Farewell, Tom Penn
by Dave on Mar 17, 2010 12:40 AM PDT
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PrintAs Ben has kept you apprised of this evening the internet is alive with reports that Kevin Pritchard's right-hand man, Tom Penn, has been sacked by the club. The official team release cites "philosophical differences". The rest of us are left to puzzle out what that means and what it adds up to.
Tom Penn came from the Memphis organization with the reputation of having a shrewd eye for cap maneuvering and a deep knowledge of the CBA. Having worked under Jerry West, among other NBA notables, he also had aspirations on the strictly basketball side. Young, confident, and working for one of the rising teams in the league he was driven to make his mark from the start.
Penn's public contributions to the Blazers can best be described as "value added". Kevin Pritchard nearly always defers credit to his staff as a whole, preferring to speak of decisions in terms of "we" rather than "I". But he was quick to laud Penn for pointing out obscure facets of deals which opened up trade exceptions or cap-saving potential, giving the Blazers extra assets or wiggle-room over and above the obvious value of their trades. Whether or not the team was able to take full advantage of those perks, they certainly exuded confidence that they were getting the maximum out of their deals and cap structure. That will be Tom Penn's legacy here.
On the flip side, Penn's desire to make that mark may have been behind the "philosophical differences" that led to his departure. For all of the titular glory he enjoyed, the Blazers hired him primarily as a capologist. The chance to grow and flex his basketball muscles was certainly a bonus for him but with Pritchard himself being relatively new in the position at the time of Penn's hiring, it's not likely they were looking for a true backup GM, let alone GM #1A. Subtle rumblings coming out of Blazer headquarters in recent months had Penn with his fingers in a few pies, none of them relating to the cap. Tracing the practical chain of command in Portland's hierarchy is challenging in the best of times. Perhaps Penn's (alleged) expansion of power was planned. On the other hand those philosophical differences may have resulted from the organization discovering it had a V.P. of Basketball Operations who wanted to spread his wings farther than the team was comfortable with or prepared for. In the end the Blazers likely still wanted a great capologist who could work as part of the decision-making team. If Penn wanted more, if heads butted over more...well...it wouldn't be the first time that happened in business. (In fact it's an eerie parallel to some of the on-court roster issues the Blazers are facing.) Sometimes the direct resolution is the best resolution.
What will the effect on Portland's future be? Provided they have, or can find, another guy who's proficient in cap lore they probably won't suffer unduly. This version of the cap has a short shelf-life anyway so the clean slate would have happened soon anyway, with or without Penn. But as Ben pointed out just below, given the traditional draft-day activity Portland enjoys attending the soiree without a cap-wizard would be something of a party foul. The tricky thing is that few will know what opportunities were or weren't missed in Penn's absence. Getting solid information on potential trades is difficult. Finding cap minutae among a thousand possible moves is all but impossible. Only the insiders will know for sure. That means only time will tell whether the Blazers' future moves suffer in comparison to their immediate past. But now that Penn has coached the staff on looking for intricacies it stands to reason that the organization can keep working from the playbook even if its author is gone.
As for the man himself, the Penn will probably turn out mightier than the sword...or technically the axe. My guess is that if his name wasn't already in the hat for open front office positions it soon will be, even if he has to put it there himself. Judging by the public face the organization gave him he's merited, and will get, another look.
It's never pleasant for an organization to lose one of its key executives in this manner but unless things are completely sideways in the front office business will continue as usual. Despite the tension of the day both sides will say they're better off in the long run. Penn will interview. The team will have somebody new working the calculator and the rulebook soon. For now Portland's proper public focus is on the dozen remaining games and excelling in the playoffs. Anything beyond that, namely everything Penn would have been involved in, is secondary.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)
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When someone's fired, it's easy to suspect misconduct
Otherwise you’d expect a resignation or friendly mutual understanding.
The only thing that comes to mind is that people found out Penn made up that Minnesota was pursuing him to get the promotion, and the Vulcans felt now was the best time to fire him.
Honor Alaa Abdelnaby.
First in the NBA. At least alphabetically
More likely Paul Allen called this one
He has the unlimited authority to say “You’re fired”. Who else would have the juice?
If it was a real misconduct problem, I think that they would use the cover-up “friendly mutual understanding” to avoid legal issues.
I think Penn told a joke about the fans booing turkey and PA got wind of it and took it as an insult and fired his butt in a pique. And, refused to "let him resign’.
There, that’s my made up story…
what’s yours?
oops, forgot to say
“My Sources told me”
there, now I’m a journalist too.
and I heard the punch line had something to do with ‘the turkey’s gobbling sounding like booing as he was drowning in the Portland rain’.
yup, that’s the ticket…
I think you might be close to the truth.
Blazers´ moves might be affected by “post-cancer” Mr Allen approach to life:
1º.- Probably anything that brings him some kind of happiness, hope or dream is now more important than money. They should. I wouldn´t be surprised if the Blazers purchase Lebron this summer, get a new coach or make any other of radical move. Maybe it all depends on the Blazers´ performance in playoffs. And don´t expect Rudy to be traded.
2º.- Probably Mr Allen doesn´t look as far into the time as he used to. Short term moves might happen.
3º.- Mr Allen probably isn´t as patient and indulgent as he was before, no matter how much it was. Turkoglu´s affair was probably very controversial among the Blazers management and ownership, and a wrong comment by Penn about it might be a very realistic possibility.
When history repeats itself:
“Allen was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1983. His cancer was successfully treated by several months of radiation therapy and a bone marrow transplant. However, he did not return to Microsoft and began distancing himself from the company…”
by amlmart1 on Mar 17, 2010 4:52 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Exactly Amlmart.
I’ve noted multiple times that those whose health is seriously compromised, are apt to seriously adjust their approach to many facets of their lives. With PA, I think we first saw that with the aggressive move to go after Turkuglu. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see more because for Paul Allen, the future is now.
I’m not saying it’s this serious for PA, but I’ve witnessed that when individuals are threatened with death, they just don’t put up with as much crap and B.S. as they might have in the past. There just isn’t enough time for those games.
I do tend to agree with OhOhOden that there may have been some wrong-doing on the part of Penn rather than over-ambition being solely responsible for his dismissal.
If this Blazer team doesn't light your fire, then your wood is wet!
the Blazer's owner is not a patient man
If KP and Nate don’t get results and keep making progress, they could go the way of Penn
it’s happened before, during Allen’s tenure
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Sounds like a case of “too many chiefs, not enough indians” if you ask me. I’ve seen this kind of posturing in corporate America where a subordinate is let go when they don’t “know their place” so to speak. I doubt Penn cared. He knows someone will desire his ambition and pick him up. It sounds like he’s done a bit of chest puffing in recent weeks with little to lose in the long run. Maybe there was some friction surrounding contract negotiations with Brandon and LaMarcus this past offseason? Something to think about. Very interesting news though, to say the least.
"When it's played the way is spozed to be played, basketball happens in the air; flying, floating, elevated above the floor, levitating the way oppressed peoples of this earth imagine themselves in their dreams."
- John Edgar Wideman
Whatever the cause
the symptom is a firing, rather than a mutually-agreed parting of the ways. Something negative happened, here – and we will probably find out what it was over the next couple of weeks.
It's just finally nice to have breaking Blazers news and I don't care at all
Andre Miller is an Anachronism
Yes, and in other developments
Harold Flubbmeister, the man whose task it was to lovingly wash all the basketballs after every home game, has suddenly tendered his resignation, saying only that “family considerations” led to the decision. Godspeed, Harold! We will sorely miss you!
Here’s what I don’t get. How hard can it be to grasp this cap stuff? Sure, I don’t understand it, but then it’s not part of my job.
Consider the huge volume of information that is hovering around the tip of the brain of any decent lawyer, doctor, chemist, computer programmer, auto mechanic, or — for that matter — garden variety sports fan. Is knowledge of the cap qualitatively different somehow? How can that be?
#52
I hear that
KP should just google the CBA
Andre Miller is an Anachronism
by tominhawaii on Mar 17, 2010 9:32 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Greg Oden's
pictures didn’t have to do with bones…oh wait…yeah it did.
My guess
is that he was trying to expand his influence beyond his job description of “capologist” and perhaps was attempting to undermine KP. (Which is one way of climbing the ladder). Maybe he was talking to Allen directly instead of going through channels. (Also a well known tactic.) Maybe he was wanting to dump everyone and go for LeBron. That would certainly be a philosophical difference as KP & PA have said they want to ride with the guys they have/ The firing may have come about because he was told to toe whatever line he was stepping over and he stepped over. At that point they were probably beyond the point of amicable “mutual understanding” and it had to be a firing.
"Most of the people reading and commenting here are smart, thoughtful, reasoned, and both capable of and interested in good conversation." - Dave, about Blazersedge, 07/29
My "League Sources" say...
This season has burnt out KP on daily running of team. The plan was he get’s Miller’s job and Penn takes KP’s job. Miller discovers this and orchestrates a successful counterattack,getting Penn fired and leaking enough to get KP put in his place.
(And yes,the fish in my aquarium constitute a league and they are never wrong when they talk to me ;)
Seriously
Didn’t the first-hand report on the Sloan Conference mention how happy KP seemed to be after being worn down during season? There was little mention of tension and ackwardness.
This looks to be shaping up as a huge he said-she said deal. Anybody who expects a guy who was player-agent fairly recently to not know how to work some of the press is delusional. Esp once he gets a job expect all kinds of “League sources” stories on wackiness inside Blazers.
It was Kernel Mustard in The Observatory with the Candlestick...
The only thing we can tell from the released information, is that we aren’t being told everything….or almost anything.
Oddly it’s Blazer Management that is acting like Lawyers with carefully constructed phrases like “Philisophical Differences”. So far comments from Tom Penn don’t sound like a person with either much desire or much ammo to shoot back at The Blazers.
I have to admit, I’m curious as to what the REAL story might be. Only if because the timing does seem so abrupt and potentially odd. Firing a top executive towards the end of the season as we head into the playoffs? Firing the guy that probably knows your salary cap, contracts and draft/trade desires before the next draft? Speculatively makes me think something went off the track for Tom Penn pretty severely with his relationship with The Blazers.
Maybe more information will surface, maybe principals will slowly become more forthcoming…..maybe not. Maybe Tom Penn is destin to become part of Blazer Lore. Forever frozen in the amber of never ending speculation.
I don’t think this should affect the team too much. The team has seen two popular players traded away mid-season in Blake and Outlaw, the firing of an executive shouldn’t really amount to much of anything but a blip on the radar. The cliche “This is a Business” will be applied.
"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"
I think we should hire him back so we can fire him again tomorrow.
After all, the game isn’t until Friday. We’ve got to have something to talk about between now and then.
Wearing the black band for Jarrett Jack, Ime Udoka, Fred Jones, Sergio Rodriguez, Channing Frye, Luke Schenscher, Shavlik Randolph, James Jones, Josh McRoberts, Steven Hill, Jarron Collins, Michael Ruffin, Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw. Sacrificed to the unmerciful god of progress.
by T Darkstar on Mar 17, 2010 8:30 AM PDT reply actions 3 recs
Rec'd.
Wearing the black band for Jarrett Jack, Ime Udoka, Fred Jones, Sergio Rodriguez, Channing Frye, Luke Schenscher, Shavlik Randolph, James Jones, Josh McRoberts, Steven Hill, Jarron Collins, Michael Ruffin, Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw. Sacrificed to the unmerciful god of progress.
Paul Allen, uh Microsoft(!)
When you work for Microsoft you sign a confidentiality agreement that you won’t speak about corporate affairs your privy to for a number of years. My guess Penn did just that about the Blazer organization, and, the NBA being a small world, word got back to Allen.
I heard him give a speech at a dinner last year...
and being a big Blazer fan I was eager to like him, but ended up with a sour taste in my mouth. I’m sure he was very good at his job, but it was readily apparent how someone could take an irrational dislike. He just seemed oily. Maybe that’s part of the job description for what is functionally the lawyer of basketball, but I’m not terribly surprised that someone like Allen would see him as expendable.
penn
Could be more to it but the simple non scanadalous answer might turn out to be the correct one.
A capologist is a high priced technician, not an executive. Penn’s value to the Blazers was as a capologist, but his career demands that he look for something at a higher level.
If that is the case though then whatever new job he gets elsewhere runs the risk of the same problem. I would think the teams that would be interested in Penn would want him because of his capology skills.
Tom Penn leaked the Greg Oden pictures...
Well at least that is more salacious than philosophical differences
An update from Canzano for whatever its worth
Western conference executive tells me Vulcan headquarters was livid in late summer after they realized Penn played them in getting a raise and promotion out of the phantom Minnesota offer and, “there’s real resentment at Vulcan headquarters at that whole deal.” This source isn’t buying the idea that something new happened on Tuesday that caused Penn’s firing, rather, that the Vulcans decided long ago they were going to blow up Penn the first time they had cause. What was that cause? “I’m not guessing on this, there’s no speculation here, the resentment over the Minnesota thing is real,” source said. “The Vulcans can be vindictive %$&#’s” Keep an eye on the movements of Penn agent Warren Legarie (ex-Blazers GM John Nash’s agent and KP’s agent as well) who was at the center of that situation, and also, has been involved with the Clippers extensively.
Ben II Blazersedge.com || New to Blazers' Edge?
Cause
I suppose there may have been something in the trade between the Clippers and the Blazers that was positive for the Clippers that was not disclosed by Penn to the Blazers before the trade took place. I can see how this offense of ommission might be defendable by Penn but might be cause for firing in the view of the Blazers. The GM position opening at the Clippers might have played a role.
Not being able to handle a hangover will lead to a level of maturity.
Wheels to Jason Quick
Penn to be replaced by jscot.
Who eventually replaces KP& gets in Paul Allens will. Just one step in his path to world domination.
Batumshakalaka!
Clippers Job
And for my made up reason why he got fired.
Penn was thought of a wunderkid by the Blazers, his future was set. That all came to an abrupt hault when word got out that the Clipppers were interested in him.
Why many may think that this is validation of how good one of your employees are that another organization wants him…this actually has the exact opposite effect when it is the Clippers. He went from wunderkid to overrated with the Clippers Kiss of Death.
Conversation:
KP: Well, another organization is interested in Penn
PA: Ah, see how lucky we were to get this guy. Maybe we should give him a raise. By the way, what orgainization wants Penn?
KP: Clipppers
PA: (choke, cough, choke). The CLIPPERS!!! the clippers, the Cllllliiiiiiipppppperrrrsssss.
Minnesota was one thing but the Clippers?? Oh the humanity.
KP: so, how much should we give him for a raise?
PA: ummmmm, he’s fired!
by keeweekid on Mar 17, 2010 10:02 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
My sources tell me
that he left work early one day, and Larry Miller was heard yelling at him, “you don’t gm the way we want to gm!”
Those Millers....
" It was as if the Suns hatched a fiendish plot to ruin John Wayne's movie career by casting him as a cowboy." - Dave 2/10/2010
Just a hunch
As one of the richest men in the world wasting away from a cancer that all the money in world can’t change, there is likely a ton of frustration creeping into the Mr. Allen.
An ill-timed remark could have triggered the quick dismissal.
Canzano says in an update that it's because Penn made up the Minny GM offer for leverage
Basket's that way, Chief!
So why was he fired now then?
Was it just because it’s a slow week for the team and the playoffs look all but assured? The timing of this is what seems weird to me.
If the Vulcans wanted him out last summer, why wait until now? And if they waited until now, why not wait until the end of the season? Did PA’s health play into the timing of Penn’s firing, and is that a sign that he’s getting better or worse? Can somebody besides Canzano, whose sources are questionable IMO, help answer these questions?
"I just played my game. I didn't do anything special. Just take the open shot, make cuts to basket, get rebounds. That's it." ~Nic Batum
by vanceanthony on Mar 17, 2010 12:19 PM PDT up reply actions
Simple
There’s cause and “cause.” The real reason they fired him was something that happened months ago, but they needed something they could officially fire him for within their contract, so they watched closely and waited for him to do something they could fire him for.
It’s just like if you flip off a cop, so he follows you around until you commit a traffic violation and then writes you ticket.
Disclaimer: everything I know about basketball I learned on Blazersedge.
Jason Quick
drives ME CRAZY…..he’s on 95.5 the game now feeling bad about all the character assisinations going on for Tom Penn….are you kidding me JC? Please…save it!!
Look who’s calling the kettle black…give me Brian T Smith anyday…..Jason couldn’t WAIT to break the story…so much he tweeted it….okay….I feel better…
Portland Trail Blazers - where injuries and people come together"
I know why Tom Penn got fired.
I have a top secret source inside the Blazers management team and he told me exactly why. It is pretty juicy stuff. Sorry but I can neither disclose my source or tell you guys… believe me I would love to let you guys in on it.
We can't all be you Canzano
But thanks for the update. We’ll watch your twitter like a hawk.
" It was as if the Suns hatched a fiendish plot to ruin John Wayne's movie career by casting him as a cowboy." - Dave 2/10/2010
Well I don't trust your sources...
I saw them taking the mattress tag off of their mattress.
Here's why it could be important
Perhaps the most important decision facing the Blazers this Summer is whether or not to bring Nate back.
KP has just had his right-hand man fired and it was not done by him. In other words,the GM side(ie the basketball side) has just been severely weakened. Whatever side of the issue KP has,his influence has taken a major hit.
As to Penn himself,he’s not going to rip the organization while he’s looking for a new job. Prospective owner employers tend to be put off by that. Until he’s hired,then,well,it’s okay to take shots at another organization.
Just keep in mind the things leaked about Penn had little to do w/firing him and everything to do w/keeping him from getting another job. He’s arrogant,ambitious,a ladder climber,doesn’t fit the org’s culture,etc is another way of saying don’t hire him as he’s an a-hole who will continually rub your nose in any mistake and whom will stab you in the back in a heartbeat.
Once he gets a job elsewhere Penn will start leaking his stories.
3 Thoughts . . .
The timing is not ‘suspicious’. (a) It came at the deadline for season ticket renewals, so as not to cast the slightest negative light on the Blazers. (b) It came far enough in advance of the draft that Penn might not know the final Blazer draft strategy – which he could use to the disadvantage of the Blazers if employed by another team.
The whole ‘Capology Wizard’ thing has been oversold since day one. The CBA is one document, one legal contract. Any lawyer (and many non-lawyers) of reasonable intelligence could master it in short order. The expertise require to dissect and leverage the CBA pales in comparison to the knowledge required to manipulate several thousand pages of tax code (tax attorneys and accountants) and is only slightly more challenging than me figuring out all the fine print in all my insurance policies.
We’ll never know with 100% certainty what happened. That is because a separation agreement was drawn up, reviewed by lawyers, and signed. That agreement would include language that prevents ‘disparaging comments’ by either body, prevents discussion of the reason for termination, and precludes even the acknowledgement that such a separation agreement exists. This is standard stuff.
~ visualize whirled peas
Nice try
No way you two can divert from the truth of a love triangle.
Andre Miller is an Anachronism
I would be inclined to agree with you on all counts ... even rec your comment
except that you basically just said what I’ve been saying here and there. This is not an accusation of plagiarism, mind you. It’s just that agreeing with you would be to blogging what masturbation is procreation; i.e., I would grow hair on my palms.
#52
Yes . . .
. . . guilty as charged, because before posting I plowed through a couple of hundred comments on two threads, searching for those extraordinary insights (all of which were yours) which I could claim as my own. I like doing this because it makes me feel like a man with hairy palms.
~ visualize whirled peas
Sorry, that was meant as a reply to tominhawaii
Actually not, but it might as well have been. Sometimes I just write stupid stuff that comes to mind. I enjoyed your response. And your succinct original commentary.
#52
I heard he pulled a Costanza...
with the cleaning lady…well it’s what I heard.
by LicketyBrindleDowntheMiddle on Mar 18, 2010 9:56 AM PDT reply actions
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