You're talking about a guy who has gotten deals done within the division. I don't the Spurs are going to be very quick to deal with him again though.
Even though I laughed when reading that, the guy who said that is probably going to shut his mouth in a couple of years. He's probably just jealous. And as Cattano said: "You can be successful and have enemies or you can be unsuccessful and have friends." Pritchard is a bright guy, I like guys like him and Morey, even though he might be unexperienced and unrespectful(Pritchard).
Exactly what I am thinking. The GM game is not easy. If you are too shrewd, people would stay away from you, or extra careful when they deal with you. But you can compensate that with some classiness. Joe Dumars is well respected because of his great personality. I think Morey can be that too. Pritchard just comes across as some smug smartass everybody wants to smack.
I don't think improving other GMs' perceptions of Pritchard would be able to save Portland from getting screwed into the luxury tax. I am laughing my butt off on this one because they totally had it coming by trying to void Miles' contract in the first place. Every other team just eats it or buys it out, but they thought they had found an escape clause.
You can also compensate by doing people a favor or two at times, or make a couple of minor decisions that don't work out so well to make people think you are not a genius. Carroll Dawson was great at this type of moves. That's why he has many friends.
pritchards unpopular. On the other hand, Chris Wallace (Grizzlies GM) is the most popular GM in the league
Yea if everybody loves you, then you doing something wrong. He's getting it done I can't hate on that.
He was good at basketball and used that to work his way up through the ranks... Played under Popovich (assistant) at Kansas, played in the NBA, coached and managed in the ABA, was brought on as a scout for the Spurs (I imagine Pop had at least something to do with this hire), and was then hired on as director of player personnel with the Blazers. Once with the Blazers he took the interim head coaching role when Cheeks was fired, and then became assistant general manager. A year later, he became the GM. I'm guessing you were trying to infer that he got where he is now by being a dick. I don't really see any evidence of that other than his recent actions, which have apparently pissed off his trading partners. Not sure that's too smart.
Is that how he became rich? The way they talk about him makes it sound like he's super loaded. I thought maybe he had other business ventures.
Maybe you're thinking of the owner, Paul Allen. He's the one that's made of money. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen He co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates. So basically, he was just incredibly smart as far as I can tell. Of course, to many people anything related to Microsoft = inherently evil. So who knows...?
I think he and Larry Ellison could probably become instant BFFs. Classic narcissistic leader. The legal threat he issued to other GMs was definitely over the line and will likely cost him, but I don't think he is suddenly crippled now all of a sudden. If he is as competent as he seems to be, he will likely still succeed in spite of haters. When it comes down to it, business is business. What is for sure, though, is that he isn't going to be getting any favors from anyone around the league anytime soon.
Screw the Blazers. Sure they got nice players on their team that looks like a good group of kids to be around but Pritchard stole our guy not once (Roy) , but TWICE (Fernandez), in the drafts. It might be a petty thing to hold it against him, but karma is a b**** ain't it?
Why is everyone acting like Pritchard is some sort of genius? He's made 1 great draft pick in Brandon Roy (who was a lotto pick and had health concerns), and lucked into Oden by winning the lottery. It's not like he's Buford, who unearthed Parker and Ginobili at the end of the draft. He's not Danny Ainge, who traded for KG and Allen and found Rondo and Perkins at the end of the draft. He's not even Morey, who finds the likes of Landry and Brooks at around the end of round 1 and avoids the luxury tax the right way. I think half the GMs in the league could do what Pritchard did if they were put in his situation (using Paul Allen's money to buy picks). I think a few GMs could do a better job than what Pritchard has done.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...slug=aw-milesupdate011209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns Here's the meat of it: Before the Portland Trail Blazers resorted to a threatening email to frighten rival NBA teams from signing Darius Miles, team officials late last week made a brazen bid to claim the forward off waivers only to be stopped by the league, multiple front-office sources told Yahoo! Sports. So determined to salvage the salary cap space that would come with the foiling of Miles’ comeback from a devastating knee injury, Portland president Larry Miller and general manager Kevin Pritchard apparently were willing to stash Miles on the sideline and keep him away from other NBA teams. In denying the Blazers’ move to control Miles, NBA front-office sources say that league executives in New York denied the waiver claim because they believed the Blazers were merely trying to circumvent league salary cap rules. Once the NBA rejected Portland’s waiver claim, Miller sent an unprecedented threat of legal action for any team that signed Miles as a free agent. Several league executives were aware of the bid on Miles and reacted angrily over what they considered hypocrisy.
