The team already has a GM. They're just looking for a patsy to dial phones and be a scapegoat when the team underperforms.
You're right, I shouldn't have counted out Bert. On the other hand just how long does it take to find a guy who's willing to get paid a couple hundred K a year to work a phone for a couple of years? Unless of course they still intend to keep up the pretense that the GM job is "real?"
Weaver pulls out of Blazers’ GM search By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports 1 hour, 11 minutes ago Oklahoma City Thunder executive Troy Weaver has withdrawn from consideration for the Portland Trail Blazers’ general manager vacancy, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Weaver, an assistant GM, had interviewed for the job in early September, and was still a prominent part of the pool of candidates, sources said. Portland officials conducting the search have failed to reach a consensus on bringing in candidates to meet owner Paul Allen, and had started gauging the interest of more established GMs in the league. Blazers officials hope that offering more money to higher-profile candidates could convince some to push their own owners to let them get involved in the search. San Antonio Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey is still part of the candidate pool, sources said. “They’re going to have a tough time finding guys who are established and content to leave for the uncertainty that’s come with that job,” one Western Conference executive said. “Even if they do offer a lot of money.” Weaver has been particular about the jobs he’s considered, having turned down a chance to interview for at least one GM position a year ago. Most league executives believe it’s just a matter of time until Weaver’s a GM, and that he didn’t have a desire to hang around in Portland’s circuitous search. Portland fired one of Weaver’s former colleagues in Oklahoma City, Rich Cho, less than a year after hiring him as a replacement for Kevin Pritchard.
According to Canzano the team is back to square one as of this past Monday. The management sucks a fat one. Seriously, Larry Miller is about as bad as this team has ever had.
"Target" is probably an appropriate word. I can just see Larry Miller and PA hunkered down in a deer stand in the 300 level of the Rose Garden with a tranquilizer gun waiting for a GM candidate to wander into their sights.
Blazers Scrap List Of GM Candidates, Hope To Begin Anew With Stefanski, Bower Oct 07, 2011 9:33 AM EDT The Blazers have decided against hiring any of the candidates already interviewed by the club over the past few weeks, says a team source. Larry Miller, president of the Blazers, began calling those former candidates on Thursday. The Blazers will create a new list of candidates, focusing on people with extensive general manager experience. "I don't want to get into specific details, but what I will say is that we are expanding our search," Miller said. "We're going to expand our candidate pool." Jeff Bower and Ed Stefanski will be among the targets. "We're not the only team that's taking the time to find the right GM candidate," Miller said. "Other teams are going through a similar process; taking just as long as we are. Toronto and New York are going through this, too. It takes time. My hope is that we find the right person and I don't have to go through this again anytime soon." Via Oregonian Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wireta...Begin_Anew_With_Bower_Stefanski#ixzz1a7JnXBcy
I'm just waiting for the announcement that the Blazers have decided to "go in another direction" and hire a former personal trainer named Sheckey Gunderson.
It's been nearly 1/2 year since the firing of Cho and they are still at square one! Larry Miller and his crew need to be fired. They can't get ANYTHING done. Well, they did decide to lose any leverage with Greg Oden on his future contract. Oh, and lets not forget about the lateral move at PG they made this summer.
I was being sarcastic ... but I agree on the Whitsitt hire, we'd have to pay as much attention to the police blotter as the sports page, but the guy knows how to acquire talent (or at least he used to).