It seems that a popular topic among Portland Trail Blazer fans these days is the future of general manager Kevin Pritchard with the team.
All of this speculation was caused by the sudden and surprising firing of Tom Penn, the Blazers' assistant general manager.
It is widely believed that Pritchard had nothing to do with the letting go of Penn, and many are shocked by his firing because he was widely respected around the NBA for his talent as an executive.
Few Blazer fans that I have heard from want the Blazers to fire Pritchard, but many fear it may be forthcoming after the recent developments.
Though this article does not reflect many of my personal opinions about Pritchard and the job he has done leading Portland, I wanted to try to play devil's advocate on this topic and look at some reasons Kevin Pritchard may deserve to be fired.
First of all, I think few fan bases in the NBA expect so much from their team and franchise.
Portland fans are, in my opinion, the best in the NBA, and they expect the same from their team.
That's why when Pritchard took over and started a rebuilding of the Trail Blazer roster, many fans had stopped going to games or even following the team.
The fans were embarrassed by the Jail Blazers era.
But then the Blazers, under Pritchard, cleaned up their image and brought in quality players and characters such as Brandon Roy, Lamarcus Aldridge, Steve Blake, and Nate McMillan.
All of the sudden, Portland fans were talking about championships again.
So many expectations and goals were put on and made for the team that might not have been fair to put on such a young team.
After a first round loss in the playoffs last year and some of the struggles this year, the higher-ups in the Portland franchise might be looking for a person to blame and take the heat off of them from the fans.
And why not Kevin Pritchard?
He did nothing with the expiring Raef LaFrentz expiring contract last season, when it could have been really valuable to pick up another player to make a playoff run.
The Andre Miller free agent signing was also something that raised many questions.
Why would he bring in a player that doesn't fit the Blazers style of play at all?
Why would he trade away Steve Blake when Brandon Roy has publicly said that he prefers to play with him at the point?
Pritchard has never addressed the glaring issue at small forward, which could have been fixed by drafting Kevin Durant instead of Greg Oden.
Also, the Darius Miles contract fiasco put the Blazers in a negative light around the league.
A case could easily be made that Pritchard hasn't done much that has been beneficial for the team since the 2006 NBA Draft
Again, I want to say that this article does not express my personal views, but I thought it may be enlightening to look at some reasons Pritchard might be on the hot seat.
This story was originally syndicated from Bleacher Report - Front Page.
Read the original Article Here
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