Chad Ford Chat Wrap

[julius]

Man, I've been following this a little bit, and you guys are just plain out of your mind if some office hacks ends up firing the basketball guys in your organization. At first I thought this was just a lot of talk about nothing, but Ford is right. That "press conference" yesterday was really freaking strange, and it doesn't bode well for anything. All I can say is that I'd like to have KP running my Bulls, or even here in Indiana running the Pacers. I guess Greg from nowhere and other folks might not know what they have till it's gone.

I doubt the Greg from Oklahoma was a Blazer fan

 

[handiman]

And that is the essence of my concern. He's not perfect, no GM is. But he is, inarguably, an effective GM, and god damn they are at a premium.

Are they really, though? Weren't Danny Ainge and Chris Wallace widely regarded as completely inept as little as a year before turning their respective franchises around? Similarly, Donnie Walsh could do no wrong in Indiana but hasn't exactly taken NY by storm. Were either Pritchard or Presti hot commodities prior to being picked up from San Antonio? How many more clones are in the Spurs system?

I think the effectiveness of any given GM is highly overrated more often than not. Of course, a lousy GM like John Nash can trump anything else positive the organization might have going for it.

 

[Sug]

I doubt many people knew that KP was going to be a good GM when he was first hired. I also think that a lot of credit needs to be given to a John Gabriel for the LMA & Roy draft. Chet B should get a great deal of credit for finding guys as well. It takes a whole group to build a roster, not one guy. Now keep in mind that the majority of that staff was in place pre KP. They were hired at a time when the Vulcans were in control as well, oh and the Vulcans did hire KP as well so give them credit as well while you rip them. Who knows they might have the next KP all lined up.

 

[OddEnormous]

Actually, I probably won't freak out, but I will almost certainly be critical of the organization for letting an effective GM go.

You're a real rabble rouser aren't you?

 

[The Professional Fan]

Are they really, though? Weren't Danny Ainge and Chris Wallace widely regarded as completely inept as little as a year before turning their respective franchises around? Similarly, Donnie Walsh could do no wrong in Indiana but hasn't exactly taken NY by storm. Were either Pritchard or Presti hot commodities prior to being picked up from San Antonio? How many more clones are in the Spurs system?

I think the effectiveness of any given GM is highly overrated more often than not. Of course, a lousy GM like John Nash can trump anything else positive the organization might have going for it.

Chris Wallace turn around? Hmm. Ok. They're not the worst team in the league anymore. And Ainge? Yep, he got Boston another banner. Very good for them. Really looking forward to what he does now. Above and beyond that, you've pointed out only a few GM's out of a ton. And I'm speaking from all professional sports. Yes, KP is a good GM. I just don't understand how anyone can dispute that honestly. And yes, a good GM has serious value, IMO.

 

[Further]

A GM has 3 main jobs and a lot of less important ones.

Job 1 - A GM needs to either be a good talent evaluator or have great talent evaluators under him that he trusts implicitly.
Job 2 - A GM needs to be able to get the talent he targets.
Job 3 - A GM needs to have an overall plan or outline for the future.

all other jobs a GM does are far down on my list.

I think KP is very good at jobs 1 and 3. Job 2 he is OK at but could use some big improvements in targeting players outside of the draft. Getting Camby and Miller were good, but I feel there were a lot of other options in the years previous that KP just could not pull the trigger on which would have helped the team. None of us can actually know what deals were actually on the table, but with all the pieces the Blazers have had I have a hard time believing that there weren't good deals that were passed over.
The one big issue I have with JOB 1, was trying to get Hedo. Aside from that, he has done very well there.

Overall, I like KP and hope he holds onto his job. I doubt we will replace him with a better GM. That being said, If he is fired I will let that roll off my back, and not hold any grudge. We don't know all the inner-workings of the Blazers ORG.

 

[WillG]

In 28 NBA cities, the fans would dance in the streets if their team landed Kobe Bryant. In Portland, there would be groups organizing boycotts.

So true.

Because they're real. As fans and people.

That's the difference that makes Portland special.

Ironic that it seems we're run by a corporate team of heartless cyborgs calling themselves the 'Vulcans' though. . .

 

[handiman]

Chris Wallace turn around? Hmm. Ok. They're not the worst team in the league anymore.

Yet they were unanimously picked as a train wreck at the start of the year.

Above and beyond that, you've pointed out only a few GM's out of a ton.

The point was that supposedly awful GM's have turned teams around and supposedly great ones have spun their wheels, so I can't help but think the quality of the GM is either not as important as your statement implied, or a GM's effectiveness is much more difficult thing to quantify than any of us realize.

Besides, most of us don't know many of the GM's by name... At least not without the help of Google. I pointed out a few that came to mind that don't fit with the premium you applied to a good GM.

 

[The Professional Fan]

Yet they were unanimously picked as a train wreck at the start of the year.


The point was that supposedly awful GM's have turned teams around and supposedly great ones have spun their wheels, so I can't help but think the quality of the GM is either not as important as your statement implied, or a GM's effectiveness is much more difficult thing to quantify than any of us realize.

Besides, most of us don't know many of the GM's by name... At least not without the help of Google. I pointed out a few that came to mind that don't fit with the premium you applied to a good GM.

Funny. We can go down the path of internet arguments all day long. None of that changes the fact that KP is a quality GM. It's literally a fact that he's been a successful GM. Is he the best GM? Well, there's an argument to be made there, for, and against. Is he successful? Yes. Fact. And that's my point.

 

[mgb]

In the Oregonian. And I should say that he never said anything explicitly anti-Vulcan or pro Roy, it was just implicit in his tone

Sounds like you could read anything into what anyone says if you don't go by what they say, but just their 'tone'. I recall that he just said it doesn't happen over nite that it would get done. Roy admitted he let his emotions get the better of him over the whole deal and at the end all the panic from fans and media was over nothing. Heck we had Roy under contract for another year as it was which many seem to forget.

 

[jlprk]

That's not the issue, it was trying to publicly side with Roy and Aldridge by not owning management's position during the negotiations; he made it clear he was frustrated with people above him (Vulcan or Allen?) playing hard ball.

What Pritchard said to Roy was, hey, I understand you feel underpaid, so do I compared to McMillan. I'm like you. He swings between immature and arrogant. He doesn't act like a high powered suit, which makes Jason Quick like him. Pritchard has escaped many GM duties, so Vulcan gave him a tryout last summer and told him to hold the line on a certain maximum for Roy, but he negotiated a higher amount. So Vulcan (Liewke) told Pritchard's boss Larry Miller to finish the negotiations with Roy, and lost confidence in Pritchard in any role other than as a once and future Chief of Scouting.

 

[MikeDC]

What Pritchard said to Roy was, hey, I understand you feel underpaid, so do I compared to McMillan. I'm like you. He swings between immature and arrogant. He doesn't act like a high powered suit, which makes Jason Quick like him. Pritchard has escaped many GM duties, so Vulcan gave him a tryout last summer and told him to hold the line on a certain maximum for Roy, but he negotiated a higher amount. So Vulcan (Liewke) told Pritchard's boss Larry Miller to finish the negotiations with Roy, and lost confidence in Pritchard in any role other than as a once and future Chief of Scouting.

This seems like a plausible interpretation of things to me. I can picture the money guys being pissed when a hoops guy doesn't show "loyalty", but they also need to understand the chemistry of a team is a fragile thing, and it's good to have some buffer between "money negotiator" and "team builder".

That being said, Pritchard better not be the sort of guy that falls in love with his guys and wants to pay them anything. And he could be, so that's a concern. That seems to me to be one of the biggest traps GMs fall into. Probably because they're primarily basketball guys and not money guys, they underestimate how legitimate the financial issues are. Finance drives the game, and if you end up overpaying guys, you very rarely end up competitive.

 

[RR7]

What Pritchard said to Roy was, hey, I understand you feel underpaid, so do I compared to McMillan. I'm like you. He swings between immature and arrogant. He doesn't act like a high powered suit, which makes Jason Quick like him. Pritchard has escaped many GM duties, so Vulcan gave him a tryout last summer and told him to hold the line on a certain maximum for Roy, but he negotiated a higher amount. So Vulcan (Liewke) told Pritchard's boss Larry Miller to finish the negotiations with Roy, and lost confidence in Pritchard in any role other than as a once and future Chief of Scouting.

Wait, Roy got the max. What line did KP not hold that Miller did? Boy, them Vulcans and Miller sure showed KP how it's done, didn't they?

 

[jlprk]

I think it was too late by then. Pritchard had given away the store, acting buddy-buddy to Roy. I'm just going by what I keep reading from all sources. I myself don't know. From what I read, Pritchard's negative is negotiation, with both players and other GMs. His true calling is scouting and talent evaluation, and (in my opinion) massaging the media. I've read no mention of his ability to (day to day) financially run the team.

 

[BBert]

That being said, Pritchard better not be the sort of guy that falls in love with his guys and wants to pay them anything. And he could be, so that's a concern.

This describes Paul Allen perfectly. The Blazers have ALWAYS overpaid, and Paul is the one overpaying. The examples are endless. It's part of the Blazers culture and business model at this point. It's expected.

 

[MikeDC]

This describes Paul Allen perfectly. The Blazers have ALWAYS overpaid, and Paul is the one overpaying. The examples are endless. It's part of the Blazers culture and business model at this point. It's expected.

That does seem to be the case. I wonder to what extent these Vulcan guys are trying to change that culture, and to what extent Allen will let them change his own behavior. Usually guys who are multi-billionaires aren't too keen on that.

 

[handiman]

... and to what extent Allen will let them change his own behavior. Usually guys who are multi-billionaires aren't too keen on that.

Most such guys aren't known as "the accidental billionaire," either, and most haven't lost 75% of their net worth over the past 10 years. Allen's business sense has never been commensurate with his wealth... Maybe with his health fading, he's thinking more in terms of lasting legacy and trying to change some things?