Just Listened to the interview....the most important thing he said Teams that can make a big trade have these three qualities 1) Players on good contracts 2) Have good players 3) the ability to take on big contracts check check check im thinking more and more that he could be talking about CP3....just wait and see if another team could make a better offer
Good times: Canzano using his bully pulpit again when it comes to Paul Allen, Vulcan and the Blazers. http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...f/2010/06/dumping_kevin_pritchard_will_b.html He certainly has his opinions, I'll give him that.
I don't know. When it appears that Canzano gets it, that's usually a pretty good signal that things are not as they appear. barfo
My thoughts exactly ... there's just something a little "off" in that narrative that I can't quite put my finger (least of which is that Patterson was never a Lagarrie client).
So if I understand Canzano right . . . PA has a bad reputation and has a hard time finding GMs to work for him. Yet he was able to sign KP? Canzano says PA got lucky, whatever. That doesn't relect well on KP (that KP somehow didn't know PA's reputation while other GMs did). Also if the job is so bad why is KP fighting like hell to keep this terrible job that no other GMs want? Canzano praises KP for fighting to keep a job that Cazano thinks is a bad job . . . isn't that what he is writing? I want KP to stay because I believe he has built a good team while keeping the goal of good character guys . . . which now I think doesn't mean that much to PA. But if history is any indication of the future, the next GM (or KP) will have tons of money to play with, and wouldn't that be a top criteria for many GMs. Heck if anything be like KP and use PA's money to establish a good reputation within the NBA and then go on to a ¨better¨organization. Buying draft picks, blank checks for resigning players, making deals that do not make financial sense in hopes of winning a championship vs the risk of a owner firing you for personal reasons or being micro-managed . . . most GMs would take that, wouldn't they?
He's right the Blazers will get another GM they can control. I buy one reason they're firing KP is because KP has the balls to not put up with their bullshit. I think it's the main reason, actually. That said, they'll have trouble finding a GM as good as KP. They'll be taking a step back. It's really hard to root for a Paul Allen team right now. I'm tired of his shit.
I didn't like the Whitsitt firing (at all). I didn't like the Nash hiring (it was obvious he was a retread, and he wasn't even particularly good in his "glory days") and we missed out in 2003 on luring several candidates. Chris Wallace, who (in spite of a lot of heat on this board) just extended his GMship of the Grizzlies. Ed Stefanski, who became the Nets' GM during the Blazers' courting of him, and is now the GM/President of the 76ers. Mark Warkentein, who has had some success with the Nuggets after not getting the Blazers' gig. RC Buford is still going strong in San Antonio. John Hammond was thrown out there as a candidate, and he just won the GM of the year award with the Bucks. My point? The Blazers went after the right people but just couldn't get them in house, and I have to think that it will be easier this time because of the team's improved fortunes and Allen's continued fortune (which is even more impressive now, given the belt-tightening happening around the NBA. Ed O.
How do you know that at least some of those names weren't contacted in 2003? Multiple media sources here in Portland made it known that Patterson was not the first person approached for the job he took, and part of him taking the job was that he'd have to fire 90 Blazer employees shortly after taking over. Nash win a TV broadcaster after having been out of the league. Then, when those two are finally let go, Pritchard was elevated to GM, an offer that he would have been stupid to refuse. I'm interested to see who we end up with as a GM. Which established GM would want to put up with this type of management, where instead of communicating when there is friction, you are ostracized and left in the dark. EDIT - just re-read your post and you said that all of these candidates were rumored to be contacted. Where I disagree with you is that the job is less attractive now then it was in 2003 due to how the current GM is being treated.
I don't view Warkentien as an upgrade. His biggest move was Chauncey Billups, but that was after initially making the mistake of trading for Allen Iverson.
Not an upgrade and will cost twice as much as Pritchard. Will the new GM have a clause in their contract that will make them mention how awesome Paul Allen is in any media appearance or interview? "Well yes, trading for LeBron James and Dwight Howard was a good deal for us, considering what we gave up for them and still kept Roy, but man, is Paul Allen the bestest ever or wut?"
This is the debatable thing, and I don't think anything has changed. PA keeps proving he's hard to work for. Sure, they can find good candidates, as can any team. It's just those good candidates almost never pick Portland.
Oh, my Lord. That's about the biggest "if" in the history of "ifs." But if he's actually able to stay healthy, why only the next "5 to 6 years"?
