing a trade to land 23-year-old forward Deni Avdija from the Washington Wizards.

It cost the Blazers veteran Malcolm Brogdon, who was a lock to be traded this offseason, plus the No. 14 pick and three future draft picks, including a 2029 first-rounder.

It’s a steep price for a team that seems to be more in the mode of collecting assets.

But Avdija is a 6-foot-9 small forward who can run the floor, shoot and pass. He averaged 30 minutes per game last year and can start for the Blazers. He’s also under contract for the next four seasons for an average of $13.75 million, which is a steal considering rookies may soon be earning that much when the salary cap spikes.

It all adds up to more value than the Blazers were likely to find at No. 14.

Additionally, the Blazers can recoup draft capital with future moves, which seem all but inevitable.

Cronin might have hinted at one piece of that when talking about the rest of the offseason.

“We’re committed to Scoot and Shaedon being a massive part of what we’re doing,” Cronin said, “and how do we find ways to give them the support they need and maximize their development?”

No mention there of Anfernee Simons in that glowing review of the Blazers’ other two young guards.

You can see the core of the Blazers taking shape, even if it’s not complete. It’s Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Clingan and Avdija, with Toumani Camara currently earning honorable mention.

It remains unclear whether any of them can emerge as the centerpiece of that future. The best candidate, Henderson, still has a lot to prove. But the field of draft prospects in 2025 is dramatically stronger than what the Blazers just had to sift through.

Finishing at the top of the lottery might give the Blazers a presumed star like Cooper Flagg or Ace Bailey.

Maybe that’s too many “mights” and “ifs” for you. But that’s the language of building through the draft. It takes luck.

And as the Blazers showed on Wednesday, the hand of fortune doesn’t always present itself when you think it does.

-- Bill Oram