Official: Stefanski VP of Basketball Operations (#116)

[Matt52]

I gotta agree, I'm not a huge fan of this selection either. From what I can tell Stefanski does not bring any additional strengths to the team. He does not have a real history of winning trades, or making big picks in the draft.

Could BC be paying Stefanski back for taking Kapano off our hands?

Here is Ed's entire GM career:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...tefaed99x.html

[Shantz]

Woj does mention that the Blazers are wanting to hire Stefanski as well, but that he is relunctant unless he is given permission to report directly under Paul Allen. I suppose if the Blazers really want him they could provide him with that concession.

[Matt52]

Woj does mention that the Blazers are wanting to hire Stefanski as well, but that he is relunctant unless he is given permission to report directly under Paul Allen. I suppose if the Blazers really want him they could provide him with that concession.

I don't think that will happen. The power structure in Portland has always been an issue from my recollection. Paul Allen is a demanding owner who must be sold on every move. Larry Miller, the team president, is also very 'hands on' and there has been issues in the past of his interference - again from my recollection. All of this is tied in with Pritchard as well. Who knows what the truth is.

As the Oregonian reported on Friday, Stefanski has been targeted again as a candidate in the Portland Trail Blazers’ GM search. He turned down the job several years ago as a New Jersey Nets executive, and sources said Stefanski hasn’t been interested in the Blazers job this time around unless he can report directly to owner Paul Allen.

Woj is one of the more reliable NBA reporters though.

[Shantz]

I don't think that will happen. The power structure in Portland has always been an issue from my recollection. Paul Allen is a demanding owner who must be sold on every move. Larry Miller, the team president, is also very 'hands on' and there has been issues in the past of his interference - again from my recollection. All of this is tied in with Pritchard as well. Who knows what the truth is.



Woj is one of the more reliable NBA reporters though.

I trust Woj a lot. Time and time again he has shown himself reliable. But what he says is not that Stefanski would want autonomy with the Blazers, but that he would want to report directly to Allen. This does not seem like a stretch if you look at the executives they have in place. Based on this link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ers_executives) it seems like Cho would have reported to Allen, but I may be mis-reading things.

[Matt52]

I trust Woj a lot. Time and time again he has shown himself reliable. But what he says is not that Stefanski would want autonomy with the Blazers, but that he would want to report directly to Allen. This does not seem like a stretch if you look at the executives they have in place. Based on this link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ers_executives) it seems like Cho would have reported to Allen, but I may be mis-reading things.

I see the chain of command as

owner ---> president -----> GM

My interpretation would be Stefanski wants to be in a situation where the only person he has to sell on a roster/team decision is Allen. He would not want to have to go through Miller to get to Allen.

I realize I could be entirely wrong but that is my interpretation of the article.

[Tim W.]

EDIT: Although he did fleece Toronto for Wince Carter.

Actually, Rod THorn was in charge of the Nets when they did that. Thorn was pretty much responsible for all the good things the Nets did in the last decade. It makes sense, then, that they didn't want him anymore.

[Matt52]

Actually, Rod THorn was in charge of the Nets when they did that. Thorn was pretty much responsible for all the good things the Nets did in the last decade. It makes sense, then, that they didn't want him anymore.

Basketball-reference.com gives the credit to Stefanski. Did Thorn become the President at the end of the 2003-2004 season and Stefanski take over the role of GM?

[Apollo]

I think Colangelo is going to be a very hands on President if this is where he's heading.

[Matt52]

AlexKennedyNBA: Ed Stefanski is expected be hired as the next general manager of the Toronto Raptors, according to league sources.

Alex Kennedy (HoopsWorld.com) Twitter.

[Balls of Steel]

Man, I'm going through withdrawals! It has come down to waiting who the next GM is. Bower or Stefanski. I say neither.

Source

[Shantz]

Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the contract talks with Ed Stefanski and the Raptors have hit a snag

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu..._search_101411

According to Woj, this has now pushed Jeff Bower and Kevin Pritchard to the front of the search! Good times!

[Matt52]

Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the contract talks with Ed Stefanski and the Raptors have hit a snag

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu..._search_101411

According to Woj, this has now pushed Jeff Bower and Kevin Pritchard to the front of the search! Good times!

I was wondering what happened to Lindsey. This is the first time I've seen this:

Once San Antonio Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey pulled out of the Raptors’ search earlier this month, Stefanski and Bower became the two finalists for the job.

[WhatWhat]

Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the contract talks with Ed Stefanski and the Raptors have hit a snag.

[Shantz]

Who do people prefer between Pritchard and Bower?

Based on what I have read, Pritchard seems to be the favourite around here. Both have good experience in the position but have very different styles and history. Here are there Basketball Reference Pages

Pritchard:http://www.basketball-reference.com/...ritcke01x.html
Bower: http://www.basketball-reference.com/...owerje99x.html

This does not show extensions like Pritchards deal with Brandon Roy.

Pritchard had the wealth of Paul Allen behind him, which gave him the ability to push the limits a little bit more. His Reference page shows that on three separate times he either bought a draft pick or a player. Pritchard does have some good second round draft picks (Hightlights: Omar Asik, Joey Dorsey, Patrick Mills, Armon Johnson) but in 4 years he did have 19 draft picks to use.

Pritchard also made some quality trades:
- Cash for Rudy Fernandez and James Jones
- Turned Joey Dorsey into Nic Batum (three team trade)

Pritchard and BC also share the distinction that they each turned Jarrett Jack into Jerryd Bayless.

Bower on the other hand worked for a penny pinching owner. In 5 years he had 8 draft picks to work for and the highlights of his picks have been Julian Wright (we know how that worked out), Darren Collison, and Cole Aldrich.

Best Trades:
- PJ Brown and JR Smith for Tyson Chandler
- Andrew Betts for Peja Stojakovic
- Jarvis Varnado for Marcus Thornton
- Tyson Chandler for Emeka Okafor

Pritchard seems to be stronger in drafting, and potentially analysis. But Bower has a stronger trade history.

[Matt52]

Who do people prefer between Pritchard and Bower?

Based on what I have read, Pritchard seems to be the favourite around here. Both have good experience in the position but have very different styles and history. Here are there Basketball Reference Pages

Pritchard:http://www.basketball-reference.com/...ritcke01x.html
Bower: http://www.basketball-reference.com/...owerje99x.html

This does not show extensions like Pritchards deal with Brandon Roy.

Pritchard had the wealth of Paul Allen behind him, which gave him the ability to push the limits a little bit more. His Reference page shows that on three separate times he either bought a draft pick or a player. Pritchard does have some good second round draft picks (Hightlights: Omar Asik, Joey Dorsey, Patrick Mills, Armon Johnson) but in 4 years he did have 19 draft picks to use.

Pritchard also made some quality trades:
- Cash for Rudy Fernandez and James Jones
- Turned Joey Dorsey into Nic Batum (three team trade)

Pritchard and BC also share the distinction that they each turned Jarrett Jack into Jerryd Bayless.

Bower on the other hand worked for a penny pinching owner. In 5 years he had 8 draft picks to work for and the highlights of his picks have been Julian Wright (we know how that worked out), Darren Collison, and Cole Aldrich.

Best Trades:
- PJ Brown and JR Smith for Tyson Chandler
- Andrew Betts for Peja Stojakovic
- Jarvis Varnado for Marcus Thornton
- Tyson Chandler for Emeka Okafor

Pritchard seems to be stronger in drafting, and potentially analysis. But Bower has a stronger trade history.

Good write up.

What scares me about Bower is his free agent signings (this is definitely BC's worst area):

- 4 years and $25M to James Posey
- 5 years and $60M to Peja Stojakovic
- 4 years and $25M to Mo Pete.

[Shantz]

What scares me about Bower is his free agent signings (this is definitely BC's worst area):

- 4 years and $25M to James Posey
- 5 years and $60M to Peja Stojakovic
- 4 years and $25M to Mo Pete.

Those are some pretty terrible signings, but you could argue the same thing with Pritchard based on the Brandon Roy situation. Knowing full well that a players knees are completely failing on him, and then paying him above market value despite that knowledge. I would argue that Brandon Roy's contract is currently more destructive towards the Blazers then any of those signings were towards the Hornets.

But I would agree, help on free agent signings would be big for BC. The problem is that I don't particularly see this as a Pritchard strength either. Pritchard is great with advanced metrics/statistics, and has shown the ability to pull in some quality second round picks because of that. But what are his key free agent signings that would put him as a stronger candidate then Bower?

[slaw]

Who do people prefer between Pritchard and Bower?

Based solely on their track records, I'd go with Pritchard. I prefer his overall approach to team building. Especially in a market like Toronto where accumulating a variety of cost-controllable assets and exploiting inefficiencies in the system are key to building a good organization. I imagine Pritchard as an outside-the-box kinda guy and the Raptors definitely need more of that.

Especially if the new world order is a hard-cap or de facto hard cap. The rich teams will be using those saved salary monies to buy draft picks, stash players in Europe, beef up scouting and coaching departments, improve facilities, etc. Teams like Toronto will have to keep pace and be creative in doing so. Nothing in Bower's history suggests to me he is the type of creative thinker they need going forward.

[Matt52]

Based solely on their track records, I'd go with Pritchard. I prefer his overall approach to team building. Especially in a market like Toronto where accumulating a variety of cost-controllable assets and exploiting inefficiencies in the system are key to building a good organization. I imagine Pritchard as an outside-the-box kinda guy and the Raptors definitely need more of that.

Especially if the new world order is a hard-cap or de facto hard cap. The rich teams will be using those saved salary monies to buy draft picks, stash players in Europe, beef up scouting and coaching departments, improve facilities, etc. Teams like Toronto will have to keep pace and be creative in doing so. Nothing in Bower's history suggests to me he is the type of creative thinker they need going forward.

I had not thought of that. Thanks.

I think Toronto will be alright though. BC has a solid track record on drafting. Also Toronto was 5th in revenue I believe. I think they will do very well in a hard cap or defacto hard cap environment. Toronto needs someone who can control Colangelo's contract offerings - I don't think Stefanski or Bower are that guy.

[Apollo]

Am I the only one feeling that this process has been dragged out a little too long? Linsey pulled out a while ago. Now it sort of sounds like Stefanski may have as well. What's the problem here? Maybe the perception that Colangelo will be heavily hands on is bothering people?

[Bendit]

Or that MLSE possibly has a finger in the decision making with senior hires like this?