Ed Stefanski and the Toronto Raptors Part I

by Adam Francis on Oct 13, 2011 8:45 AM EDT in Feature Stories

Is Ed Stefanski the right man for the General Manager position of the Toronto Raptors? Michael Levin of Liberty Ballers gives us his take...

So the NBA is hiring a Federal regulator to try and jumpstart labour talks.

Well, it's something right?

The way talks broke off last week it hardly looked like either side was that keen to bring back our beloved game so if this at least gets the wheels moving again, it sounds good to me.

Instead of dwelling on the current labour unrest however, we're turning back to the ongoing front-office search being undertaken by the Toronto Raptors. Last week Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Ed Stefanski has emerged as a leader in what was a four-horse race, and that the position the Dinos were looking to fill was that of General Manager.

Stefanski?

Yep, the man who is likely most fans' last option for the position looks to in fact be the favourite.

Maybe though we're missing something here. Could Stefanski actually be a better fit for Toronto than the other three candidates?

To answer this question, and dig into the local Philadelphia native, we turned again to our SB Nation blogosphere, this time Michael Levin of the 76ers blog, Liberty Ballers, for his insight on the potential hiring.

RaptorsHQ: Obviously the reason we’re having this conversation is because the Raptors have narrowed their front-office search to four candidates, one of them being Mr. Stefanski. In fact the word now is that Ed is actually the front-runner for the position. So I wanted to get your take on him, just in terms of his time with Philly because obviously he’s been around the league for a while.

Michael Levin: It’s been kind of an interesting tale for Stefanski in Philly because when he came in, we loved him. We were all about him. He got Elton Brand, which at the time looked good, and I still feel was a pretty good decision, but he came in and made moves immediately. He’s a Philly guy, so a true fan of the team and so the first year was a really nice thing; we’re making moves, Mo Cheeks led us into the playoffs again, we had sort of a scrappy team and felt like "hey, we’re right there."

But it always seemed that that’s where we topped off, and he (Stefanski) was ok with that.

RHQ: Can you elaborate on that?

ML: It just seemed that we were constantly building to make the playoffs, and nothing else. And that’s still the case. What Ed doesn’t understand in terms of basketball, is how to build a champion – there’s a gap there between putting together a good group of guys who will win games, and that next level. Obviously every GM is trying to do that, and many others can’t too, but it always seemed like he was more happy to stay mediocre, than take a step back in order to eventually take two or three forward. His opinion was that there was no reason to get worse, and then get much better in a couple of years. So it always felt like he was saving his ass, and never had a plan.

To me the biggest thing when you’re trying to build a team, is "when are we going to contend for a championship." Is it five years? Ok, then it’s five years, let’s plan towards that. But Ed was always a bit like "we’re going to win some games, and then see what happens." This was always obvious around trade deadline time, or the off-season when the team was trying to get better. Maybe the team should trade Andre Iguodala, or try and move Elton Brand’s contract, or really anything, and with Ed, it always came back to "we’re going to make trades that make basketball sense." That was his favourite term, he’d use it all the time, and it became a running joke on the site.

And not that Stefanski doesn’t have any basketball sense, but going 41 and 41 isn’t good. In fact it’s the definition of mediocre. And anything that drops his record below that, according to him, doesn’t make basketball sense. I ended up writing a whole piece on his use of the term:

http://www.libertyballers.com/2010/7/20/1576261/basketball-sense-a-lesson-on-ed

In the end, he tried to retain Sixers’s fans, of which there aren’t a whole lot any more as mediocrity doesn’t sell, with this idea of winning some games, and trades that made basketball sense.

So he’d say things like "ok, we’re going trade for an established veteran. We’ll get Tony Battie in here, and Tony Battie will anchor our defence cause he’s a veteran guy who’s been around the block and yada, yada, yada.

And to most of us fans, that’s the kind of thing where we think "well why don’t you go after a young person, who can get better?"

And it would always come back as "no, they’re not good enough, or not good enough now, or don’t have a proven track record, and we’re going to go after old guys who really haven’t done jack." So you get Andres Nocionni, you get Jason Kapono, and on and on.

Magically Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner fell into our lap. And they’re two of, well, Evan Turner hasn’t proven it yet, but they will be two of the best young players in the league. Not very best, not top five, but a good core there.

But he kept surrounding them, rather than go with a model like the Thunder, the Blazers, or even the Clippers, rather than do that, he would go and get some veterans and try to force together this young talent and old talent.

And that doesn’t work. As every team is now showing you, unless you have one of the best three to five players in the league, you’re not going to win a championship unless you have a young core, or a group of guys that are around the same age growing together, and meshing together and building together.

So when I talk about Ed Stefanski, and I apologize if I’m rambling, what Ed has never really understood is that in order to get better, sometimes you have to get worse, and grow, and evaluate your talent, and say "we’re not the team we thought we were, let me cut my losses," etc. Instead it always seemed with Ed that he was an inch away from getting fired, and he was content to just win enough to skate by.

(Continued Tomorrow...)

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"He got Elton Brand, which at the time looked good, and I still feel was a pretty good decision"

I’ll never understand the Elton Brand signing. I said as much in this comments section the day he was signed. Maybe it’s because I myself suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon (the same injury he suffered) and I knew a return to the 20 and 10 form of the past was practically impossible. I may have had the benefit of personal insight, but seriously, do the research. Name one marquee player who has returned to form after that specific injury. He should never have been signed to that contract.

"…but it always seemed like he was more happy to stay mediocre, than take a step back in order to eventually take two or three forward. His opinion was that there was no reason to get worse, and then get much better in a couple of years. So it always felt like he was saving his ass, and never had a plan."

"what Ed has never really understood is that in order to get better, sometimes you have to get worse, and grow, and evaluate your talent, and say “we’re not the team we thought we were, let me cut my losses,” etc."

Hmmm.. Does this remind anyone of anybody? Sounds a lot like Colangelo over the last 3 years… Of course before the "injuries" finally smacked him in the head and made him finally accept the rebuild (like this team was going anywhere before the injuries!!). Stefanski and Colangelo both seems like guys that would rather escalate their commitment to something not working or mistakes made (i.e. Brand, Bargnani) and try band aid solutions in an attempt to save face, rather than admit that they had made a mistake

by MAS11 on Oct 13, 2011 10:06 AM EDT reply actions

I was just gonna say, I wonder why he’s the front runner for Colangelo…sounds like a man after his Colangelo’s heart. A guy afraid of actually accepting that losing is sometimes better in the long run if you’re rebuilding.

by dbonds on Oct 13, 2011 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions

Unfortunately tomorrow’s piece brings that point home even more. I’m hoping to get some feedback from his time with the Nets, but so far, there isn’t a lot that gets me excited about his potential hiring.

In fact, it’s the exact opposite.

Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com

by Adam Francis on Oct 13, 2011 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions

+1

by Buddahfan on Oct 13, 2011 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions

P.S.

I haven’t seen anything that says he will be the man.

As far as I know Bower is also in the running.

ISTM that Wojo wrote his piece pushing Stefanski on the Raptors because Wojo like too many basketball writers south of the border are Raptors haters.

I still hold out hope that Bower will be the man with Pritchard and Lindsay out of contention, even if Bower will never bring CP3 to T-Dot which I now think would never happen.

by Buddahfan on Oct 13, 2011 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions

Crossing fingers...

Bower interview is up next week…

Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com

by Adam Francis on Oct 13, 2011 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions

I Hate To Bring Up The Hated Turkoglu But

The reality is

1. If Turkoglu had played in T-Dot like he did the previous year in Orlando
2. If Bargnani, who still had tens of thousands of supporters among Raptors fans, had improved his defense and rebounding
3. If Bosh had not gotten hurt

The 2009-10 Raptors team would have made the playoffs and maybe even advanced to the second round. Bosh would probably have stayed and the Raptors would be a 50+ win team.

Its easy in hindsight to attack BC for resigning Bargnani but how many Raptors fans were against the signing at the time.

Bottom line is that BC had put all the pieces in place to make the Raptors a solid playoff team for a number of years. It just didn’t work out. Who knows how he would have tweaked it to make them even better if it had worked out in 2009-10 like most Raptors fans thought it might.

I don’t know anything about Stefanski except the 76ers were not very good with him as GM and the two following years after he left.

ISTM that BC is a far better GM than Stefanski.

Could a better GM have kept Bosh? Ask Bargnani and Turkoglu

by Buddahfan on Oct 13, 2011 10:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Sorry, your grasp on history is flawed. First of all, the writers on this site almost unanimously implored Colangelo NOT to sign Turkaglu (Raptors HQ crew correct me if my recollection is wrong). I and other commenters laughed at the idea (I remember coining the phrase: "Just say NO to HedO". Many writers and analysts on other sites and papers and on TV openly questioned the logic of signing an OBVIOUSLY declining Hedo Turkaglu to a $50 million contract. The fact that it actually played out like many predicted (Hedo being an abject failure) would have been comical if it didn’t bring so much misery to Raptors fans.

The Bargnani signing, to a contract so out of whack with his actual value, at a time when he was not a free agent and there was no one competing for his services was a real head scratcher. He signed him a full year before he had to even start negotiating with him. He was so sure of his upward trajectory, he wanted to lock him up early. Well, if he spent any time looking at advanced statistics or knew anything about the defensive side of the court or put any value on any other element of the game besides jumpshooting, he would not have made that mistake. There were many detractors of this move at the time.

So, the position that BC was the victim of circumstance and he made good decisions that went badly due to circumstances out of his control is absolute nonsense. Bottom line is BC had not "put all the pieces in place to make the Raptors a solid playoff team for a number of years". That is utter crap. This team was broken a long time ago and was never in a position to be a perenial playoff contender. To think so now is to completely ignore the facts and play revisionist history.

by MAS11 on Oct 13, 2011 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions

Making Things Up Again

what I wrote was

1. If Turkoglu had played in T-Dot like he did the previous year in Orlando

I never said anything about Raptors fans supporting the Turkoglu signing.

Quit making things up

With regard to Bargnani again you are twisting what I wrote to meet your own agenda. I am not talking about now. We now know how bad Bargnani is, no thanks to my continual criticism of him. However I was referring to the time when he was signed and what Raptors fans were saying and expecting at that time what I wrote

2. If Bargnani, who still had tens of thousands of supporters among Raptors fans, had improved his defense and rebounding

I totally disagree with your derogatory comment

So, the position that BC was the victim of circumstance and he made good decisions that went badly due to circumstances out of his control is absolute nonsense

I am not pursuing this discussion further as nothing good can come from it.

Thanks for commenting on my post.

by Buddahfan on Oct 13, 2011 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions

Easy kids, easy.

I get what you’re saying Buddha, but I think the point MAS is trying to make is that regarding Hedo, we KNEW he would never play like he did in Orlando, here in Toronto, because Orlando was the perfect situation for him, even as his skill-set declined. That was one of my main arguments against signing Hedo, so I’ll never subscribe to the idea that things could have gone any other way, than how they did in fact unfold.

The Bargnani situation is similar. Yes, I do agree that he did still have a good chunk of supporters out there, but the majority of readers on the site as well as the writers were sure, like Hedo, that Bargs’ rebounding and defence never WOULD improve by the time he was extended. I really lost faith in his ability to substantially improve during the season before he signed his extension. So like Hedo, it’s virtually impossible for me to go back and say “what if.”

Now Bosh’s injury is another story. Had he been healthy, who knows. I still think he bolts regardless of how well Toronto does in the playoffs, but there are probably good arguments to be made on both sides.

Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com

by Adam Francis on Oct 13, 2011 11:58 AM EDT up reply actions

Fair Enough

I do recall the arguments about Hedo’s game not fitting into the Raptors system in which Jose was the main and very good dimes man.

Do you recall if any of the Raptors writers asked BC about this issue when BC signed him? I would find it interesting since not much else is going on in the NBA to read some of the Raptors writers comments about his signing after BC introduced him at the presser.

As far as Bargnani’s defense and rebounding never improving at the time of his resigning. I wasn’t following the Raptors that closely at that time so I can’t comment directly on that. What I can say is that when I first started closely following the Raptors after Amir joined them I seem to recall most of the bloggers and writers still having positive vibes about Bargnani’s overall game and his potential upside even if they doubted whether his defense and rebounding would improve that much.

Regarding Bosh: We will probably never the truth. My own opinion is that BC never really made a serious effort to keep him in Toronto. Then in the spring of 2010 when rumors about about Lebron joining Wade in Miami arose I was suggesting (I don’t recall posting it here at that time but rather on another Raptors blog) that Bosh would join Wade in Miami. As I recall I first took that position on the other blog either in May or June of 2010 after the Raptors failed to make the playoffs.

by Buddahfan on Oct 13, 2011 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions

More On Turk and Bosh

I was thinking about this during my short walk this AM. Too hot in Los Angeles today to walk far.

If you go back and look at Turk’s stint with the Magic before he came to T-Dot he played with Jameer Nelson, except when Jameer was hurt, R. Lewis, Howard and some other guy. LOL That worked out great for them.

So in thinking about this I wondered again why didn’t Turk work out with the Raptors, other than his wife not wanting to live in Toronto factor?

Lets compare the main four of the Magic against Turk,, Jose, Bargnani and Bosh.

Jose shot 43% and 41% respectively on his 3FGA in the two years prior to Turk coming to the Raptors J. Nelson shot 42% and 45% in those two years. For their careers Jose has made 38% of his 3FGA and Nelson 39% So from an outside shooting perspective there is not much difference between Jose and Jameer. Hold on this thought for now

Bargnani vs Lewis. IMO very comparable on offense though defensively you have to give the edge to Lewis

Now we get to the Bosh vs Howard comparison. Bosh was a 20 – 10 guy just like Howard but their offense is entirely different. Howard is low post back to the basket guy on offense whereas Bosh starts most of his offense from around 15 feet to the basket. ISTM that BC should have recognized this and figured it into the Turk signing before BC signed him. Howard does not mess up the offense when he plays with Turk. However, Bosh and Turk create spacing problems on the floor. Maybe BC was thinking that Bargnani could be the low post back to the basket guy that Howard is or at least some of what Howard is on offense. ISTM that was also an error in BC’s thinking when he signed Turk.

Yes I believe that Jose would have been more than willing to play more off the ball. Of course he got injured and was replaced by Jack it up Jack which I always have thought was a bad acquisition by BC.

Bottom line is I think the mistakes that BC made when he signed Turk were.

1. He was unaware or didn’t think it was important that Turk’s wife did not want to live in T-Dot
2. He neglected to take into account how Bosh starts his offense vs Howard creating spacing problems when Bosh and Turk are on the floor together
3. Or alternatively he was mistaken in believing that Bargnani would be willing to play on offense mostly in the low paint with his back to the basket.

Turk’s defense with the Raptors also turned out to be out to lunch to put it nicely. ISTM that this was due to several factors with the Howard cover Turk’s butt being the major one.

by Buddahfan on Oct 13, 2011 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions

"Turk’s defense with the Raptors also turned out to be out to lunch to put it nicely. ISTM that this was due to several factors with the Howard cover Turk’s butt being the major one."
This afterthought was actually the most important problem with Turk on the Raptors. The Raptors offense that season was not the problem. I believe they were one of the top offenses in the league that year. The problem was defense. How, on God’s green earth, BC – or anyone for that matter – could think a starting five that included Bargnani, Trukaglu and Calderone (god bless him for trying) would produce anything BUT a historically bad defensive rating is absolutely beyond me. How can anyone have confidence in a GM that couldn’t see that train wreck coming?

by MAS11 on Oct 13, 2011 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Good Point About The Raptors Offense That Season

I was thinking about that as I was writing the post.

Would the Raptors offense with Howard instead of Bosh been better?

No way to know.

However, I do agree that Turk’s defense stunk and I agree with this

How, on God’s green earth, BC – or anyone for that matter – could think a starting five that included Bargnani, Trukaglu and Calderone (god bless him for trying) would produce anything BUT a historically bad defensive rating is absolutely beyond me

I could probably come up with a very weak argument for thinking that it would be anything but horrible, but it would be very weak and a waste of my time. LOL I wouldn’t be able to defend the argument in all honesty. LOL Kind of like defending a murderer when you know that he/she is guilty.

by Buddahfan on Oct 13, 2011 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions

"LOL Kind of like defending a murderer when you know that he/she is guilty."

Nice one! LOL

by MAS11 on Oct 13, 2011 3:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Come on Buddah,
"I never said anything about Raptors fans supporting the Turkoglu signing"

No you did not say those exact words, but what you did say was the following:

"Bottom line is that BC had put all the pieces in place to make the Raptors a solid playoff team for a number of years."

You said this in the context of discussing the Turkaglu and Bargnani contracts. I took from that statement that you felt that BC had put all the pieces in place to be a solid playoff contender… Silly me. Which I then replied by basically saying no he didn’t and there were many that were critical of his moves at the time. You also suggested that things would have worked out differently if Turkaglu and Bargnani had panned out. But they didn’t and many never thought they would. So if these were not your points, I have no idea what the hell your point was…

by MAS11 on Oct 13, 2011 1:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Actually a number of us were against the resigning as it made little sense based on his track record (he had half a mediocre season to point to ) and he (BC) was bidding against himself). I know a few of us made comments at the time that we would rather risk losing Barney rather then overpay him/.

by McGateway on Oct 13, 2011 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions

Many Of Us Were Against The Signing

Say what?

There are millions of Raptors fans in the world.

Of course “many” will be against anything they do.

However, the majority of Raptors fans still believed in Bargnani’s potential when he was resigned. Of course trying to find anyone today other than Raptorsloosleaf LOL, who will admit to that is another story.

by Buddahfan on Oct 13, 2011 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions

Does Stefanski bring something that BC doesn't?

That’s the crucial question. I thought BC should have been let go when his deal expired but since then he’s done some things that made me think he might have significantly changed his approach – e.g. drafting Valanciunas who won’t help short term and could be a defensive force if he develops properly. I was hoping BC’s decision to hire a GM would continue in that vein.

So can Stefanski bring something to the table that BC doesn’t? Is he better at spotting defensive talent? What about his record with 2nd round draft picks? If he’s just yes man it won’t help

by scrat on Oct 13, 2011 10:39 AM EDT reply actions

100% Agree

That’s the biggest piece of this for me too, and in the second part of the interview tomorrow morning, we get into that question a bit more. We saw in our talk with Ben Golliver that there were major differences in skillsets between Kevin Pritchard and Bryan Colangelo, but so far Stefanski seems to be pretty much BC’s less charismatic double.

Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com

by Adam Francis on Oct 13, 2011 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions

IMO BC Is A Lot Smarter Than Stefanski

I don’t know much about how successful MLSE is overall but ISTM that this highering of a GM by BC is due primarily to BC being promoted to have greater responsibility within MLSE.

I eventually see BC rising even higher in the MLSE corporate ladder in the future. I doubt that Steanski will ever be nearly as successful in his career as BC will become

JMO

by Buddahfan on Oct 13, 2011 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Totally agree. I think I’ve always had an idea that BC was looking to rise up higher in the corporate ranks of MLSE than just GM/Pres, so this might indeed be a first step.

But to bring in Stefanski to run the team?

Ugh.

Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com

by Adam Francis on Oct 13, 2011 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions

I guess it makes BC look like a prize stallion when he is standing next to an ass...

The whole MLSE theocracy is a multi-billion dollar a plate kind of affair…. nice to have access I guess….

'....as a child, I dreamt of being a baseball.'

by Jenge on Oct 13, 2011 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions

“We saw in our talk with Ben Golliver that there were major differences in skillsets between Kevin Pritchard and Bryan Colangelo, but so far Stefanski seems to be pretty much BC’s less charismatic double.”

Precisely the point I was trying to make in yesterday’s and today’s comment sections. BC has hired a yes man, who is like minded and redundant as opposed to hiring the best applicant for the job. He’d rather have a puppet than a GM.

by MAS11 on Oct 13, 2011 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Gherardini was the same...

I don’t dislike the guy, but when Gherardini would openly tout his expertise as being able to maintain friendly and deeply respectful relations with rich and powerful men who employ him – as his main ‘asset’ – then the writing is on the wall.

I mean, how much did he really ‘challenge’ BC in a meaningful way apart from helping bring in Garbajossa, and urge BC to make couple of 2nd round picks that didn’t pan out?

'....as a child, I dreamt of being a baseball.'

by Jenge on Oct 13, 2011 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

Exactly, a dissenting voice is precisely what that front office needs. Well, actually, a new front office is exactly what that front office needs… But short of that, it would be nice to see someone in there who at least looked at the world differently than BC, Gheredhini and Triano (i.e. knew what an advanced stat was).

by MAS11 on Oct 13, 2011 1:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Sorry But I Just Don't Agree

that BC is considering Stefanski because he is a yes man.

I already posted in detail about this and what I think the problem with hiring Pritchard would have been and IMO would have had nothing to do with different skill sets but more of a big time clash in egos.

by Buddahfan on Oct 13, 2011 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

Walker McKenna

by Robert Archibald on Oct 13, 2011 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions

So Raptors fans lose out on having the best candidate for the job hired because BC can’t manage his ego?

by MAS11 on Oct 13, 2011 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Would He Be The Best?

If he was trying to constantly step on his bosses toes?

Doesn’t sound like a good employee to me and a plus for the organization.

I am not saying that BC is perfect. We know about his shortcomings as a GM, but still he would have been Prichards boss and an employee if he is going to work for someone has to respect that. ISTM from what I know about Prtichard he probably wanted more power at his position than was good for MLSE’s bottom line.

Raptors fans of course care more about the Raptors record on the court than MLSE’s bottom line and like has been discussed before maybe MLSE is not the best owner for the Raptors. However, until changes we have what we have with respect to the Raptors

by Buddahfan on Oct 13, 2011 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions

"ISTM from what I know about Prtichard he probably wanted more power at his position than was good for MLSE’s bottom line"

Where do you get this from? I haven’t heard any one suggest that there was some sort of issue with the power Pritchard wanted at his position. And if you are referring to how things ended in Portland, we just heard in the interview Franchise posted with the Portland insider regarding Pritchard that his leaving Portland had more to do with Paul Allen’s eccentricity than anything to do with Pritchard. If we look at the track records of Stefanski and Pritchard, and then take in what we have heard in these insider interviews so far it’s hard to make the case that Pritchard isn’t the better candidate.

by MAS11 on Oct 13, 2011 4:02 PM EDT up reply actions

I Just Don't Think That BC and Pritchard Would Have Been A Good Match

You can blame it on BC shortcomings or Pritchards shortcomings.

I chose the latter and you choose the former.

That is the crux of our difference.

by Buddahfan on Oct 13, 2011 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Can you tell me what “Pritchard’s shortcomings” are in the context of the discussion we are having? What are his shortcomings that would make it difficult for he and BC to coexist and how did you determine he had these shortcomings? I can site a few examples of BC being a boarderline ego maniac that can’t admit mistakes and surrounds himself with yes men. If you have examples of similar behaviour for Pritchard, I’d love to hear them. I will never challange your right to a difference of opinion, I’d just like to understand how you arrived at your opinion, that’s all.

by MAS11 on Oct 13, 2011 10:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Ccurious

I have posted a few thoughts on why I think Pritchard is a little overrated. Not necessarily bad, but in my eyes overrated. Would be curious to your thoughts.

The difference is…
I don’t disagree that building through the draft is the most practical way to build a team, especially for teams that don’t attract FA’s. I am just questioning the value of that experience being on Pritchard’s resume (and Cho’s too). Being a GM of a team going through the rebuilding process, and nothing else – doesn’t speak to me as a strong resume for a GM candidate.

I don’t disagree that the Raps are going to have to build through the draft to acquire premiere talent. I like the draft picks of Ed and Big Jonas, don’t love Bargs or DeRozan but recognise that they are both assets. The Raps have drafted in the lotto for the past few years and have improved their talent level. The future is quite bright with JV, Ed, DD all recent draft picks looking to play big roles going forward, not to mention our next draft pick which should be quite high unless we get another Raptor Draft Jinx. So all in all the future is bright due to building through the draft.

That said, most of our picks were no brainers for the GM. No picks made were radically outside of predictions. We might have lucked into a couple of guys dropping. BC doesn’t deserve any great credit for drafting so well over the last three years – he was near the front of the line, the pickins were good. With the long view now on Pritchards picks, re gambled twice and lost twice on injured players. He made a few nice draft day deals, but despite some nice pieces Portland is no longer positioned as the team of the future. Our next GM has to have done something to a franchise besides spending a few years in the basement acquiring talent through the draft. That is why the dude from SA would be the first name on my list.

Walker McKenna
by Robert Archibald on Oct 13, 2011

Walker McKenna

by Robert Archibald on Oct 14, 2011 10:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Lindsey Is No Longer Being Considered

or at least that is the word since he was not invited back for a second interview. I do not know the reasons

I would have also preferred Lindsey but it looks like it won’t happen

Amir is only two years older than Ed Davis and Amir is the Raptors best player. He will lead the way in the future both on the court with his play and toughness and in the locker room, make no mistake about it.

by Buddahfan on Oct 14, 2011 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions

You Have To Keep Your Boss Co-Workers and Employees Happy

It is unknown why Pritchard has fallen out of favor with Allen, but Thursday’s decision was predicted in March by Pritchard’s agent, Warren LeGarie, after Pritchard’s right hand man, Tom Penn was fired.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/06/kevin_pritchard_fired_as_trail.html

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Trail Blazers have dismissed Tom Penn as vice president of basketball operations.

The team issued a statement that said Penn was dismissed Tuesday for “philosophical differences.” No details were offered.

Penn, who was regarded as a salary cap specialist, joined the Blazers as an assistant general manager in 2007.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5003209

======
Oregon Live

In Kevin Pritchard’s firing, a lesson we all need to appreciate
by John Canzano:

It’s true that Allen is socially clumsy and disconnected. He doesn’t skate free here. But you couldn’t miss the pile of tangled egos at the Blazers headquarters.

The egos got him.

In the final days of the Blazers season, with Pritchard thrust into the public eye, begging for his job, I bumped into a senior member of Blazers management in the hallway at the arena. The manager, a deft champion of office politics, ridiculed Pritchard and said, “I can’t believe someone in a position of leadership would be OK to sound so weak and beaten publicly.”

I asked Pritchard, “What did you do wrong?” countless times during the last few weeks of the season. I asked people around him. I asked sources at Vulcan and with the Blazers. But in the end, it kept coming back not to some phantom human resources issue or a bad free-agent play,

but to Pritchard’s failure to make the people in positions of power feel more connected and appreciated.

He didn’t empower his owner enough. Even as he thanked scouts and remembered the first names of the ushers at the arena, he apparently needed to do more schmoozing of the high-ranking officials to avoid taking a knife in the back. And I suspect he knows this, given his open letter to Blazers fans in which he glows about Allen’s ownership, which is, at best, a mixed bag.

Pritchard read what was written, was deeply hurt, and dialed the public appearances back in mid-2009. He stopped being as accessible to the media, but it was too late by then. And frankly, his solution missed the mark.

He should have simply stayed out front and kept talking, but made those above and beside him on the totem pole feel appreciated and loved before, not after, he was fired.

Welcome to Ego Island.

That’s the game you play when you help run a large company, I suppose.

It was telling that (Andre) Miller never publicly supported Pritchard as the general manager flailed in recent months. He just stood there, probably thinking, “Now who’s the big man?”

Insiders will tell you that Pritchard was well liked by coach Nate McMillan and some others. But that Pritchard lost favor with his bosses and failed during the final 18 months of his tenure to connect with Allen and Miller.

Remember the clumsy e-mail threat the Blazers sent to the rest of the NBA in January 2009 warning teams not to sign Darius Miles? It was initially described as an “organizational decision,” but ultimately Pritchard distanced himself

===
The author does say some positive things about Pritchard but does not touch the Oden pick,

You can read the whole article on the link.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2010/06/canzano_in_kevin_pritchards_fi.html

by Buddahfan on Oct 14, 2011 11:47 AM EDT up reply actions

Ok thanks for giving me the background on why you hold the opinion you do. However, as Ben Golliver said on this very site, I think the issues in Portland were more Paul Allen than Pritchard:

“I think when you look back on that, and you look at what happened to his successor in Rich Cho, and you start to realize that the constant piece here is not Kevin or Rich, the constant piece that is influencing all of this is the owner, Paul Allen. You read his autobiography that he just released this past spring and you can kind of tell he’s just a really bitter guy who has a certain vision of who is he as a person and what kind of business he wants to run. And whether you want to call it delusional or not quite full or whatever, he’s just this guy that really gets off on considering himself a demanding executive that’s going for the best and he doesn’t always quite think through all the implications of his decisions; he doesn’t realize that he’s working against himself when he’s churning through all these executives.”
http://www.raptorshq.com/2011/10/3/2461959/could-kevin-pritchard-be-the-next-raptors-gm-the-hq-discusses-with

Also, check out this article. It appears that there was no real reason for Allen’s actions. In fact, by all accounts Allen and Pritchard got on quite well until he was terminated:

“Many within the Blazers organization say they detected no signs of a souring of Allen’s relationship with Pritchard.

‘He was the fair-haired boy who was always in touch with Allen and sits next to him at the games. The two have seemed as tight as a drum…’"

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nba/2011453783_vulcan28.html

And this from the same article…
“If anything has become clear to me over the past week it’s this: Anyone under Kevin Pritchard in this organization loves him and swears by him,” wrote The Oregonian’s Jason Quick in a column Tuesday."

“Anyone over him appears uncomfortable with him or threatened by him. Is it because the Blazers fan base reveres him so strongly? Or is it because there are people who think he gets too much credit? Or are there simply too many people making decisions in the organization? It’s hard to say. Paul Allen and his Vulcan company has never been an easy bunch to figure out.”

by MAS11 on Oct 14, 2011 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions

I Guess We Will Never Know The Truth

about what happened.

But I do know that if your boss, employees and co-workers are happy with what you are doing you don’t can’t get canned unless it is for economic reasons.

So ISTM that there was at least one and maybe two or more people who he should have been keeping happy that he wasn’t capable of or just didn’t care enough to bother.

No one disputes that he was fired. You don’t get fired if you are doing the right things and keeping people happy.

That is how life works.

by Buddahfan on Oct 15, 2011 6:08 PM EDT up reply actions