Blazers, give us a reason to believe
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
The lights are off. The blinds are open. The office walls of the future head coach of the Trail Blazers have been stripped bare.
There are two bottles of orange juice in the mini-refrigerator. If only we knew who would end up drinking them.
The Blazers have either offered, or not offered Flip Saunders a contract that could be worth as much as $8 million annually. And they've either requested, or not requested permission to talk with New Jersey's Ed Stefanski about the job of general manager. And Tuesday, forward Wayne Simien and three other draft prospects worked out on two basketball courts at the practice facility.
The Simien part isn't debatable.
He was really there, promise.
Simien wore Kansas-blue Adidas high tops. He shot free throws. Then he and the others ran, shuffled and back-pedaled around orange cones. General manager John Nash and player personnel director Kevin Pritchard were watching.
Activity everywhere -- and over in the head coach's office?
Crickets.
So maybe this is a good time to talk facts.
The Blazers haven't offered Saunders $8 million annually. They haven't even offered Saunders a contract. And they haven't asked the Nets for permission to talk to Stefanski, either.
["There's a lot of incorrect information out there."
Attribute that quote to whomever you want -- Nash . . . President Steve Patterson . . . maybe the guy who folds towels at the practice facility. It doesn't really matter. At least three people said it -- or something close to it -- on Tuesday.
Those three would be telling the truth.
Wouldn't they?
A fourth source, someone close to the hiring decision, said reports that Saunders had an offer from Portland were "wrong." And a fifth person pointed out that one of the recent reports of a Blazers offer to Saunders came from the Akron Beacon Journal.
Akron is in Ohio.
"Where do you think Saunders' agent is?" the person asked.
So it's possible that some of these rumors are originating from Camp Saunders. No, not from Flip himself. Other people. People who would love to ignite a bidding war among the Blazers, Cavaliers and maybe the Knicks. Because a $6 million rumor suddenly turned into an $8 million rumor that is sure to hit $10 million and a 16-foot fishing boat if we continue to swallow this whole.
There is some posturing going on. And the flow of misinformation is not coming from One Center Court. The Blazers would be dumb to make a premature offer to any coach, especially Saunders.
So here's a cheat sheet on how the first part of the negotiation between the Blazers and their next coach should go:
"Would you accept an offer if we made it?"
"Are you offering?"
"We're only offering if you'd accept the job."
Patterson and Co. should feel free to clip this out of the newspaper and refer to it during the negotiations. For easy reference, they could put it on one of those trendy little Jeff Tedford-style wristbands.
In the end, if Saunders is put in a position to use the Blazers for leverage, he will. But if he jilts them a second time this decade, he's going to do so knowing the consequences. Around Portland, people will scowl and call him things such as, "That little Flipper" (or something like that) when they see him on television.
What we all need to keep in mind here is that the coaching decision isn't the most critical event of this offseason. It's just the biggest decision that Blazers management has control over. And that makes all of us a wee bit nervous, doesn't it?
The most critical event this summer for Portland is the potential NBA lockout. A lockout would affect the Blazers and hinder their ultra-young roster more than any other team.
So why isn't the lockout the biggest concern? Because you don't yet trust management. And management, through a string of questionable contract extensions and its dealings with Darius Miles, hasn't earned your trust, either.
That's the real problem here. And it's why the rumors feel so unsettling to fans. Eight million dollars a year is an unbelievable sum to pay Saunders. Unbelievable for anyone but the Blazers.
This is a management team that handed a head-case $48 million when nobody else was bidding. Then, when Miles blew up at his coach, management publicly fined him. Later, behind the coach's back, management drafted a settlement agreement with Miles. And when management got caught red-handed?
All part of a larger plan to rehabilitate Miles, they claimed.
Rehabilitate yourselves, boys.
They want blind faith?
Most of us are past that. But what management has is the opportunity to restore a little faith by making a good hire. And rehabilitate their reputations, a little, by not botching the process as the Blazers did when they fumbled around with Stefanski and others in getting Nash.
Management must realize how critical this hire is to its survival. The team's 2005 Basketball Operations plan, obtained by The Oregonian, hinged on an overall goal of 50 victories.
That was unrealistic. Which makes you wonder if the Blazers are unable to see themselves as others do. Which makes you downright concerned when it comes to this coaching hire.
We all want a reason to believe this is going to turn around. So give us one, Blazers. And do it soon.
The next coach should be involved with the draft. You didn't need to see Simien's reflection on the windows of that empty coaching office to realize Tuesday's missed opportunity.
But the reflection was there anyway.