As I mentioned on the KXL edition of Sports Business Radio on Sunday, the Portland Trail Blazers are getting closer to making their decision about who their next team President will be. As you recall, former President Steve Patterson parted ways with the organization in early March. As you may also recall, I gave you a list of people who I thought would make sense for the Trail Blazers as well as a list of traits the search committee should be looking for from their next team President.

My sources tell me that the search committee has narrowed its choices down to these two gentlemen:

1.) Steve Miller - Currently a faculty member at the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the U of O - 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.

The 63-year-old Miller would be a fantastic choice. He's a dynamic speaker and very engaging. Because the Trail Blazers need someone who will get out from behind their desk and come down from the Ivory Tower to meet with community leaders, season ticket holders, sponsors and even the media, Miller would star in this role.

Miller is also a guy who has tremendous vision. He sees trends before they develop. For instance, he's well in tune with what's happening in China right now in advance of the 2008 Bejing Games. He's got that "Nike brain" that gives him global vision, but he is also keenly aware of what's happening here in Portland.

A few other notes of interest about Miller. Its no slam dunk that if offered this job that he'd take it. Miller is weighing another opportunity with a very prominent sports entity. Taking this other job would require he and his wife to move from the Pacific Northwest though, so that's a factor Miller and his wife will have to strongly consider, because they love living in the Pacific Northwest.

Miller's son was one of the co-founders of StubHub.com. StubHub was recently purchased by eBay for $310M. Miller also has a daughter who works for Nike.

2.) Scott O'Neil - Currently the Senior VP of Team Marketing and Business Operations for the NBA - I don't know nearly as much about O'Neil as I do about Steve Miller, but I'm told that O'Neil is one of the rising stars in the NBA league office in New York.

The 37-year-old O'Neil is currently responsible for advising NBA, WNBA and NBA Development League teams on all business operations including ticket sales and service, sponsorship development, and marketing. I've spoken with several of my NBA friends who have worked with O'Neil and they all speak very highly of him.

An avid writer, O’Neil has published two cases for the Harvard Business School, “Success Factors in Minor League Baseball” and “Balancing Work and Family” in 1998. He has also written and published a book titled, “Fantasy Land to the Rat Race” released in 2000 and geared towards young executives in the workplace.

O’Neil holds a degree in Marketing from Villanova University and a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He currently resides in Summit, N.J. with his wife Lisa and two daughters according to his bio.

My guess with O'Neil is that Commissioner David Stern may have asked Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen and his search committee to give the whiz kid O'Neil a close look. He sounds a bit like Theo Epstein (Boston Red Sox whiz kid GM) to me, which is never a bad thing. If he doesn't get the President job with the Trail Blazers, my guess is that its only a matter of time before he is calling the shots for some NBA franchise.

My only problem with O'Neil is that he's not as familiar with the Portland market as Steve Miller is. Portland is a quirky market (and I say that in an adoring way!) unlike any other (I learned that when I moved to Portland from LA in the early 90's) and part of the reason its quirky is because people here want to know that a "local" is in charge. I'm not saying that O'Neil couldn't quickly adapt to the Portland market, but it would take him more time to do so than Miller, who is already familiar with the Pacific Northwest.

I don't think the Trail Blazers can go wrong by hiring either of these two men. Both are uniquely qualified and both are keen businessmen. I was a bit worried that we might see a "basketball ops" type of person considered for the team President job, but it looks like the search committee knows full well that someone who has a tremendous sense about business, marketing and community relations is needed for this position.

Again, there is no guarantee that either of these men will be the next President of the Portland Trail Blazers. Things could go sideways during the negotiations or other opportunities could trump this one. But, these are the two men that the search committee has zeroed in on according to my sources.....and I think the committee has come up with two very solid choices.

If all goes according to plan, look for the new President to be on board by early to mid May.

UPDATE: I just received a call from the NBA offices in NY and the person I spoke with tells me that Scott O'Neil is "no longer a candidate for the team President job in Portland". I will be calling my sources who informed me that O'Neil was on the Trail Blazers' short list, to try to find out why O'Neil is no longer a candidate for this position.

Just speculating here, but this comment from the NBA could mean: a.) The NBA wants to keep O'Neil at the league offices where he's a valued commodity or b.) The Trail Blazers have convinced the NBA that Steve Miller is their number one choice and the league has blessed that selection. In the process, the league removes O'Neil's name from consideration. 

Again, there is no guarantee Miller will take the job if its offered to him though, so if O'Neil is no longer a candidate for the team President position as the NBA is telling me, it could be back to the drawing board for the Trail Blazers. I'd have to imagine they'd pull out their short list of candidates and revisit those names in such a scenario.