Comments on: Kevin Pritchard Should Be GM Of The Decade

By: PhxBlazerFan

PhxBlazerFan — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:46:04 +0000

I agree that you cannot yet call Pritchard the GM of the Decade. He could be very well on his way though. After 3 years he’s taken a team that had huge image problems, was WAY over the cap and had little talent for the future. Now, they are loaded with young talent, have great cap flexibility, will be at least $32 million under the cap in 2010 and have multiple additional picks for the next 3 years. Add the fact they they are #2 in the West right now and still aren’t even close to their potential. And look how fast he did it, they must win a championship though before you can continue the debate.

By: dickey simpkins

dickey simpkins — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:58:34 +0000

I’m sorry, but when did the Blazers make the playoffs? I like the Blazers, love Brandon Roy and Rudy Fernandez, but let’s be real. This honor goes to Joe Dumars or RC Buford, guys who have built successful teams that contend for titles every single year without the benefit of lottery picks, tons of cap space, or an owner who doesn’t give a crap about the luxury tax. (having Tim Duncan doesn’t hurt…but who said a GM didn’t need luck?)

By: BEdger

BEdger — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:58:29 +0000

you guys saying Portland should have drafted Durant are nuts! First of all #27 commenter up there says that the Blazers could be Suns lite….when exactly did the Suns win a title? Better yet, when was the last title won with offense and not defense? Durant wouldn’t bring anything to the table that the Blazers don’t already have, having Oden and Pryzbilla manning the paint is crucial to the Blazers success. With Oden playing, the Blazers allow 14 less points per game than when he is not playing, tell me that doesn’t make a difference

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 12:34:56 +0000

@rell – Kevin McHale gets even more thanks. Brandon Roy wasn’t the #7 pick, he was the #6 pick. If McHale didn’t swap Roy for Foye, Portland’s future wouldn’t be nearly as bright.

By: rell

rell — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:42:40 +0000

GM of the decade should be a tie between Danny Ainge and Kevin Mchale.

Kevin Mchale for resurrecting the struggling franchise the Boston Celtics.

Danny Ainge for help building Portland franchise by trading our #7 pick which turned out to be Brandon Roy for Sebastian Telfair. You are welcome Portland.

Honorable mention – Chris Wallace for making the Lakers a title contender. (Just remember Wallace you still owe Boston for destroying our franchise. We are still on waiting on the Rudy Gay trade).

By: solomon

solomon — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:15:59 +0000

NETS? pleeeeezzee… as mentioned above, brook / devin / sean dub / ryan anderson and who? we’re speaking of young core here…

ATL, yes, they somehow cracked the playoffs and went 7 with beantown… MEM, yes, but needs to rack up some W’s 1st before anything else…

btw, good one, Jakestephens503

By: bookkwormmaster@yahoo.com

bookkwormmaster@yahoo.com — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:11:30 +0000

sith lord 24 says:

a GM’s job is to get the Players there. A coaches job is to win the with the players. this guy HAS done his job!!!

Gotta agree with SL24. The guy has brought in the talent, he brought in the coach, he did a complete 360 on the franchise’s future AND image. He is definitely the front-runner but like some other posters said the gms of the Lakers an Spurs respectively are right their breathing down his neck.

Food For Thought: I like what Greg Oden has brought to that team with his presence in the paint and I am not knocking drafting him with the no. 1 overall pick, but just think about how sick the Blazers would be with a trio of Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldrige, and Kevin Durant. They would be the Suns lite. I mean at this point I don’t really see too much of a big difference between Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla from a defensive standpoint other than that Oden is more athletically gifted than Przybilla (big fan of this guy; love they way he plays). Switch Oden with Durant with that team being that young, talented, and deep and we’re talking about a potential dynasty waiting to happen. Plus with Durant at the 3 and my new fav international player Rudy Fernandez (became a fan during the olympics before he lit up the U.S.) able to switch between the 2 and 3 and you can trade either Travis Outlaw or Martell Webster and another player of two for a solid big man.

By: johnsacrimoni

johnsacrimoni — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:47:59 +0000

It all rests on Oden. If he can come anywhere close to the franchise player he was hyped to be, the Blazers will be serious contenders for years to come. If he turns out to be a bust or chronically injured, they’ll just be a middle-of-the-road team.

By: Jakestephens503

Jakestephens503 — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:10:36 +0000

I gotta agree with my boy AP. We lived in Portland throughout some of the darkest years in Blazers history, with the darkest being in 2006. In that year, they went 21-61. Pritchard took over for the next draft, took the #4 pick and turned that into LaMarcus Aldridge, took Sebastian Telfair and turned that into Brandon Roy and that was basically his first chance to prove himself. Since then, he’s taken Greg Oden and basically bought Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum, two very promising European talents who have already proven they belong in the league. His first year, we improved to 31 wins, his second 41 wins, and this year, we’re looking like 51 wins is very possible and could do even better. That would be 3 straight years of 10 win improvements with most of the talent still not near their peak, that’s pretty much unprecedented in basketball. On top of that, Greg Oden is playing well, as long as he stays relatively healthy this year, I think he’ll be fine, and his size and defense are already impacting the game even if he is out of shape. I watch all their games and he definitely changes how teams attack the basket and a lot of veterans don’t even try to contest his dunks already when he’s within a foot or two of the basket, that’s saying something. New Jersey has some young pieces, but I guarantee they can’t win a championship if they don’t bring in at least one more all-star level player, such as LeBron James, which is very possible. Atlanta has young talent, but I don’t think they really compare to Portland, how will they replace Bibby and what if Joe Johnson leaves as a free agent? The Lakers will be interesting to watch with their young players, but Kobe’s already in his 13th season, I think he’s got a few great seasons ahead of him, but it’s tough to play MVP-type ball in your 15th or 16th NBA season, so a player like Bynum would really have to step up. But one of the most important things Pritchard has does is change the culture of the team from guys who had bad attitudes and couldn’t stay out of legal trouble to solid citizens and he took one of the highest payrolls in the league and has basically nobody signed past 2010, which leaves a lot of flexibility for 2010. Once we get rid of Raef LaFrentz, we have the youngest team in the NBA and we already have one of the league’s best records. I am admittedly very biased, but I think Portland has the brightest future of any team in the NBA, although that could change if everything is shaken up in 2010 w/ free agency. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t give Pritchard the GM of the Decade yet because San Antonio has won 4 championships in the last 10 years and though the Blazers have a great nucleus of young players, an award like that should go to the GM of a team that has won multiple championships and the potential of the Blazers means nothing until they win a ring or multiple ones, but big ups to AP for giving much needed recognition to what KP has already accomplished.

By: DrunkPTownLegend

DrunkPTownLegend — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:00:23 +0000

@ holladay…….The nba, Where Paul Allen happens