NBA Update: Portland Trail Blazers in no hurry to hire a new general manager
After parting ways with the 45-year-old Rich Cho on Monday, the Portland Trail Blazers are no mood to hire a new general manager quickly. Rather, their priority is to find a person who can connect better with the team management
and owners. This announcement comes in the backdrop of the chemistry concerns betweens Trail Blazers President Larry Miller and Cho, that was ultimately driving force which compelled the franchise to discharge Cho from the duties after 10 months on the job.
Chad Buchanan, who was the director for the college scouting previously, will be serving as the interim general manager for the moment and will coordinate with the owner Paul Allen and Trail Blazers’ front office. Talking to the
media, Buchanan was confident in guiding the franchise through the June 23 draft as his original post concerns the same facet.
"We spend a lot of time during the year preparing for the draft, and we've got a pretty good handle on it. There are some other things going on that will be off of Rich's plate and onto ours, but I really feel confident in our
group and our staff that we can get through any challenge that arises on an interim basis until we can find a full-time GM." Buchanan said.
Assisting him in the draft will be Michael Born, who is the team's director of NBA scouting. The draft may be the easier part but Buchanan has another hot issue to handle in the mean time. What to do about Greg Oden?
The injury prone centre has played only 82 games since the Trail Blazers drafted the 7-footer centre in 2007 as the first overall pick. As a result of the micro-fracture injury on the left knee, Greg couldn’t appear in any of the
games during the last season. Whether to offer a qualifying offer to the big man will be an important decision to make as the nature of his injuries do not guarantee a very bright future.
Going into the draft without a permanent general manager is not a new thing for Buchanan and Born. Last year, both the officials faced the same scenario when the Blazers fired Kevin Pritchard late in June on the night of the NBA
draft. Later in July, Portland Trailblazers hired Cho when Chad and Michael were serving as the interim GM.
The former general manager Rich had suggested in the past interviews that the team still intends to make a qualifying offer to Greg and Miller (owner) confirmed the indication.
"If Greg does the things that we need him to do or that we expect him to do, Then we are going to issue a qualifying offer to him."
However, Chad who is now in his and that has opened a new chapter of uncertainty for Oden.
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