Grading Pritchard's Offseason

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Grading Pritchard's Offseason

Written by wendell maxey

Monday, 10 August 2009 12:15

Some people just don’t get it.

I figured I’d take a bit of a beating by suggesting David Kahn, the Minnesota Timberwolves president, should be commended on the job he’s done helping re-shape the Wolves’ roster this offseason, but I didn’t think it warranted abuse in the comment section.

I’ll let the piece over at HOOPSWORLD (“Rebuilding The Wolves”) tell that story. Again, I’m talking specifically about what Kahn has done since taking over the job in May ; a solid turnaround in that amount of time.

Considering what he inherited, Kahn’s done an admirable job – one of the executives in the league who made multiple moves and shed a roster of some salary (Mike Miller) concerns.

At least one reader/writer came correct when he commented, "The Wolves now have to deal with: $23,000,000 in expiring contracts, (up to) FOUR 2010 first round draft picks, and a duplicate player at the most important position in the game."

I give Kahn an “A” (hard to get an A+ in this league) for an offseason grade. Easy.

That makes me consider Portland’s Kevin Pritchard and the job he’s done over the offseason.

Now I know Pritchard has taken a pounding across the league from various pundits, but let’s give the guy a break: he drafted well in getting Jeff Pendergraph and Dante Cunningham. Stashing Victor Claver overseas was made for the money, and moved disgruntled point guard Sergio Rodriguez on draft night. Aside from not landing two free agents in Hedo Turkoglu (who I believe Paul Allen wanted maybe more so than Pritchard and Nate McMillan) and Paul Millsap, Portland eventually got their guy in Andre Miller – who will pay bigger dividends than those other two guys for the maturation of Greg Oden, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge alone.

Pritchard also extended Roy – which was never cause for major concern by the way - and now the focus is getting LaMarcus Aldridge’s contract done. He’ll get that done too.

All in all, I feel comfortable giving Pritchard an over grade of “B-” this offseason.

What else did people expect from Pritchard this summer?

pic via: the ap

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Comments (9) Add Comment

What did he miss?
written by hg, August 10, 2009

He did not get two of the players he went after, but he put out a great effort. So would it have been better to go after a player that was more available then to be selective?

I would have given him a B if he had not tried anything. It is gallant to try when the odds are against you then to never try at all. I give him an A.

We sure ain't hurting for great players.

hg

Timing
written by wmaxeyjr, August 10, 2009

for me hg, it comes down to timing. had portland pursued miller from the start, i'd feel more inclined to give pritchard a higher grade - same goes for getting both roy and aldridge's deals done (assuming lamarcus' talks go well and he is also extended).

i also believe time may have cost them from luring another power forward to back-up aldridge, despite what the two rookies should bring to the mix.

Grades for *effort*?
written by Don (With Malice), August 11, 2009

I see Pritchard's off-season more as an "excited frenzy" than having much in the way of planning.
I'm not really sure what the idea was behind the pursuit of Hedo and Millsap was about (followed up by a trade?), then follow it up with signing Miller - where they're probably weakest, at the point.
That said, I'm not convinced that Miller is an appropriate point-man for the Blazers... I feel Sessions is a much better fit.
I get that they feel that Bayless is going to be very good, and want something in the interim... but Sessions could have been had for quite a bit less than Miller...
I may have high expectations for Pritchard, but for a guy who everybody raves about, this was just *meh* for me. No where near some of the better moves during this off-season.

Grading the off-season (and not Pritchard as a GM overall): C.

vet at the point
written by wmaxeyjr, August 11, 2009

hey don....

thanks for reading and writing. appreciate it.

ultimately what portland gets in miller is a couple aspects they didn't find in steve blake and jerryd bayless last season: durability and the ability to create for others while adding a veteran presence to solidfy the backcourt.

it was no secret they were going to chase a point guard this offseason, that's why courting hedo made no sense at all. millsap i get, but it was pretty clear from the start utah planned on matching regardless.

i think portland rolled out the red carpet for hedo and chased him from the start because ownership pinpointed him as the go-to-guy.

still believe if they had started negotiating with miller from the start, they could have secured him and still found a suitable back-up for aldridge. but when all was said and done, waiting 24 days into free agency to sign a guy eventually cost them time and talent on the open market.

as for sessions, word is portland felt he was too
inexperienced for what they want to do.

either way, miller is an upgrade at the point and bayless now becomes a guy who could be moved at the deadline come february.

one more thing
written by wmaxeyjr, August 11, 2009

and when i say "create for others", i mean oden and aldridge.

Miller will be big for this team
written by tssbro, August 12, 2009

If the off-season had ended without the Miller signing, then the pursuit of Hedo and Millsap would be a much bigger disappointment. Miller for Sergio without giving anyone up is a coup for the Blazers.

They can enter the season with a better team than last season, gain some cap space when the Euro cap holds fall off, let the team play for a month or two and have a cap room and assets to make a trade if they want to. Or they have the depth to sustain a couple of injuries and still field a team that will make a push for the playoffs.

I am puzzled by the pursuit of Hedo and Millsap but I say the end result of that whole process is an A-.

Drafts are tough to grade at this point. Claver is a big question mark. Will he be a Rudy type or a Koppenen type who doesn't make it over for a long time, if ever. Many people were upset about taking Pendergraph and Cunningham over Blair. If Blair turns out to be a contributor to the Spurs success this year and neither of those guys pan out...the draft grade would have to go down. I guess I will go with a B-/C+ for the draft with the possibility to go up or down as results come in.

So KP gets an A- for ending up with Miller in place of Sergio. He gets a B-/C+ for a draft of potential to be great (Claver) and two solids in the second round over a high risk. His overall grade jumps up to an A- because I am happy the changes have been tweaks instead of higher risk trades or signings.

Due to your response.
written by hg, August 12, 2009

Although, I agree with you on why they went after Turk. The fact remains that he was their number one target. They took out all the stops and give it their all. The fact that he fled isn't a downgrade to Portland.

I think they went after Miller in defense of what JBay produced in the summer league. So, again I give them a high grade for waiting to see what their needs be.

hg

...
written by Bigfoot, September 02, 2009

Miller will under=perform in terms of team results compared to expectations and the second year of the deal will be worse.

Miller coming an fdgoing
written by Bigfoot, September 02, 2009

Lots going on, not all about Miller of course, but...

3 of the 4 times he joined a team the wins went down first season there. I'd guess more likely it happens again than go up.

2 of the 3 times leaving the team, wins went up. In Philly it will happen again though it maybe more due to Brand.

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