Now that the Portland Trail Blazers have named Kevin Pritchard the team's General Manager, Tod Leiweke and the Vulcans can focus 100% of their attention on filling the team President position.

I have to tell you, that when Steve Patterson left the organization, I really thought that current Senior VP of Business Operations Mike Golub was the person who would ultimately step in and assume the President's job. Mike is a long-time friend and he has confirmed to me that he is not a candidate for the President's job. That's also as much as he'd tell me about the current search for a new President and I respect his need for confidentiality.

The Trail Blazers will look outside the organization for their new President. Mike is on the search committee though and will have a say in who the new President is.

Now just because the Trail Blazers are looking "outside" of the organization, don't expect them to look outside of Portland or the Trail Blazers "family" for this key hire. I really think the people doing the hiring here are looking to replicate a structure they had in place during the glory days of the organization back in the 80's and early 90's. Larry Weinberg was the team owner back then and he, like Paul Allen, was an out of town owner. So Weinberg turned to the founder of the Trail Blazers, Harry Glickman to be his team's President. Harry Glickman was a perfect choice because he was respected by everyone in Oregon. He could walk in to any business, community organization or media outlet in the state and get a meeting with the top executives. Harry was trustworthy and people knew that if he was in charge of the organization, things would be done the "right" way. Harry didn't spend a ton of time in the office because he was out engaging the business and community leaders and spreading goodwill for the Trail Blazers organization. Glickman understood business very well, but he understood people and the importance of personal relationships even better.

Under Harry Glickman was a gentleman named Jon Spoelstra. Spoelstra was a business/marketing genius who was well before his time. Amongst the many things he implemented with the Trail Blazers during his tenure was bringing the team's TV broadcasts in-house - a first for an NBA team. Imagine this. The Trail Blazers were so popular in the 80's and early 90's that the team would show certain games on closed circuit TV in local theaters and the games would sell out. Because there was a waiting list a mile long for tickets to watch the team in person at old Memorial Coliseum (capacity of 12,666), people would actually pay to go sit in a theater and watch the team on TV. Obviously cable and DirecTV have changed all of that today, but Spoelstra was really a pioneer when it came to running the business operations of the team. (By the way, one of the best business books I've ever read was written by Jon Spoelstra - How to Sell Ice to the Eskimos - How to Market a Product Nobody Wants - well worth the read if you have a chance).

So Harry Glickman was the people person out of the office building relationships and Jon Spoelstra was the business genius setting the strategies for the organization. It was a terrific one-two combination. That, in my opinion is what the Vulcans are trying to find with their next hire.

They've already got their "Jon Spoelstra-type" guy in Mike Golub. Mike knows the business very well and has even done a remarkable job of getting out from behind his desk in the past several months since he was first hired to build relationships with people locally.

So who should be named the team's next President? In my opinion, the Vulcans are currently looking for the following qualities in their next team President:

1.) Someone who has been doing business in Portland for a long time and has already established their reputaion. They can, like Harry Glickman used to be able to do, get a meeting with anyone in this town because of their soild reputation and credibility. I don't think the Vulcans are looking outside of Portland because it would take an "outsider" years to build that credibility - much like Steve Patterson's case, where he came from Houston and really had no track record with anyone in Oregon. Think Phil Knight or Dan Wieden, but obviously neither one of those people is available. Both are Oregon through and through though and have tremendous respect in Oregon.

2.) The next team President needs to have a solid business background. That's why names like Rick Adelman, Geoff Petrie and Clyde Drexler don't make the cut. While each represents a wonderful tie to the past, they are also slanted too far in the direction of basketball operations. A team President needs to have a thorough knowledge of business philosophies and can't just be a guy you can trot out for press conferences and to play golf with sponsors. For the record, I think any of these gentlemen could LEARN to become solid businessmen, I just don't think Paul Allen wants to head in that direction currently as he wants someone more established as a business mind from day one.

Let me throw a few names out there as people who I think would make a lot of sense for the team President position:

1.) Tim McNamara - Currently the President of Rose City Radio in Portland - Paul Allen-owned company and parent company of NewsRadio 750AM KXL and Jammin' 95.5. This may look like a biased offering since KXL is an affiliate of Sports Business Radio, but let me assure you its not. Tim is as good of a businessman as you will find and he is well respected throughout Oregon. He's already built his reputation and has a valuable network of contacts. Here's the kicker though - because Tim has already been running Paul Allen's radio stations, the Vulcans clearly know him and see that he is more than capable of running Allen's basketball team. McNamara is a "member of the family" so to speak and he's run a profitable business for Allen. McNamara has just the outgoing, personable approach needed for this position too. Whitsitt, Hutt and Patterson were all guys that didn't like to interface with people - McNamara is the exact opposite - he thrives on human interaction.

2.) Erin Hubert - Currently the VP/GM of Entercom Radio in Portland - Hubert worked for the Trail Blazers for over a decade and knows their business as well as anyone in town. She's familiar with Paul Allen and he's familiar with her. In all honesty, many inside the Trail Blazers organization thought that SHE should have been named team President and not Steve Patterson after Bob Whitsitt departed the team. Hubert is well respected in Portland and like McNamara, can get a meeting with just about anyone in this town at any time. She's doing fantastic work at Entercom and many of the templates she's creating in Portland are being implemented nationwide by Entercom in their other markets.

3.) Norm Daniels - Current President and CEO of Joe's Sports and Auto stores (formerly G.I. Joe's) - Daniels knows the Trail Blazers organization well through his affiliation with the team as a long-time sponsor. His ties to Joe's aren't nearly as deep as they once were when he owned the company. In January of this year, Joe's and Daniels announced it signed an agreement with Gryphon Investors, a San Francisco-based private equity firm to sell the company. Daniels could likely get out of his management agreement with Joe's if he wanted to take the Trail Blazers job. I'm told by those close to Daniels that he's enjoying the fruits of his labor and his recent proceeds from the sale of Joe's. Not sure how keen he'd be about taking on a project as labor intensive as the Trail Blazers job. He knows everyone in Oregon though, has great community ties and knows how to run a solid business.

4.) Alan Johnson - Current Wells Fargo Regional President - Johnson also knows the Trail Blazers organization well via his ties as a team sponsor. Johnson, who has overseen all Wells Fargo banking business for Oregon and SW Washington branches since 2002, is well connected in the local business community and has lead the company's award-winning community efforts. Obviously the team is trying to connect to the business community and the community at large and Johnson has a solid track record in both areas.

5.) Steve Miller - Currently a faculty member at the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the U of O - Steve Miller was the President and CEO of the Professional Bowlers Association until the fall of 2005. Miller retired from Nike as director of global sports marketing relations in September 2000, after nine years with the company.

While at Nike, Miller held several positions including director of athletics, director of U.S. sports marketing, director of sports marketing for the Asia Pacific region, and director of NCAA sports marketing. From September 1992 to October 1994, Miller led his division to over 500 percent growth for the period. From June 1998 to September 2000, he oversaw Nike's $100 million investment in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, while directing the company's marketing investments and strategies throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Prior to his work at Nike, Miller served from 1988 to 1992 as director of athletics at Kansas State University, where he led an effort to turn one of the country's most losing football programs into a top-five nationally ranked team. He also supervised the expansion of the university's athletic facilities, which included a new 13,500-seat basketball arena, a total football renovation, and new indoor and outdoor tracks. Previously, from 1981 to 1987, Miller served as head coach for the track and field and cross country teams at Kansas State.

He currently sits on the Board of Directors of numerous organizations, including the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, the Oregon Sports Authority and the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon.

Will one of the above people be named the next President of the Portland Trail Blazers? At this point, your guess is as good as mine, but I think any one of them would make a solid choice and the Vulcans would be wise to have a conversation with each of them.

Could the team go completely "outside the box" like the Oregon Ducks did with the Pat Kilkenny hiring? It wouldn't surprise me one bit.

At any rate, I expect an announcement to be made regarding this hire within the next 2 weeks. Stay tuned.