I'm gonna start out with something that bugs me quite a bit; the firing of Kevin Pritchard. First and foremost I'm completely against the firing. KP, although not perfect ( no GM is), has done a good job. When he took over our fan base was reeling from all the off the court issues that had been occurring, the on court product was atrocious, and we were sitting on some massively overpaid contracted players. KP came in, and rid us of all of the bad character guys as the first step. Go and get good quality players who were just as importantly good people too. Then he reconnected with the fan base, brought the maniacs back to the Garden. then, through the draft, he made our team into a legit player in the Western Conference. under his leadership the Blazers have show continued improvement every year (except for last year but we were so injured last year that we probably shouldn't have eve made the playoffs). So why was he fired? we don't really know. there are theories and whispers about him taking too much credit in the media and throwing Paul Allen under the bus, and about him not being trustworthy. I don't buy into that much, a lot of the credit he got for what he did was from media and fans, he wasn't the one who came up with 'pritch-slap'. Nor did I think he really threw Paul Allen under the bus with what he said. regardless of what happened, Paul Allen can do whatever he wants, it's his team, but show some class. Kevin Pritchard had his legs cut off at the knee and was dangled out in the wind to dry for weeks. I wish him luck wherever he lands and thank him for all he did for this team, he will always be a Blazer in my mind.
KP was fired, right before the draft, allegedly he was fired before that but whatever, he was fired the day of the draft but had to work the draft before he was officially relieved of his duties. Hopefully KP left us one more gift before he left us. One unusual fact, the three players we drafted were all lefties. I don't know if Ive ever heard of that happening before, just a fun fact. the blazers traded Martel Webster to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Ryan Gomes and the 16th pick. Ryan Gomes was cut which saved us money and lowered us below the luxury tax so we now have more money for free agents. with the 16th pick the Blazers received Luke Babbitt, a small forward from Nevada. the kid can fill it up. he's a shooter and a damn good one, something this team needs. At the 22nd pick the Blazers selected Elliot Williams, a 6'4'' combo guard from Memphis. I've heard this kid has crazy upside and is one hell of an athlete. with the 34th pick the Blazers drafted Armon Johnson, another combo type guard from Nevada. He's supposed to be crazy athletic so we'll see how he works out. Remember; Johnson was taken in the second round so we do not have to sign him. Babbitt and Johnson will play in the upcoming summer league but Williams is nursing a knee injury, so for precautionary reasons he will sit out. So how will these rookies turn out? your guess is as good as mine, they are all players with upside, but all also have the potential to be busts. the Summer league is coming up in a little over a week so we'll get a good look at them then, and i will be providing posts with my thoughts on the players and evaluations on how they did. check back for more updates because this promises to be a busy summer! Rip City Baby!
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