Portland Trail Blazers continue their search for a General Manager; Deny contacting Mitch Kupchak: NBA
According to recent media reports, it is believed that the Portland Trail Blazers have stepped up their effort to bag a reputed General Manager for their franchise and in that relation, have contacted Mitch Kupchak, who has been
the head of basketball operations with the Los Angeles Lakers for the past 12 years.
Blazers president Larry Miller has come out to categorically deny any such claims. He did however went on to contemplate on the progress the franchise has made on the issue;
"We're moving along. We've got a few people we've reached out to, we've got a couple of people we have plans to talk to, and we've been contacted by a number of people," Miller said. "Our plan is to try not to move too fast. We
want to take our time to get the right person. But it is moving. “
The Blazers management has made it clear that they are looking for a person with experience, one who could help them in revitalizing the team. Portland is currently being managed by Chad Buchanan, who got the job on temporary basis
after they said good bye to their previous manager, Rich Cho in May of last year. Cho was fired by the millionaire owner Paul Allen.
Since then, Blazers have been in search for a GM and have yet not succeeded at that task. The process did get delayed by the NBA lockouts and the front office probably didn’t want to make a significant change while the season was
going on. But with the season practically over for the Trail Blazers, the franchise has stepped up the GM search.
With the season they have had, Blazers are currently in turmoil. Firstly their All-Star Brandon Roy was forced into early retirement due to knee injuries, then they finally waived off Greg Oden, bidding adieu to coach Nate McMillan
and Gerald Wallace at the same time and finally, failing to qualify for the playoffs.
Nate McMillan who had been at the head coach position for the past six seasons was replaced with Kaleb Canales who is currently the interim head coach for the Blazers.
In their search for a general manager, Blazers hope to acquire a person who would help them get a new head coach and with a lot of space in their salary cap they would be looking to put the pieces together to put together a stronger
team before the start of the next season.
At the current time, Buchanan is also being considered as one of the candidates. However the current bedlam situation which the Blazers find themselves in, it is very hard to persuade someone to join the team.
According to some rumours, it has also been suggested that Allen is looking to sell the franchise, however the owner himself has come out to deny any such claims.
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