Note - I allowed for two choices, and did not include interim GMs like Chad Buchanan. I think when you look at what Indy is doing, it is tough to vote against KP.
Indy has accomplished so much, yep he has them contending in the east. The thing is they are as mediocre as the other 26 teams in the assoc.
The problem with comparing is the rules have changed considerably and Whitsit was the beneficiary of very few limitations and an owner with deep pockets. Could Whitsit be successful under the current rules? Not so sure.
Bucky was very good! The question is a good one and it proves that all of them had both good and bad moves with player personnel and coaches.
KP did some good things and some bad things, but I will never give him one iota of respect or credit for one reason - Oden. That was one of the great stonewall jobs in history.
Probably Jon Spoelstra and/or Geoff Petrie. Spoelstra built the early 90's teams and Petrie filled them out.
over a 7 year period, the Blazers drafted: 1982 11 Fat Lever 1983 14 Clyde Drexler 1984 46 Jerome Kersey 1984 33 Steve Colter 1984 2 Sam Bowie 1985 24 Terry Porter 1986 60 Drazen Petrovic 1986 24 Arvydas Sabonis 1988 53 Anthony Mason 1988 21 Mark Bryant 1989 36 Clifford Robinson some of the great names in Blazer history. Whoever was drafting was doing a great job of scouting talent. Of course, that one misstep in 1984 altered the course of the franchise.
Stu Inman built most of that 90's team with Drexler, Porter and Kersey. These are the players drafted when Inman was in charge and I believe Buckwalter was the one that orchestrated the Buck Williams and Ainge deals. Here are some of the draft picks during Inmans tenure as GM 1982 Fat Lever 1983 Clyde Drexler 1984 Jerome Kersey 1985 Sam Bowie (turned into Buck Williams) 1985 Terry Porter
If you disclude Trader Bobs advantage in Pauls blank checks, Petrie was the best on that list. Where is Harry Glickman? He is the best
Buckwalter probably. He made key moves to a talented team that turned them into contender and got as close to another championship as we were ever going to get. If you look Blazer GM's a lot of the times the problem is getting specific talent to produce a result. Whitsitt traded for talent like a cornered South American drug dealer trying to get rid of his dough at whatever cost. This produced a WCF teams but by the time the rot had set... in it was over. Olshey's attempted a couple of rebuilds but nothing has gotten him any closer to his goal. Whomever was GM during the Walton championship buildup (Glickman right) was benefiting a period in the league when the talent surge favored the small markets like no other.
