Portland Trail Blazers
In the 2006 off-season, the team fired Nash, giving Patterson the dual role of GM and president; Pritchard was promoted to assistant general manager where he was involved in the decision making for four significant trades which have been held to be favorable to the Blazers:
- A deal prior to the 2006 NBA Draft which sent Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff to the Boston Celtics in exchange for the #7 pick in that year's draft and Raef LaFrentz.
- A draft-day deal which sent Tyrus Thomas (the team's draft choice at #4) and Viktor Khryapa to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for the #2 pick, LaMarcus Aldridge
- A second draft-day deal which sent the #7 pick in the draft, Randy Foye, along with cash considerations, to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for the #6 pick, Brandon Roy. Roy would end up being named Rookie of the Year, and would be selected as an All-Star the following three seasons (2008, 2009, 2010).
- A third draft-day deal in which the team acquired the rights to the #27 pick in the draft, Sergio Rodriguez, from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for cash.
In 2007, Steve Patterson resigned, and on March 29, Pritchard was named as the team's general manager. In addition to the selection of Greg Oden with the #1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, Pritchard orchestrated two more draft-day trades of significance:
- The Blazers sent forward Zach Randolph to the New York Knicks, along with guards Fred Jones and Dan Dickau, in exchange for Steve Francis, Channing Frye, and a trade exception.
- The team subsequently used the trade exception to acquire forward James Jones and the rights to the #24 pick in the draft, Rudy Fernández from the Suns, in exchange for cash.
In 2008, Pritchard orchestrated several draft day trades that netted the Blazers their future starting small forward Nicolas Batum with the 25th pick, and also added Jerryd Bayless with the 11th pick. Pritchard has gained a reputation of an astute evaluator of NBA talent who has been able to select stars at the top of the draft (Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge) as well as top level talent towards the bottom of the first rung (Rudy Fernandez, Nicolas Batum), plus solid contributors and role players in the second round (Dante Cunningham, Patty Mills, Jeff Pendergraph). The 2008-09 Blazers were the second youngest team in the league, yet they finished the season with 54 wins, tied for second most in the Western Conference.
In December 2008, the Blazers attempted to block other NBA teams from signing Darius Miles solely for the purpose of negatively impacting the Blazers' salary cap situation. Miles ended up signing with the Memphis Grizzlies.
In the summer of 2009, the Blazers added to their core of young talent by signing veterans Andre Miller and Juwan Howard to free agent contracts. The 2009-10 Blazers suffered a historic level of injuries to key players, yet the team was deep and talented enough to still win 50 games and advance to the playoffs.
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Pritchard was relieved of his general manager duties on June 24, 2010. About one hour before the 2010 NBA Draft, Kevin Pritchard was notified by Paul Allen that he had been fired, but wanted to make it clear that he needed to stay for the draft. Pritchard made a trade and two draft selections, which satisfied Trail Blazer team officials.
Many people expected the release of Pritchard to take place, as they felt the firing of Tom Penn, who was the assistant general manager, was a "drive-by" warning for Pritchard.
Joe Freeman, of The Oregonian newspaper, broke this story early in the four o'clock hour of draft day to "Trail Blazers Courtside", an official Trail Blazer show offering live draft day coverage. It was reported that the Trail Blazers officials told the show's hosts to stop talking about Pritchard immediately. Allen's plan was thought to be to announce the firing the next day, as the team was not ready to deal with the news being released prior to the draft.
In a press conference after, Trail Blazer's President Larry Miller fielded all questions. No reasons were given as to why Pritchard was fired.
Pritchard authored an open letter to Blazers' fans in which he thanked Paul Allen and the Blazers for the opportunity to help turn around the team.
The New Orleans Hornets reached out to Pritchard's agent, Warren LeGarie, on July 15, after the Hornets and GM Jeff Bower mutually agreed to part ways on July 13.
Read more about this topic: Kevin Pritchard
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