The tormented life of a general manager
March 18th, 2010 by Dwight Jaynes | 46 Comments | Filed in NBA, Trail BlazersNo, it’s not just an NBA general manager, either. All of them. They’re second-guessed constantly. Every decision can turn into one that could cost you your job. It’s a big part of why a lot of them are paid a million bucks a year.
Is Kevin Pritchard in jeopardy of being fired? I’m not sure. I don’t think it’s imminent. But it shouldn’t be surprising that he’s the subject of a ton of second guessing. Heck, you’ve seen it constantly in the comment section of this blog. The toughest part of KP’s job is that nobody is 100 percent perfect when it comes to drafting players. There is always something there for the critics.
You can go back and find all kinds of miserable draft-day mistakes on the resume of Jerry West, Geoff Petrie, Jerry Krause, Donnie Walsh — any of them. It’s the nature of the beast.
And I can also tell you that any general manager who passes over the likes of Michael Jordan, or Larry Bird, or, yes Kevin Durant, is going to have to live with that for a long, long time — no matter the circumstances.
You think Pritchard himself isn’t tormented by that draft? Sure, at the time, most people would have done the same thing he did. GregĀ Oden was the right pick for this team. I would have done it and just about all of the league’s other GMs would have done it. But Pritchard is probably lying awake nights wondering if he couldn’t have had just a little better medical insight, or have taken a little more time, or talked to a few more people before making that pick. I have always assumed that he got Paul Allen’s buy-in before making that pick, and if he didn’t it was a huge mistake.
That was Bob Whitsitt’s genius, I understand. He always got Allen to buy in before a major move. Then if it backfired, you turn around and say, “Hey, too bad — WE made a mistake.” But never, “I made a mistake.” In the case of Oden vs. Durant, I’d have been tempted to make sure Allen — ever a draft nut — saw every workout in person or on tape and then invite him to make the choice.
As fans, a lot of you are uncomfortable seeing Durant become a great player. But you think it bothers you? I can’t imagine what it’s doing to KP. I mean, that Oklahoma City box score popping up three or four times a week with Durant scoring 35 points must drive Pritchard crazy — just as he knows the guy is going to be one of the best three or four players in the league for the next decade.
He knows, too, he’d have been better served by making some use of Raef LaFrentz’s expiring contract last season, too. And not have gone so all-in publicly on Hedo Turkoglu last summer. And every GM worth his salt cares so much about doing a good job that when things don’t go right, he tortures himself.
And then, of course, he has to watch his right-hand man, Tom Penn, get the pink slip at a very odd time. Was that firing a message to Pritchard? Honestly, I still don’t think so. There are indications that Penn’s dismissal had more to do with HR issues — the kind of things that happen in any office. If that’s the case, I feel bad for Penn. I hope the story never gets out as to what really happened and I wish him all the luck in the world finding his way back in the league.
I think Pritchard’s issues are his own. And I think it’s really not unlike what every GM faces. Man, it’s a tough job. And the alligators in suits are nipping at your toes constantly, ready to second-guess everything you do. Often, they’re guys who have no clue what you do.
At the same time, they’re always falling in love with some wizard on the business side who they’re crediting for all the financial success of the franchise. I’ve seen it for years.
But you know what, you can have all your little two-for-one hot dog nights, all your little bobblehead promotions, all the civic contributions and all those little charity deals you want… until your team is winning basketball games, guys, you got nothing. Zip. And that’s what matters to a franchise.
At this point, Paul Allen ought to have connected those dots. He knows that. But you just never know in that organization. Strange things happen — and sometimes without warning.
Being a general manager anywhere in any sport is difficult. And being a general manager for the Trail Blazers is one of sport’s toughest jobs.
Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen, Portland Trail Blazers, Tom Penn



