I can sense the ‘feel-good’ atmoshere leave the room as quickly as cattle through grandma. Wasn’t Miller the one that sent the threatening ‘E-mail’ to all the other teams as well?

Seriously, is Paul Allen’s illness negatively affecting this team and its decisions??

This is exactly how I am feeling right now. I really didn’t think it would come to this.

Miller and popular coach Nate McMillan, the Blazers have two powerful and entrenched figures firmly in place.

Though recently Miller didn’t look all that powerful and entrenched, at least to my ears. Not sure what “sources” think Miller is the man pulling the strings in Portland. And Nate at least insinuated on Courtside he was happy with KP and might leave with him when those rumors were first flying.

But in general I would agree that the names you listed are some of the obvious candidates. Though involving an agent/external company always has the advantage of an intermediary doing the calls.

And they’ve asked about Sam Presti, then they may still prefer Moneyball-type GMs (other than KP, obviously). Not sure if those 3 are.

But I do admit the signs aren’t good. Paul Allen could have put this to rest a long time ago. Now, even if it’s a pile of. . Wojnarowski. . .this has to hurt the organization going into the draft and free agency.

This is all so lame & dysfunctional. Just a year or so ago, I believed that the bad old days were over for this franchise and we’d entered a Golden Age.

from finding the potentials, to booking flights, to covering tracks, to not making the interviewee look like he’s got hot feet from the team that currently employs him.
it’s been very common for years in other businesses, why wouldn’t sports do the same thing?

future employment guaranteed elsewhere. If I’m Pritchard, I’d force Paul Allen’s hand in firing me with a full severance package.

I mean Oden probably has the worst image on the team, and it’s still pretty spotless.

But then why would they deny comment instead of just saying “yeah, we’re looking for a new assistant”?

Plus, I don’t think those salaries would match up, so there was probably no such trade.

Jest kidding. Every GM has made mistakes. The blessed ones are as lucky as they are good. That’s been KP, with the exception of GO’s injuries.

Does anyone have a picture of Paul Allen and a monkey in a provocative pose? If you do, give it to Kevin Pritchard.

Thanks from all of us….

What “glimpse behind the Blazers’ curtain?” This sounds like the exact same crap we’ve been hearing from Woj all year—likely coming from the mouth of a single jealous, KP-hating GM (and pet source) to Woj’s ear and then spewed out onto the page.

Said GM may well have told Woj that this is what agents have been telling HIM, and Woj then characterized it as what HE’S been hearing. I have absolutely no confidence in Woj’s integrity. His attack pieces vs KP have violated every rule of journalistic practice. The guy is a hack—even if some of this stuff DOES turn out to have foundation. It will have no credence with me until it’s confirmed by more reliable, unbiased sources.

then don’t be so sure that PA is any guarantee against “the Blazers would be playing in a different city”
becoming “the Blazers might be playing in a different city”.

Why is Allen treating KP so rudely over a business decision?

Did he (or his ex-assistant) insult the guy in some way to deserve the obviously belittling treatment? All we can do is speculate, so we might as well have fun with it…

If a super-rich owner treats a hardworking and loyal and good employee so poorly, what makes you think he gives a chip about Portland and its local fans. PA was probably also quit peeved that the fans had the nerve to show up with signs supporting KP – I understand that the signs were banned.

I speculated that billionaire petulance and a bad joke about PA’s pick of the Turk (and his Rose Garden reception) was Tom Penn’s downfall, but it was in rude jest; now I really begin to wonder is he is one of those power-drunk teen egos using money to authenticate his existence. He reminds me of a young kid who owns the playground, and buys new fancy baskets so he can ‘shoot better’. Will he just take his ball and go home?

That said, I’m hoping this is just a pile of Woj.

All in all a reminder who’s team it is; certainly not ours. We get to cheer a rich man’s weekend hobby.

GO Seattle Aliens!!!

If KP had done something that was worth firing him for, he would’ve been let go back in March, like Penn was

What the owner is doing now is going through a process of replacing the GM, that’s different. KP is an employee under contract, he is obligated to fulfill the terms of that contract until he’s told his services are no longer required. Blazer fans are emotional about this because KP’s job affects the improvement of the team, but his job responsibilities really haven’t changed. (Neither has his career path, he still wants to be an NBA GM)

If KP decides to tender his resignation, it will cost him a lot of money and his reputation around the league will take a hit. I suspect his agent would advise him to remain at his post and do the best possible job under the circumstances, to ensure that he maintains his integrity and is able to change teams and continue his career, in the future.

The decision to replace KP can be seen as a panicky, knee jerk reaction or it could be seen as the second (or probably, third stage) in an organizational growth chart.

Why are you so certain that now is the time for patience? Are you certain the Blazers have all of the pieces on their roster (and on the coaching staff) to contend for a championship, if they can just all stay healthy? I’m sure there are others of us who could vigorously debate that viewpoint.

I have no intention of flinging mud at KP to make PA look better. Kevin’s done a great job of acquiring talent, I’d put his track record up against Bucky Buckwalter’s as the best 5 year run of any previous Blazer GM (even though Bucky was VP of BB ops, never the full GM) But like Bucky, KP might not be the guy who sits in the big chair when the team advances to the next level. It might take a different hand on the wheel once the ship leaves port and heads out into the open sea of championship contention (and that sappy analogy applies to the head coach, as well)

It’s easy for those outside the organization to say “look at all that steady growth, let’s stay the course”—but nobody hands out trophies for 50 win seasons—and Paul Allen, bless him, isn’t the kind of owner that is going to be satisfied until he’s back in the finals. That’s the kind of owner that every fan should thank their lucky stars to have at the top of the organization…but in PA’s case he makes unpopular moves and is criticized by the media and then by the fans for being ultra-competitive.

Who do you want for an owner…Al Davis? Donald Sterling? Mark Cuban? Jerry Buss? Red McCombs? Marge Schott? Jerry Jones? I’ll take Paul, warts and all. Because I know that he’s not going to be satisfied with making a profit and selling a couple of hours of entertainment. Go big, or go home.

You didn’t even have to go into all the mistakes he makes with the Seahawks.