Penn to Minnesota?

[RR7]

http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/wolves/2009/05/07/under-the-big-top-and-the-search-goes-on/


Please don't go Tom. Especially not within the division.

Just a day after I believed the Wolves had narrowed their search to former Indiana GM David Kahn, Glen Taylor and Rob Moor apparently continue it anew with a candidate in town this week.

I heard it was a candidate from within the Northwest division, possibly Portland assistant GM Tom Penn, the Blazers’ salary-capologist.

The first guy I thought of was Rex Chapman in Denver, who was with the organization for a brief time about three years ago. But it’s probably not him because he was at Nuggets practice today and I’m guessing the guy was in town today.

Sorry, but I don’t think it’s Bill Simmons, either.

What seems certain is this will go into the weekend. I’m heading off tomorrow morning on a week’s vacation that I thought I was safe in planning more than three weeks after the season end. Now I’m thinking there’s an outside chance I may still get to cover the new GM/VP hire after I return May 15.

I heard this evening Taylor and Moor are cooling on one candidate the more they learn about him. Sure sounds to me like that could be Kahn, who without a doubt the owner and team CEO were very serious about.

Randy Pfund has remained quiet since he called me back Saturday and I haven’t heard that he’s out so I’d say he’s still a possibility.

Penn, like Kahn, seems mostly like a finance/salary-cap guy, which makes it look like Taylor is looking for a guy like that to complement Fred Hoiberg’s scouting eye. Unlike Kahn, he’s been in the league for the last nine years, including two with the up-and-coming Blazers.

He worked for Jerry West for five of his eight years in Memphis.

If he’s the hire, though, talk about culture shock, going from Blazers owner Paul Allen to Taylor.

Here’s a Q and A interview with him from last fall on cap and other matters.

http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/9/25/622134/blazersedge-exclusive-a-ch

Brian Stensaas will be monitoring the situation while I’m gone and will post on the blog as things develop. I might weigh in if I get chance as this progresses.

 

[Wheels]

Penn seems like a smart guy.. unless I'm reading the article wrong (its still early lol), it looks like he wouldnt be GM there but pretty much the same there.. why would he make a lateral move?

 

[BlazerBeliever]

Maybe Taylor will pay him more money than Allen. lol

 

[THE HCP]

A lateral move without as much $$$$$$$ to play with!

 

[alex42083]

I hope Tom doesn't leave either. He's got some unfinished business here, especially this offseason. Why would he want to go to Minnesota?

 

[Wheels]

A lateral move without as much $$$$$$$ to play with!

exactly.

 

[RR7]

This brings up a somewhat interesting thought, that I have discussed with friends before. How much information does KP keep to himself from his assistants? As assistant GM here, I imagine Penn is privy to a lot of information we have on targets, future plans, etc. Obviously, free agents are going to pick where they want to go, but does Penn know the whole of a future plan in regards to cap space, trade ideas, etc. that he could easily use in Minnesota?

 

[Wheels]

This brings up a somewhat interesting thought, that I have discussed with friends before. How much information does KP keep to himself from his assistants? As assistant GM here, I imagine Penn is privy to a lot of information we have on targets, future plans, etc. Obviously, free agents are going to pick where they want to go, but does Penn know the whole of a future plan in regards to cap space, trade ideas, etc. that he could easily use in Minnesota?

aww crap.. well I guess its good that they dont have Free Agents or trade assets we want. And that we are probably a better FA destination than them.. I wouldnt worry too much about it.

 

[crandc]

I'm sure that there are confidentiality clauses, just as there are in any other business. If I moved to another biotech company, I can't tell them inside information about my current employer without getting into a whole peck of legal trouble, and every business knows that.

But I also wonder, why would Penn take a lateral move, no more money, and with a team that is worse off both financially and talent wise?

BTW, espn.com seems to think Kahn is getting the job.

 

[EPIC FAIL GILDERHUS]

Why would you want to go to the black hole that is the Minnesota Timberwolves? Hopefully he thinks this through, otherwise KP's Pritchslaps will be 33% less effective...

 

[Wheels]

Why would you want to go to the black hole that is the Minnesota Timberwolves? Hopefully he thinks this through, otherwise KP's Pritchslaps will be 33% less effective...

thats ok.. that will only move them down to about a 96% effective rate.

 

[EPIC FAIL GILDERHUS]

thats ok.. that will only move them down to about a 96% effective rate.

I don't know, Penn is a master of the MLE and other really obscure stuff like that. Obviously KP will still be able to slap others around, just maybe not as often since he and Penn make a really good team.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

I hope he doesnt leave. I think KP does a good job of giving Penn credit for the moves he's helped make and sort of makes it feel like they are equals. Not GM and Asst. GM.

 

[Bwatcher]

Updated report:

The Tom Penn – Minnesota Timberwolves general manager talks have reached a “holding pattern” according to Penn’s agent Warren LeGarie, whom I spoke with late Friday afternoon. So now, much like Penn, we wait for the word from the Wolves.

As I detailed over at HOOPSWORLD with a quick update, LeGarie said “the process” is in the Wolves hands, but the “nice thing in this case is he (Penn) is ready.”

http://www.beyondthebeat.net/

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

what exactly has Penn's expertise with "salary cap" done for us?

 

[axs88]

what exactly has Penn's expertise with "salary cap" done for us?

Basically he got us Rudy Fernandez by realizing that with adding Fred Jones to the Randolph trade, we would get a trade exception that we could trade for James Jones and the draft rights to Rudy. The Ike for Ruffin trade is another trade in which we received a trade exception.

 

[Sug]

If you want a head GM job you take anything that comes along, there are only 30 jobs in the universe.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

Basically he got us Rudy Fernandez by realizing that with adding Fred Jones to the Randolph trade, we would get a trade exception that we could trade for James Jones and the draft rights to Rudy. The Ike for Ruffin trade is another trade in which we received a trade exception.

I don't buy that. Phoenix has a history of being cheap, Paul Allen bought picks for three straight drafts.

 

[axs88]

I don't buy that. Phoenix has a history of being cheap, Paul Allen bought picks for three straight drafts.

Exactly. They are cheap, that's why they valued the trade exception so much (on top of the 3m), they could dump Jones' contract on us without having to take back any salaries. Maybe they would have just sold the Fernandez pick outright, but we don't know that.

 

[drexlersdad]

if penn is offered the gm job he has to take it.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

Exactly. They are cheap, that's why they valued the trade exception so much (on top of the 3m), they could dump Jones' contract on us without having to take back any salaries. Maybe they would have just sold the Fernandez pick outright, but we don't know that.

The problem with Fernandez at the time was that you had to buy him out of his Euro-contract as well, which is why he probably fell so far in the draft and the fact that you would need to wait a year. Portland was one of the few teams with the talent and money to be able to wait a year for that to mature.

What it came down to was trading Zach for "cap relief", which we would have gotten anyway down the line.

I've always thought that Penn's reputation seemed a bit overstated, especially by the "trade junkies" justifying the ZBO trade.

 

[Minstrel]

Yeah, I like having as many smart guys as possible working together in the Blazers' front office, but Penn should certainly take a GM position if it comes along. It would be a shame to lose him, but Pritchard is the vision guy, so he's the "irreplaceable" (insofar as anyone can be irreplaceable) one.

 

[Minstrel]

I've always thought that Penn's reputation seemed a bit overstated, especially by the "trade junkies" justifying the ZBO trade.

I don't know if his reputation is overstated. His importance might be. The thing is, even if he's only involved in a few small moves per year, it's nice to have a guy who can work the margins for small pieces of value that would have been missed otherwise. It may be that that small piece of value (the trade exception) was the final block needed to snag Rudy Fernandez. Perhaps not, but we don't know for sure...but considering that is what happened, my default is that it was necessary.

Penn also extracted a bit of "hidden value" by getting a small trade exception from a Diogu-Ruffin swap. It basically cost Portland nothing and gives them a small asset. Whether that asset will be beneficial (as part of a package or in buying another draft pick) remains to be seen. But it's better to have it than not.

Penn may not be pivotal to Portland's success, but it's good to have a guy like that working all the angles for you. Sometimes a seemingly minor angle makes a big difference.

 

[Masbee]

I've always thought that Penn's reputation seemed a bit overstated, especially by the "trade junkies" justifying the ZBO trade.

I've always thought that Penn's reputation is understated among some fans that don't understand how hard the CBA nut is to crack, and just asume trades would have "happened" regardless of important details they don't want to bother with trying to understand, or paying attention to the accounts of how trades that happened actually were put together.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

I've always thought that Penn's reputation is understated among some fans that don't understand how hard the CBA nut is to crack, and just asume trades would have "happened" regardless of important details they don't want to bother with trying to understand, or paying attention to the accounts of how trades that happened actually were put together.

Its not understated if the trades aren't all that great to begin with. Its not like trades don't happen in the general course of it all. Anyone with an "ESPN or REALGM" trade machine can simulate different scenarios.

I still say we got screwed on the ZBO trade.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

and we're still paying for D-Miles. A supposed "loophole" that Tom Penn magically found.

 

[axs88]

and we're still paying for D-Miles. A supposed "loophole" that Tom Penn magically found.

I think he got here after Miles was bought out. They applied for a medical exception which didn't work out because he actually came back to play. It was still the logical move -- Miles would have never got on the court with us again, and we would be liable for his whole contract.

What's your agenda against Penn?

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

I just found a lot of the praise for him a bit unearned before he actually did much. During the Zach Randolph trade time, there were all these posters praising Penn for opening up an assload of cap space in which we could make one or even two max offers or something rediculous...the thinking being that we would use Penn's expertise in the cap to acquire a TOP NBA Talent to go along with our current crop of players.

We've been carrying Steve Francis and Raef LaFrentz salary on the books for the past two seasons and we are going to get little use out of it other than some cap space this summer.

We'll see if that happens, but I hardly consider Andre Miller or Ramon Sessions "that" player. As I had been saying, this cap space he was clearing was going to be "imaginary" until we actually acquire the talent. I thought it was greatly overrated, and I think we'll probably use it on an over-the-hill veteran type of player after its all said and done.

 

[Masbee]

Its not understated if the trades aren't all that great to begin with.

Not Penn's fault. So, for you to claim Penn is "overrated" because you are unhappy with a trade he made BETTER than the original iteration that Pritchard came up with is, well, I just won't go there at this time.

Its not like trades don't happen in the general course of it all. Anyone with an "ESPN or REALGM" trade machine can simulate different scenarios.

Interesting concept. Unfortunately, internet trade machines are wrong all the time. But, whatever, live in your fantasy world that guys like Penn are worthless.

I still say we got screwed on the ZBO trade.

Again - that has WHAT to do with Penn?

The team decided that Zach HAD to go and go NOW. That movement was spearheaded by Brandon Roy and KP and McMillian agreed that Zach needed to be dumped. They shopped him and got laughed at. KP decided that trading him for crap was better than not trading at all.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

so...what has Penn done to warrant his reputation? A few trade exceptions? wow. no one ever acquires trade exceptions. is he more a "behind the scenes" guy?

I just don't see why he is "such a genius" with the cap.