Has-Been GMs and Future Success

You know what's soul-crushing? Okay, the oil spill. And the Uruguay goalkeeper's weak Dikembe Mutombo finger wag. Even more so, our GM search. When I heard Mike Dunleavy's name on the radio, I honestly thought it was a joke. We're a team trying to make the next step, make the jump into the upper tier of contenders and all we have available to us are guys who've fallen flat on their faces in creative and depressing ways.

That's why I'm advocating some new blood. We know what we're getting with the proven commodities we're interviewing: crap. They'll do some mediocre deals and leave the franchise hamstrung when they inevitably are fired for doing such an abysmal job. (Say hello to a five-year extension for Andre Miller) Pritchard got us to where we are now because he was young, new, and creative. We shouldn't be trying to court a bunch of has-beens to take us to the next level. We should be going for young and hungry talent.

When you build a team, or even more importantly, when you rebuild a team, what do you aim for? Quality and youth. You want the guy to be good, and you want him with your team forever. Right now, the Blazers are rebuilding their front office, and the way I see it, they have two options. They can either sign the GM equivalent of Drew Gooden, or they can make a splash and grab someone unproven but daring and smart, the NBA equivalent of a lottery pick. Sure, the lottery pick can bust out, but at this point, can Paul Allen really care about looking bad to the media? At this moment, he's being portrayed as an egomaniac, or insane, and most often, both. That's why the Blazers should go after Rich Cho, the Thunder's current assistant GM.

It makes sense for Allen to want to rebuild his reputation with a so-called "safe" maneuver. Still, how safe is it to hire a guy you will absolutely fire and part with acrimoniously within the next three years? You're Paul Allen, you don't need to be safe. Allen spends a couple of million dollars on a few picks and he's the best owner in the NBA again. Flex the deep pockets and all is forgiven. With Cho, we have a chance to the next step by continuing in the footsteps left by Kevin Pritchard. We want creative and smart analysis, rather than the staid "pile up veterans and cross your fingers" strategy from the unemployed GMs.

Of course, the idea behind this came from the TrueHoop post in reference to the Sports Illustrated article that featured Cho. He's a numbers guy with experience on the business side of running a basketball franchise along with the personnel side. How can this not be the most attractive option to Allen? It's like he's getting one of his Vulcan guys but minus all that pesky complete lack of basketball knowledge.

Let's cancel the interviews with the failures and continue that Kevin Pritchard started on the court with someone completely new running the front office. Let's go for Cho.