May
08
Quick: General Manager Search Heating Up
By caseyholdahl
The Portland Trail Blazers offseason will be defined by four tasks: finding a general manager, conducting the 2012 draft, navigating free agency and finding a new head coach. There's not much you can do about free agency until July, and it probably makes sense to hire a general manager who will, in turn, play a large role in determining who the team's next coach is, so that search is probably best left until a new GM is in place.
Which leaves us with the most pressing tasks of finding a new GM and preparing for the draft. The process of determining targets for the 2012 draft is already well underway, and from the sounds of it, the general manager search is making some headway as well.
In
an interview with Jason Quick of The Oregonian, team president Larry Miller drops some specifics on where the Trail Blazers are at in the process, which has been going on, in earnest, since before the end of the regular season.
The Trail Blazers’ search for a general manager has accelerated to the point that owner Paul Allen has conducted a face-to-face interview with a candidate, according to team president Larry Miller.
Miller would not divulge the name of the candidate, but he said the interview with Allen last week was with a former general manager who has a long history in the NBA.
“I think it went pretty well,’’ Miller said.
(snip)
“I think we have some really viable candidates right now, candidates who
seem like they would be a good fit, would bring the kind of experience
we are looking for,’’ Miller said. “So I’m optimistic we are making some
progress.’’
The story goes on to quote one rumored candidate, former Knicks general manager and president Donnie Walsh, who says he has not been contacted by the Trail Blazers. The team has reportedly asked permission to speak with current Pacers general manager David Morway, who sounds interested in further discussion.
“At some point I will evaluate (Portland’s) situation, and the situation
here and make some decision,’’ Morway told Quick. “But right now, I haven’t
done that.’’
As the article notes, the timeline for the search remains in flux, as the team will likely have to wait until the the playoffs or over, or at least until the teams potential candidates work for have been eliminated.