A couple of sources connected with the Timberwolves who have been reliable with me in the past have indicated that the team has interviewed Portland Trailblazers Assistant General Manager Tom Penn, presumably for their open GM position.
about 3 years ago
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http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/9/25/622134/blazersedge-exclusive-a-ch
norsktroll, what do you know?
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::Gaaaa my worst fear::: ;-))
Okay, Pritchard has recently said the following in an interview with Ben on BE:
Tom and I get in some very heated discussions. But at the end of the day, he knows that I care for him deeply and I want him to succeed at an enormous rate. And I only have his best interests long term in mind.
One of my goals in this business is what happened to me in San Antonio: RC Buford spun out 3 or 4 GMs. I can’t think of anything better for me. As a matter of fact, if I look down the line 10 years from now, and I haven’t done that, I’ll feel like I’ve failed in some shape or form.
So I was thinking he might be one of the candidates interviewed for GM jobs in the future, but had not heard about anything concrete.
Here is a short profile of him: http://blog.oregonlive.com/sportsupdates/2007/05/blazers_tab_tom_penn_as_assist.html
He is a lawyer by training, has worked as a player agent before, and was previously with the Grizzlies. He knows the Collective Bargaining Agreement in and out, and has been credited by Pritchard with being instrumental in creating the more complex deals in recent Blazer history. For example creating a traded player exception in the Zach Randolph to NY deal that was used to absorb James Jones from Phoenix, and at the last deadline in the Chicago – Sacramento deal when the Blazers stepped in to create another exception for Ike Diogu going to Sacramento and the just traded Ruffin coming to Portland.
Penn seems very involved in all deals and discussions, but I don’t know how great his eye for talent on his own.
If you read the interview
On Blazer’s Edge, towards the end of the interview they ask him about talent evaluation. He says that he does help evaluate guys, but he sounds like he takes more of a complimentary role than a lead role. He also makes the point that spending five years with guys like Jerry West and Hubie Brown helped teach him what to look for. Lastly, he made a point to say that talent evaluation in Portland is collaborative in nature, and that would help him/us here if PG is set on maintaining the committee approach.
I know nothing about this guy
but a key phrase in a description from Britt’s article caught my eye:
As many of you already know, the Trailblazers under Pritchard, with a great assist to the huge cash flow supplied by owner Paul Allen, have resurrected the franchise from the notorious “Jailnblazers” of the late 90s and early aughts into a franchise that is widely considered to have on the brightest futures in the NBA and is ahead of the curve in terms of the way it evaluates its talent and derives information and statistics about the pro game.
If this guy is desirable, why would he sign on to “Do what you did in Portland, except don’t spend any more money on salaries than the league-mandated salary floor, and you can’t fire any of those nice people who already have jobs in the front office.” No matter who gets hired, it’s still more important that Glen is still committed to building a winner, instead of entering a cost-cutting death spiral.
Also! I happen to Love Kevin Love, so I’m obviously concerned about hiring a GM with ties to another organization that might have a strong interest in a core Wolves player.
Another student of numbers.
Tom and I get in some very heated discussions.
Me like. Another guy who, if offered the job, will likely turn it down due to PG’s priorities.
by Kevin Loves McHale's Navy on May 8, 2009 12:04 AM CDT reply actions
I'm on board...
Although I’d rather have them keep Jim Stack as the co-basketball ops guy. I’ll take this though.
Maybe this Kahn debacle was all just a ploy to ensure the fans happy with WHOEVER they put here instead.
If it was politics
I would have said that the Kahn was a trial balloon. It played out exactly like one, except there’s no reason to do that in basketball.
or politics for that matter
;)
it’s the worst type of opinion polling.
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Don't you wonder
Whether or not Kahn was more of a smokescreen than a trial balloon? I don’t doubt that the Wolves have/had serious interest in him, but I wouldn’t put it past them to be trying to throw out disinformation so that they can interview who they want, negotiate and sign them without a bright spotlight.
Also, Jerry Z makes it sound like Freddy Mayor’s the personnel guy, and PG is looking for a business side/cap guy to complement him. This is largely due to Freddy’s work on the draft this year (that is, he’s been involved all year with the draft and at this late date you don’t want to be unprepared because you’ve just hired a new guy). As has been discussed ’round here, who knows what kind of evaluator he is.
Jerry Z also made it sound like if Freddy’s the guy, than McHale’s probably back as coach. Thoughts? Reactions? Discuss.
Just read
The interview with Penn.
This guys sounds like a winner, like a professional, and very good fit for the Twolves. It’s not sexy being a cap guy, but listening to him talk about how you can use the cap to position yourself to get talent in the NBA, and about the processes they use to manage and build their team—I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything so cogent come from the TWolves FO.
He reminds me a lot of Brzezinski from the Vikings, except with more talent evaluating ability. And for those that don’t follow the Vikes, the Vikes were in salary cap hell before Brzezinski took over, and because of him they are now in position every year to go out and sign the players they want—and keep the home grown players they want. That makes a huge difference to a team. Imagine if there was someone like that running the Twolves when we had KG in his prime—might have been more than one Conference finals appearance.
Just sayin’.
I hope we get him. I’m excited.
outside eyes from a winning organization
that’s all i ask
The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com
Penn is a cap genius
and one of the classiest guys there is… He is a fantastic candidate for any GM position.
draft dejuan blair
Should come in handy when there is a new CBA in 2011 (and no lockout)
There are sure to be some loopholes in any new contract that long, and the first teams to find them could benefit.
Penn
Sounds like a good hire in that he doesn’t have divisive background of Kahn. He clearly sounds like a great cap guy which should be handy with the trade opportunities that are coming down the pike.
I do want to defend the notion of Glen as cheap. The Roy/Foye trade wasn’t about money- (according to people in the know) it was because they felt Foye was a better player. They were going to take Foye at 6 if no trade could be in place.
The Chalmers deal was made because they had an abudance of G’s (Mayo, Foye, Jaric, Bassy) that minutes probably would have been limited. As far as not hiring Lindsey it’s likely he considered what would be brought by Fred.
As far as trying to keep costs down now- I’m sure he lost a ton of money this year considering the crowds. I can also see why he might not want to break the bank to turn a 25 win team into a 35 win team considering the circumstances.
You are right..
….the Roy/Foye trade wasn’t about money, it was pure, unadulterated stupidity. ;) Ditto the Chalmers deal, but to a somewhat lesser extent.
In all seriousness, Glen isn’t a cheapskate. That’s part of what made the Kahn rumors so frustrating. Settling for a guy who has been out of the league for years and who has a somewhat shady D-League rep because they didn’t want to pay for what Lindsey was offering was disturbing to say the least.
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Here's another take on Penn's role in personnel
But the real key in that move was that new assistant GM Tom Penn quickly realized that the trade created a $3 million trade exception for the Blazers because they had sent more salary to New York than they received. The exception allowed the Blazers to take on a contract with nothing in return despite being over the salary cap (normally they would have to match the salary with that of another player in return). This was vital, Pritchard said, because none of the teams in the late first round were willing to sell their picks directly. The Blazers had to be willing to take on a contract.
And another
"These structural moves within the basketball operations department will help us become one of the best in the business," said Pritchard. "Tom Penn is an expert on a litany of player personnel issues, and I’m excited to begin working with him immediately on next month’s draft and free agency.
It sounds like Penn would be a good signing
He has a better resume than Kahn, but he is still a contract and salary cap guy. Not a basketball guy.
Glenn’s motivations are obvious to get a guy that can manage the salary cap but keep the basketball guys currently in the FO (Stack, Hoiberg, Babcock and probably, McHale coaching if he still wants too). All this makes me happy, but I wonder why there has not been more comment from the hoopus crowd stating their displeasure with this latest development as well. Is everyone finally content with Taylor’s approach and just hoping for the best candidate that fits within Taylor’s posting for the job description for WoOlves GM?
Good question
I think he might be more of a basketball guy than we think. He did serve as Jerry West’s right hand guy for a long time, and then Pritchard’s. From the interviews and articles I’ve read about him, it sounds like the Trailblazers valued his opinion on players from a basketball perspective, and that’s good enough for me. Furthermore, Penn is the kind of guy who might maximize whatever Freddy et al might want to do because he’ll prevent us from signing the albatross contract. So in that perspective, I think most of Hoopus has no objections.
The biggest fear with Freddy is that he’s still an unknown. He could be awesome, and he might suck. I don’t think it’s lost on many that the players McHale drafted suddenly seemed better once he started coaching them, meaning (in my opinion) that the previous coaching staffs weren’t using those players in the ways that McHale thought they would be good at. That doesn’t mean the FO couldn’t draft talented players, it meant they had a disconnect with the coaching staff.
I think Penn’s skills as a capologist, strategist, and organizer/leader make most of us here pretty happy. I’d imagine that he’ll have power to get rid of some people if he doesn’t like them (Glen won’t hamstring him completely, otherwise what’s the point?), but instead of firings there might be a lot of “i’m leaving to take this opportunity over here” departures.
What I do wonder
Is If Penn is the Blazers Cap Guru- Why let him go for a similar position with a team in the same division? I can’t imagine money would be the issue from the Trailblazers.
Pritchard's goals
Pritchard wants to be the next RC Bufurd in terms of seeding the league with GMs, and this is seen as probably more than just a lateral move. Freddy would be the main personnel evaluator, but everything else would be Penn—they’d probably be the closest thing to co-GMs in the league, whereas Pritchard is ‘the guy’ in Portland.
seems like
Glen would have to give Penn the final say on personnel matters, but would require him to work with Fred. Otherwise, why does Penn leave?
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