We've now had solid leads on three candidates who have drawn interest from the Portland Trail Blazers for their vacant General Manager position:
- Randy Pfund, the veteran who has been tied to Pat Riley first as an assistant coach (and later head coach) in the Lakers organization and then as the General Manager of the Miami Heat. He knows the game and has spent plenty of time in winning organizations. Miami has specialized in finding great role players to surround their stars.
- Danny Ferry, the now-matured whiz-kid...a former player whose management experience has consisted of trying to get the Cleveland Cavaliers (also a winning organization under his watch) over the top. Has experience pulling multiple trades, including netting prominent names at low cost. (Update: Ferry is also one of two finalists for New Jersey's president spot according to Adrian Wojnarowski.)
- Rich Cho, long-time Assistant General Manager with the Seattle Supersonics/Oklahoma City Thunder. He came up through the ranks from an internship to his organization's cap guru, legal expert, and statistical wizard. He lacks General Manager experience but the Sonics/Thunder have jumped multiple cap, draft, and trade hoops with his guidance and he certainly represents the "new" NBA. (Update: Cho will interview with the Blazers today according to John Hollinger).
Let's assume those three names are the entirety of the docket. Which one do you like best and why? Any you particularly want to avoid? Chime in below.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)
Note: The Blazers tip-off Game 2 of their 2010 Summer League at 7:00 p.m. tonight. Ben Golliver is live on-site and will chime in with all the news from Vegas that's fit to post. We'll have an open thread beginning around 6:00 p.m. plus a post-game recap from Vegas and probably notes from me as well.