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Posts: 30259
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Joined: 1/16/2004
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Character counts a lot
Pritchard’s basketball pedigree is top-drawer. He played for Larry Brown and Roy Williams at Kansas. Two of Brown’s assistants during his time there were Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford, who run the San Antonio organization that has won four NBA championships over the past nine seasons.
Pritchard spent two years as a scout for the Spurs before coming to Portland in 2004. Brown, Williams, Popovich and Buford are his basketball mentors, and he wants to mirror their philosophies as he develops his own with the Blazers.
“San Antonio kind of put the stamp on me,” Pritchard says. “The common denominator of championship teams is that the locker room is great. Players don’t have to hang out or do everything together, but somebody was willing to step up and take responsibility. Good locker room, good people.
“Maybe I overemphasize it. Has it turned me away from talented players who maybe aren’t the best people? Absolutely. What it boils down to, I want to be a part of something really special, and I want to be in the trenches with people I admire.”
It’s why Pritchard traded Zach Randolph and wanted nothing to do with guard Steve Francis. He didn’t want their influence around his team’s young players. It’s why Pritchard says he will do everything he can to support coach Nate McMillan and help the Blazers’ young fleet of executives learn the business. We all know why Portland wanted to trade way Randolph. Thats not the arguement, The arguement is what was the trade value of Randolph because even though he was selfish, he still was young and produced. You claim that the only reason why Portland got the deal they got was because they traded with Isiah Thomas and that nobody wanted to touch Randolph. So lets view how columnist viewed Randolphs value after Portland got the #1 pick. With Blazers having No. 1 pick, Randolph could be traded
Posted by Chris Mackinder May 25, 2007 10:56AM
There have been talks in recent days that the Portland Trail Blazers not only will take Greg Oden with the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, but they also would love to draft fellow Ohio State point guard Mike Conley Jr. That, of course, would mean Portland would have to trade some of its current players - possibly former MSU star Zach Randolph.
May 24, 2007, The Daily Herald: If (the Blazers are looking to trade Randolph), consider the Bulls interested. A year ago, that probably wasn't the case, since Randolph had several brushes with the law, and general manager John Paxson is choosy about the kind of characters he allows in the locker room.
But now that the Bulls' braintrust feels the team is close to becoming a championship contender, they are willing to take a chance. They no doubt watched with envy as Rasheed Wallace helped close out the second-round playoff series against Detroit. If only the Bulls could land a troubled former Trail Blazer of their own.
Realistically, though, it's difficult to imagine why Portland would feel much need to trade Randolph. The 25-year-old is coming off the best season of his career (23.6 points, 10.1 rebounds).
Randolph is owed $61 million over the next four years, but the Blazers already solved most of their payroll problems. Chances are, there won't be a Randolph fire sale like there was for Wallace three years ago.
ESPN.com's Chad Ford answered questions about a possible Randolph-to-Chicago deal in a SportsNation chat session yesterday.
May 24, 2007, ESPN.com:
W. Thinker, (Washington D.C.): Everyone is making this decision Portland has too difficult. Why not just ship Randolph and Aldridge to Seattle for their pick this year and get Oden AND Durant? It just makes sense, right?
Chad Ford: GREED. Get the chance to draft the best big man prospect since Tim Duncan and you want Kevin Durant or Mike Conley too? Knowing Pritchard, he wouldn't hesitate to make either of those deals. It's obvious he's going to move Zach Randolph here ... maybe Martell Webster and see if he can get a more experienced small forward back. Dallas and Chicago seem like the best candidates. Portland will want Josh Howard, though I find it hard to believe Dallas would let him go. Chicago might be willing to do Andres Nocioni and P.J. Brown in a sign and trade type of deal. That could make some sense for Portland though in the latter case, I may try to push for Chicago's No. 9 pick as part of the deal.
Chicago Tribune columnist Sam Smith believes it will take a lot for the Blazers to draft both Oden and Conely Jr., even with trading Randolph.
May 24, 2007, Chicago Tribune: He sounds like a perfect match for a team like the Bulls, a 6-foot-9-inch, 270-pound player with a rare, classic post-up game and outside shot. He averaged 23.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game last season, but with Oden and last year's No. 1 pick, LaMarcus Aldridge, there certainly is no room for Randolph in Portland. His time there was rumored to be up anyway, no matter whom the team would get in the draft.
The first order of business for the Trail Blazers, now that they can have Oden, will be to see if they can trade for his high school and college buddy, point guard Mike Conley Jr.
That probably would require a trade with the Atlanta Hawks, who have the No. 3 pick and a need for a point guard. They already have floated suggestions they might take Conley.
The Trail Blazers have Georgia Tech point guard Jarrett Jack. Perhaps there could be a deal by packaging him with Randolph and a future No. 1. Big-time agent Billy Duffy has been rumored for weeks to be working on uniting the pair no matter where Oden goes. Duffy is working with Conley and his father, who is acting as the agent for his son and Oden.
The most recent talk has the Trail Blazers trying to trade Randolph to the Washington Wizards, who are in desperate need of interior scoring. Perhaps in a multiteam deal with Atlanta? Antawn Jamison, who's going into his final contract season with the Wizards, could be part of a deal to offset Randolph's $13.3 million salary for next season.
A bay area Web site has said the Golden State Warriors might be a possible landing ground for Randolph.
May 24, 2007, Insidebayarea.com: Some will say the Warriors were among the biggest losers Tuesday because their competition for the bottom-end playoff spots in the West got tougher with Portland and Seattle landing the top two draft picks.
While that's true, the Warriors might have caught a break with the Trail Blazers winning the Greg Oden sweepstakes. Suddenly, the low-post force Golden State so strongly covets -- Zach Randolph -- just might become available.
Monta Ellis (better fit than Randolph), Sarunas Jasikevicius (last year of his deal), Adonal Foyle (veteran to work with Oden) and the No. 18 pick (another young player) for Randolph would seem to help both teams and passes salary-cap inspection.
Look at the deals speculated, Mike Conley Jr which means they would have had to get the #3pick, Josh Howard, Monta Ellis, No. 18pick , Foyle & Jasikevicius. Looks to me like these columnist didn't get the memo on how nobody wanted to touch Randolph and his contract. Even with his baggage there was only 2-3 sentances about it in the whole thing. Yet a bunch of talk about his production and skill. Thats because young guys who produce allways will hold value even if they have baggage. We are willing to sell Randolph for the bargain price of only Reggie Evens because he doesn't fit in with D'Antoni's style and doesn't fit in with Eddie Curry and we are trying to get cap relief for 2010 IMO. Not because we need to get rid of him so bad that we need to overpay to unload him or because his value hit so low that thats what he is worth. IMO Philly is just trying to fleece the Knicks because they know that Randolph isn't a good fit here and we are desperately trying to unload him. Not because they feel that is his value and there scared of the risk. https://vote.nba.com/en Vote for your Knicks.
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