I was thinking more along the lines of.... "Introducing the next GM of the Portland Trail Blazers..." Could it be that PA doesn't think KP is bad, he just thinks Warkentien is better?
How could he? KP was promoted over Wark. If you're going to bring back Warkentien, then why not hire the real thing and bring back Whitsitt?
He's the one feeding those defaming, damning lies to AWoj. He did the same stuff last year about how KP was supposedly disliked by all his fellow GMs for being "arrogant. "
We can't be sure it was Warkentien that was the AWoj's source, can we? I don't want to crucify an innocent man.
We've all been speculating as much since last year. Quick goes as far as to nearly name him in today's article:
Hmmm...nice find. That does seem to point to Warkentien. I've heard 2 interviews with him on Canzano's BFT show over the past year and he didn't sound like as a douchebag either time, nor did he seem to harbor any resentment towards the Blazers or KP. I guess he is a two-faced rat like you have commented. If he is the one that is trying to sabotage KP, then I hope karma catches up to him.
Agreed. It's obvious Warkentein has played some role in all this, and the guy hates/is envious/jealous of the job KP has done here. I sure hope this doesn't end with that guy becoming our GM this summer. It'd be hard to support someone like that.
I think July is when we first started suspecting this douche: http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/7/15/949941/the-kevin-pritchard-pendulum Dave said at the time:
It's not obvious at all. It may or may not be true. Warkentien was our very highly-rated assistant GM under Whitsitt, but Patterson-Nash hired Pritchard to basically replace him in the post-Whitsitt purges. He wanted to stay with the Blazers but felt forced out. He quit and soon was Cavs GM, and then Nuggets VP--the guy is good. We should have kept him by placing the junior Pritchard (14 years younger) below him. He worked with members of the current Blazer staff, so I doubt he's making up the rumors--he's hearing the inside scoop from them constantly.
I think I have to agree with this assessment. Pritchard clearly has an eye for talent and would have been excellent as Player Personnel Director/Assistant GM or something like that, whereas Warkentien seems to be more well-versed in the team-management aspect of the GM position, as well as likely having more juice leaguewide in order to make deals necessary to bring a team to contender status. How nice would it be to have Pritchard to run our drafts, and Wark to run the team the rest of the year. He may be "a rat", but I think he's a rat that you want on your side whenever possible.
Was it Warkentien who traded for Chauncey Billups? Sounds good to me! As to character issues, I don't know what to believe any more. It seems like every GM in the league is a dick, if "reports" are to be believed.
On this morning's MSP, Quick all but named Warkentien as Adrian Wojnarowski's sidekick in the Kevin Pritchard "smear campaign". If true, sad. Very sad, indeed.
Anyone notice how the language of the first post here is nearly identical with the language that is being presented about KP. Is something larger going down related to the Owners/Player negotiations this summer?
Nope, thats wrong. Warkentien had the Assistant GM/Director of player personnel position under Nash. He reportedly angrily resigned following the 2004 draft when Nash went against the room opting for Telfair over Al Jefferson. KP took over his job after he quit. STOMP
