Possibly, with the two big dogs in the Front Office going toe-to-toe, there was some back stabbing, and alliegence/alliances forming going on. I guess one of them had to go before an "us and them" situation occurred in the front office. Looks like KP won out, though, it is surprising to hear that people thought Penn would end up running the team, given that KP is quite well regarded as a GM.
League sources have been describing unrest in front office for months, centered on Pritchard's inability to get new contract after Penn did. They have?
Many links in this thread. Here's a summary of them. Penn rubbed owner Paul Allen the wrong way in the draft war room that netted Greg Oden in June 2008. But then why would Allen give Penn a raise and promotion in May 2009. Something more recent must have been the last straw. Vulcan headquarters was livid in August 2009 after they realized Penn played them in getting a raise and promotion out of the phantom Minnesota offer. Dunleavy was fired as the Clippers GM a couple of weeks ago. Penn says he hasn't pursued jobs with other teams since Minnesota. But he was, with the Clippers (high draft pick, lots of cap space). He used the wrong channels and got ratted out. Penn knows the Blazer draft board, free agents we want, and Pritchard's favored offseason trades. Penn has too much intimate Blazer knowledge to let him walk to a conference competitor before the draft. So maybe Paul Allen feared that Penn was letting out secrets (accidentally or on purpose) in his backchannel communications with the Clippers to secure a job (beginning either before or after the draft). But here's an argument against the theory that he was planning to leave for the Clippers--He wouldn't have left till after the draft. So he would have been fired after the draft, not before. Penn, Pritchard, and ex-Blazers GM John Nash all have the same agent, Warren Legarie, who has been involved with the Clippers extensively. Pritchard helped Penn leverage a raise by declining the Minny GM job. Pritchard expected to get a new deal, too. Ownership emphatically declined, followed by front office unrest for months. Penn has been scouting this week with Pritchard. Pritchard knows Penn is in trouble, and the relationship has become strained. Pritchard, his good buddy, was unable to save Penn.
There are about 6-8 solid links in this thread, so I thought I'd save you time by summarizing them. (Quick, Canzano, The Columbian, Yahoo, Wojnarowski's Twitter, etc.) (The 2nd comment after Canzano's article was informative.)
Is there any one else that is un sure of what Tom Penn did on a day to day basis and therefore does not give a shit that he is gone? The Blazers to me did seem a little too "top heavy".
Most of these backstories from "sources" are contradictory. It's going to be a while before we can separate the wheat from the chaff. Right now, I'm not buying any of it. The truth is like shit; it will eventually rise to the top of the bowl.
It seems kind of curious to me that Penn got the axe on the day that the Bosh rumors broke. Makes me wonder if perhaps Tom may have done some talking out of school. I could see Geoffrey Arnold calling him up to do a little checking on whether there was any way the Blazers could make a deal involving Aldridge for Bosh work. I could also see Aldridge's agent or Bosh's agent calling him after the story hit the wires to see if there's anything to it. For that matter, the Raptors may very well have called and asked what was up with this rumor. All kinds of opportunities for Penn to have said something that he shouldn't have about the Blazers' summer plans. Like THE said, we'll probably never know the real story, but it makes for some fun times speculating about it.
Alright here is the rumor I heard . . . Penn's agent used information that Penn had a pending GM offer with Minny when negotiating his promotion. Vulcan has since learned that Penn never had anything close to a offer from Minny . . . and thus the firing.
