I don't know the answer to that. And I am not positive I heard it right. But it sounded like he was implying it irritated Paul.
The year he was drafted, he refused to attend the NBA combine or the Reebok Eurocamp. That should have been a red flag. If you believe DraftExpress, his only Portland workout was 12+ months before the draft - and before he suffered a serious leg injury. IMHO, he was KP's one big mistake on draft day....but drafting is not an exact science. Every GM has a few of those on their resume.
Patterson wimped out of going on Canzano's show. Probably because Canzano was going to bring up the Miles fine fiasco, as well as ask Patterson about specifics regarding his role in the 2006 draft.
With KP, this was not a one-time event that caused KP to be fired. It was a buildup of transgressions. He was a great talent evaluator and scout, but when being a GM, there's a lot more to it and KP took some wrong turns in negotiating various tactics and PA lost all trust in KP. I think PA has justifiably reached a stage in his life where if he doesn't trust someone, than he will fire the person rather than have to work with him. It is part of the privledge of being an owner. He knows he may lose fans over this, but life is short and he will make decisions based more on quality of life than good business decisions. I suspect many of us would do the same.
He's also fired Bert Kolde multiple times, though. Paul Allen seems like a very rich and very strange man. Have you ever read The Accidental Zillionaire? It should be required reading for any fan of the Blazers, as it is the closest any of us will ever get into why Paul Allen got where he is today.
Have not read the book, but however he got to where he has, he is now in a position where if he doesn't like working with someone, he fires them without worrying too much about the bottom line of the decision. Most would want to be in that position I assume.
Quick had some other interesting tidbits at the end of Canzano's show - Warkentein will not be named GM when word leaked that he bad-mouthed KP behind his back awhile ago and it got back to PA. - Ryan Gomes will be released on June 30. - Quick talked to Larry Miller and he said the Blazers aren't looking for a No. 2 at their next GM. They want a guy who has experience in dealing with signing FAs and doing trades. If they can't find an experienced GM, then they'll go after those No. 2's. - First name that was tossed around was Randy Pfund, who put together Miami's championship team.
Not if I wanted to win a title. Paul Allen's biggest weakness seems to be the need to have his ego fed constantly by those who work for him. I never want to be in that position, where I change people's lives, and with that my own business, based solely on how I personally feel about them. Sometimes being the bigger man with more talented people (and yes, Pritchard is much more talented at his job than Allen would be) is necessary to achieve a goal in business. Firing competent people because they are more popular than you are seems counterproductive to everything other than wanting credit for things that you did not do.
Yup, just heard that myself which flips the script on all of this speculation that KP was axed for personal reasons and not job performance. It calls into question how KP handled any number of things: Hedo, Milsap, Roy and Aldridge's extensions and an apparent inability or unwillingness to close a deal. It makes me think of this: [video=youtube;y-AXTx4PcKI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI[/video]
The Milsap offer is basically the reason Boozer won't be back in Utah next year. I saw that as a brilliant move by Pritchard. Hedo was a bad person to chase; if anything, a failure to close that deal on a 14 PERish player was pure luck for Pritchard. It would have been his biggest mistake as Blazer GM. Roy ended up signing for what Pritchard thought he deserved, except now Roy can opt out early, and I highly doubt Pritchard had much to do with Aldridge's extension if he was indeed pulled off of the Roy negotiations. "Flips the script" based on one rumor. you're all over the place, dude.
A rumor? Larry Miller made it a point to call Quick and correct him that they aren't looking for a young guy, but an experienced trader and negotiator ... that changes things.
Of course they need to say they're looking for an experienced GM. When they wind up with some inexperienced rube, then they'll say that they couldn't find the right fit with an experienced GM. Larry Miller's background is in PR and marketing. You know this, right?
I've seen him criticized for this before, which seems crazy to me. They had to trade away a solid rookie backup PG in Maynor, as well as a starter in Brewer primarily because of that offer. And now might lose Boozer. 2 starters and a young backup lost by a rival because of that. And that's a bad move?
Plus, Deron Williams is now questioning the direction of the Jazz in the media. All because of a "toxic" offer for Milsap that Utah bit on and can't afford. Yet somehow that's a negative for Pritchard? I don't get it. It was shrewd, and I give Paul Allen a lot of credit for being willing to put the cash in the front-end of the contract.
I like the fact that the team is going to look for someone who can get a deal done. KP was a master at draft time, but Larry Miller is right. The team doesn't need that anymore. The now needs someone who can take the great pieces KP has put together and turn them into some specific pieces. Ala adding a buck Williams, or Scottie Pippen.
Neither of those moves brought the Blazers a title, and the latter move didn't even lead to a Finals appearance. We haven't won a playoff series since that loss in Game 7..
You always need good drafting - even if it is just to stockpile talent to be traded. If the issue is they determined KP was good at drafting but not at trading, create another position and hire a trader. There's no roster limit on front office staff. barfo
