The Portland Trail Blazers are soon to be on their third general manager in a year’s time span. Rich Cho was let go today after only one season on the job. Portland team president Larry Miller shared that that over the course of time the team had come to realize that Cho and the team lacked chemistry.
Rich Cho was hired to replace former Trail Blazer general manager Kevin Pritchard last summer. Cho’s firing comes as a suprise after the team was able to make the playoffs in spite of injuries to Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. The Blazers were also able to trade for Gerald Wallace under Cho’s short lived duration as general manager.
It was recently disclosed that Cho pushed for a suspension of Roy after the all star guard voiced his displeasure with his playing time in their first round matchup against the Dallas Mavericks. In regards to his being let go, Cho said,
“I feel good about the work we’ve done here and I know the Trail Blazers are headed in the right direction.”
It’s only natural to wonder if Trail Blazer owner Paul Allen is a little too involved in the everyday interactions of his front office. Pritchard was let go despite garnering respect throughout the league for restoring respectability to the Blazers while building the team into a winner. The Cho hiring was widely lauded and now the Blazers are back to interviewing general manager applicants. It looks like Portland fans will soon feel the owner induced pains of the Oakland Raiders and New York Knicks.