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Kevin Pritchard: A persons true character is determined how you act during trying times. Not when everything is great! I know Kaleb will soar!!! #blazers Twitter

Portland Trail Blazers, Coaching, Kevin Pritchard, Kaleb Canales 

Steve Kyler: Let the rumors begin.... Indiana's Kevin Pritchard in the house in Orlando... Scouting players. Twitter

Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic, Kevin Pritchard 

Like many of us, Kevin Pritchard’s ears perked up when he heard about Paul Allen’s sitdown with the Portland media last week. But Pritchard isn’t at liberty to convey his side of the story on the conversation that Allen said led to the dismissal of the club’s former general manager on draft night in June 2010. Like all Blazer employees who are fired, Pritchard was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement in order to receive severance pay. “It was a private conversation,” is what Pritchard would say Monday when I reached him via telephone in Florida, where he was with family for the holidays. “It’s between me and Mr. Allen.” Portland Tribune

Portland Trail Blazers, Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen 

Pritchard – now Indiana’s director of player personnel – had set up the club’s strategy leading up to the draft. They were both in the “war room” at the practice facility on draft night when the owner said he stepped out “to get a breath of fresh air.” “Kevin tracked me down and said, ‘You’ve already decided to let me go,’ " Allen recalled. “I said, ‘No, I haven’t.’ He said, ‘No, you really should. Can I just meet with Larry (Miller, the team president) the next day and we’ll part ways?’ I was like, ‘OK, really?’ " Allen said the two discussed the owner’s concerns about Pritchard’s performance during his three years as Portland’s GM, and that Pritchard “asked to be let go multiple times. He kept coming back to it: ‘Let’s just part ways.’ " Portland Tribune

Portland Trail Blazers, Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen 

Word was that club higher-ups, including Allen, felt Pritchard was taking too much credit in the media for the club’s rise to respectability following the Jail Blazer era. And that Pritchard helped his pal, assistant GM Tom Penn, attempt to get a pay raise and perhaps more prominence in the organization after interviewing for the GM job in Minnesota. There was some feeling in the organization, too, that Pritchard had acquiesced too easily in signing Brandon Roy to a maximum contract when there was at least some concern about his knees. Portland Tribune

Portland Trail Blazers, Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen 

Allen said he arrived at the team’s draft headquarters with no intentions of firing Pritchard. But during a break, Pritchard approached him. “I went out to get some fresh air and Kevin tracked me down and basically said, ‘Well, you have already decided to let me go.’ And I said, ‘No. I haven’t,’ ‘‘ Allen said. “He said, ‘Well, you really should. Can I just meet with Larry (Miller) the next day and we will part ways?’ And I was like, “OK...Really?” Allen said Pritchard “kept coming back” at him about being fired. He said Pritchard asked Allen what his concerns were, and after Allen told him, Pritchard again asked to be let go. “He asked to be let go, multiple time,’’ Allen said. Oregonian

Portland Trail Blazers, Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen 

When asked if he would have kept him had Pritchard not probed so hard, Allen sounded doubtful. “I had some real concerns. We would have had to have a deep discussion where he would have said he would have changed some things. A real heart to heart,’’ Allen said. “But it was clear he decided to go a different direction.’’ Oregonian

Portland Trail Blazers, Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen 

Can you put in your own words what happened with the Rich Cho firing: "I think whether it’s Rich or Kevin (Pritchard) - which was a really unusual situation - you end up going through these transitions. But I sit with the general manager down on the court and I talk through every game with them and get a sense for his thinking and his evaluation of players, how he thinks about our team, how he thinks about our coaching, all those things. And when I think about a general manager there are a lot of factors that come into play ... there’s what I like to call the ‘Golden Gut’, which is how good you are at evaluating talent, and obviously we have added the importance of evaluating character and it (chuckles) becomes more important to evaluate medical conditions and all these things. So there are that set of components. And then there is how well does he relate to the coaches and the players and gain their respect and engage with them. Oregonian

Portland Trail Blazers, Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen, Rich Cho 

Allen: Then there is the chemistry of working with me, because I like to be very involved, and everybody knows I like to ask a lot of questions, I’m sure you people have burned your ears off hearing how many times I like to ask questions about different things. That’s what I do. I like to ask a lot of questions and challenge assumptions and see if we can’t come out in a better place. Oregonian

Portland Trail Blazers, Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen, Rich Cho 

One month later, Allen flew Rich Cho to Helsinki and hired him after a three-hour interview. Cho lasted 10 months before he was suddenly fired. “You can have a good interview with somebody and be optimistic, then when it comes to getting into the season and sitting next to them and talking about the players, where you are going, potential trades, uh, you know sometimes you realize it’s not a good fit,’’ Allen said. “So, that’s basically what happened with Rich. He’s a great person and I wish him well, but it wasn’t a good fit.’’ Oregonian

Portland Trail Blazers, Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen, Rich Cho 

Joe Freeman: Also, Allen said that former GM Kevin Pritchard asked "multiple times" to be let go during their infamous draft day meeting in 2010. Twitter

Portland Trail Blazers, Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen 

Ben Golliver: Larry Miller found out from a security guard that Kevin Pritchard was fired. CAN'T WAIT to hear his story on Roy given his Monday comments Twitter

Portland Trail Blazers, Kevin Pritchard, Larry Miller, Brandon Roy 

Toronto Raptors president Bryan Colangelo has completed interviews with four candidates for a high-ranking executive job, leagues sources told Yahoo! Sports. Philadelphia 76ers general manager Ed Stefanski, San Antonio Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey, Indiana Pacers pro personnel director Kevin Prichard and former New Orleans Hornets GM Jeff Bower traveled to Toronto in recent weeks to meet with Colangelo, sources said. Yahoo! Sports

Toronto Raptors, Kevin Pritchard, Bryan Colangelo, Jeff Bower, Ed Stefanski, Dennis Lindse 

In a savvy move to bolster their basketball operations staff, the Pacers have reached a deal with former Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard to be their director of player personnel, sources familiar with the hire confirmed to CBSSports.com. CBSSports.com

Indiana Pacers, Kevin Pritchard 

Pritchard, fired hours before the 2010 draft, will report to general manager David Morway, sources said, under a unique at-will arrangement that both sides can end at any time. Pritchard will be paid about $200,000 annually under the deal. CBSSports.com

Indiana Pacers, Kevin Pritchard 

Pritchard will begin evaluating the roster and preparing for potential trades and the pursuit of free agents in advance of the eventual end of the lockout. With team president Larry Bird undecided about his long-term future, Pritchard's role could expand. But he also would be available to be considered for more permanent and higher-profile GM jobs as they become available. CBSSports.com

Indiana Pacers, Kevin Pritchard 

Mike Wells: The Pacers are in the process of hiring former Portland GM Kevin Pritchard, according to multiple sources. Twitter

Indiana Pacers, Kevin Pritchard, Larry Bird 

Mike Wells: Pritchard's contract is for 1 year and he's being brought in to help scout and in free agency since the Pacers will be under the salary cap. Twitter

Indiana Pacers, Kevin Pritchard, Larry Bird 

Steve Kyler: According to Pacer sources... Larry Bird's role will decrease this year and Pritchard and Morway will handle all aspects of operations Twitter

Indiana Pacers, Kevin Pritchard, Larry Bird 

Former Blazer General Manager Kevin Pritchard joined 95.5 the Game with John Canzano and talked about a wide range of subjects including some hindsight on the Blazers' decision to draft Greg Oden with the top overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft over Kevin Durant. "I have never studied a person or players like I did Durant/Oden," explained Pritchard. "It was every single minute of every single second of their entire careers. We were going back into AAU. "The one thing that kept hitting us really hard was Greg Oden lost three games until he got to Ohio State, then he got hurt again and only lost a couple there and that was over hundreds and hundreds of games. The overwhelming thing that we got from everybody we talked to was the cat doesn't care if he scores or does anything, but he's about winning." HoopsWorld

Portland Trail Blazers, Kevin Pritchard, Greg Oden