Tom Penn fired?

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I don't know why anyone takes Canzano seriously..... what has he ever broken? He's a columnist, so it isn't even his job to break news.
 
Posted

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...f/2010/03/canzano_vulcans_are_hovering_a.html

Might be a good time for Kevin Pritchard to wipe his computer hard drive clean. And he should probably get a second cellular telephone for non-business calls, and also, be careful who he talks to about his future as the Trail Blazers general manager.

Note to KP: Watch your back.

The people who work at Vulcan Inc. are busy working behind the scenes again with owner Paul Allen's basketball operation, and those following the curious firing of vice president Tom Penn this week are looking at Pritchard wondering if his shelf life as the franchise Golden Boy is expiring.

"They can't do Kevin in the middle of the season, but they can do a drive-by on someone close to him," said Warren Legarie, the agent for Penn and Pritchard. "But guess who would be next?"

The message from One Center Court has been a consistent: "Philosophical differences," and the Vulcans are apparently steamed because they believe Penn bluffed the Blazers into a promotion and raise 10 months ago using a phantom offer from Minnesota.

But bigger questions hit on Wednesday.

Have the Vulcans lost their minds?

Could Pritchard really be next to go?

And what of that bluff job by Penn?

I'll take them in reverse order.

A league executive confirmed late Tuesday that higher-ups in Allen's operation were steamed after they believed they got played by Penn last summer when he "misrepresented" the offer from Minnesota to get a raise and promotion in Portland.

"I'm not guessing on this, there's no speculation here, the resentment over the Minnesota thing is real," the source said, "the Vulcans can be vindictive."

They can also apparently be wrong.

The Oregonian has obtained evidence that the Timberwolves indeed made a four-year offer to Penn on May 12, 2009 that would have made Penn the team's Vice President of Basketball Operations.

Penn turned down that offer to stay with the Blazers, where he got a new title and a raise. Of course, Minnesota's ownership didn't help Penn by perpetuating the idea that David Kahn, the guy who later got the job, was their first choice. The Vulcans are apparently buying that. Never mind that organizations rarely admit that the person they hired was their second or third pick.

I reached Penn late Tuesday. He said he was surprised and disappointed by his firing. He thanked Allen for the opportunity and said, "I loved working here." Then, I asked Penn how he could go so quickly from the guy everyone viewed as a rising star in the organization to packing his desk in what seemed like a cruel joke.

"You were their guy," I said, "what the heck happened?"

Penn started to answer, but then stopped and I could hear him choking back the emotion. Ultimately, Penn said he'd rather just let his comments stand.

So is Pritchard the next to go?

The Blazers general manager has the 2011-2012 season left on his contract. After that, there's a one-year option held by the organization. And Penn's firing on Tuesday was alarming because it hit so close to the guy who shows up at fan gatherings to the chorus: "In KP we trust."

Penn was Pritchard's top guy. And Pritchard gets a wide berth around the organization. So it was curious on Tuesday that when the individual Pritchard leaned so heavily on to work with the salary cap and collective bargaining agreement was thrown out as if he was no longer useful.

When the Blazers were a lottery team the people who worked for Allen at the mothership in Seattle viewed the organization as his little basketball hobby. But after making the playoffs last season, and looking as though they could be a factor, there was some internal jockeying at Vulcan that left the Blazers as a more important piece of the pie.

They've become more visible and active in and around One Center Court.

"The panderers," said a source familiar with Vulcan, "are all around Paul trying to justify their existence right now."

Those guys are intelligent and well educated, but not basketball smart. And that makes them dangerous.

It's those individuals that Pritchard needs to be most careful about in the coming months. Because they're blaming the decision to pick Greg Oden instead of Kevin Durant on Pritchard and Penn. And they're blaming the failure to secure a first-choice free agent last summer on the duo, too.

Pritchard needs the Blazers to win games late this season. He got some help when Andre Miller had a nice second half and Nic Batum began to look as though he could make a difference. But there isn't a person in the organization who could benefit more from Portland moving up in the playoff seedings over the next 15 games than Pritchard.

It could save him.

Now, are the Vulcans nutty?

Allen owns the team, but Pritchard has been the primary architect of the franchise. He's fostered healthy culture, worked with coach Nate McMillan, pulled Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge out of the same draft. He wooed free agent Joel Przybilla when they needed him most, saw something in Batum and Jerryd Bayless, and deserves to keep his job.




Firing Pritchard would be absurd, and I suspect throw the fan base into a tizzy. Fans need to have Pritchard's back. The Blazers season ticket renewal has passed, but I suspect Allen underestimates Pritchard's popularity and influence with the fan base.


Ultimately, the basketball will go on, but whether the winning does depends on who is in charge.

The Blazers have overcome injuries and distraction this season and salvaged what could have been a disaster. The organization has been on a volatile ride -- week to week -- and just when things calmed down the Vulcans created a massive distraction and anxiety in the front office with the firing of Pritchard's top lieutenant.

It was a message to Prichard.

Watch your back, guy.

--John Canzano
Click to expand...
 
The real reason why KP could be on the chop block:

ohiostategregoden.jpg
 
lol, so whats the breaking news? That he's speculating that KP is gone next? Whenever Canzano speculates, its his educated guess in an attempt to get readers to his lousy column.
 
Under almost no circumstance should KP's job be on the line right now. Completely fucking ridiculous if this is true. No, KP is not perfect, but there are few things I despise more than a knee-jerk firing a quality coach/GM/etc...etc....it never works out. The replacement guy is rarely as good as the guy you let go. I really hope this isn't true.
 
Looks like Woj could be right all along

Many believed Penn was destined to run team, but clearly something caused momentum to change lately and Penn lost favor. And his job.
about 16 hours ago via web

Reply Retweet Pritchard helped Penn leverage Port with Minny job, and sources say GM expected he could get new deal too. Ownership declined, emphatically.
about 16 hours ago via web

Reply Retweet League sources have been describing unrest in front office for months, centered on Pritchard's inability to get new contract after Penn did.
about 16 hours ago via web

Reply Retweet Two officials who spent time in last 10 days with Port GM Kevin Pritchard and fired No 2 guy, Tom Penn, spoke of "awkwardness" and "tension"
Click to expand...
 
The Professional Fan said:
Under almost no circumstance should KP's job be on the line right now. Completely fucking ridiculous if this is true. No, KP is not perfect, but there are few things I despise more than a knee-jerk firing a quality coach/GM/etc...etc....it never works out. The replacement guy is rarely as good as the guy you let go. I really hope this isn't true.
Click to expand...

KP is PA's guy. I wouldn't believe this stuff.
 
Fez Hammersticks said:
The real reason why KP could be on the chop block:

ohiostategregoden.jpg
Click to expand...

Yeah that is 100% asinine reason....

Very few if ANY teams would have taken Durant over Oden, who even with all the injuries showed real promise this season, and is what 21?
 
Fez Hammersticks said:
The Volcan's are blaming KP and Penn for drafting Oden over Durant.
Click to expand...

And if they fire KP then they'll have to bring in a guy that SWEARS ON HIS MOM that he would have drafted Durant given the same situation. SWEARS ON HIS MOTHER!!!

Good luck with that. Over 90% of people that you could even consider for the GM job in Portland would have drafted Oden as well. This whole thing is beyond retarded to me.
 
where does one apply for tom penns job? if kp gets fired i could totally become the GM
 
Pretty stupid if KP is being criticized for picking Oden. All 30 GM's hands down would have picked Greg it was a no brainer.
 
ehizzy3 said:
where does one apply for tom penns job? if kp gets fired i could totally become the GM
Click to expand...
Are you a Cap Space Genius though? (even if you don't do anything with it....are you one?)
 
i want to know the real reason they fired tom penn...the oregonian has evidence they offered him a contract
 
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