Oden's Loss Hurts, But Blazers in Good Hands

For some reason, the NBA Executive of the Year award is presented by The Sporting News. Other league executives vote on the honor, but the aforementioned publication presents it, so writers on websites such as this one have nothing to do with it.

It's with that full disclosure that I still make the following statement: Kevin Pritchard should be the league's top executive this season, even though the odds are now probably good that he won't be. Top draft pick Greg Oden won't play this season, and, because Danny Ainge secured his job by landing Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, he'll probably get the award for reviving the Celtics. That being said, the job Pritchard has done attempting to turn the Portland Trail Blazers around has been remarkable.

You won't see any Blazers hanging their heads because Greg Oden is out of action.

Back in 2005, when Pritchard was Portland 's director of player personnel, he made the unorthodox decision to coach the team after Maurice Cheeks was let go. Some scoffed at the move, but it really was indicative of Pritchard's willingness to get his hands dirty and truly get a sense of what he had on board. Two years later, having been promoted to general manager, he completed the team's revival by shipping Zach Randolph out of town, drafting Greg Oden, and spent Paul Allen's money to buy promising Europeans Petteri Koponen and Rudy Fernandez, who will both aid the Blazers' cause in the years to come.

Pritchard signed coveted point guard Steve Blake, alleviated the team's salary-cap constraints, has fully restored the team's image after years of being considered the Jail Blazers, and probably turned water into wine somewhere along the line. That doesn't even include the role he played in drafting Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, two of the top three talents in the 2006 draft.

The Blazers are no longer a joke. Season-ticket sales increased by more than 60 percent, and although a few were disappointed that Oden won't be on board and asked for their money back, enthusiasm hasn't waned for most. Portland will miss the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season this year, but will make valuable strides that will aid in ending that drought in 2008-09.

Without Oden, this season has become an 82-game learning experience, serving to thrust young players like Roy, Aldridge, Martell Webster, Jarrett Jack and Travis Outlaw into the spotlight. Second-round pick Taurean Green, a player most teams passed up on and dismissed as a product of the system and talent around him at the University of Florida , should be a steal who will command immediate playing time.

Pritchard's personnel choices, from the kids he's drafted to the veteran glue guys he's contracted to foster development, will take another step forward. Oden isn't available, so Joel Przybilla will step in and fellow top prospect Aldridge will be showcased inside.

Keep in mind that for most teams, losing the No. 1 pick in the entire draft would destroy morale. Even without Oden the Blazers' season will still continue with unbridled enthusiasm, because right now, learning is fun. That's Pritchard's doing. He's put together a roster filled with good people with high ceilings. The fact no one hung their head when it was announced that Oden would undergo season-ending surgery is Pritchard's greatest accomplishment to date.

Anyone who lucks into the No. 1 pick can make the right decision. Even former Orlando GM John Weisbrod, a hockey guy who made bonehead move after bonehead move for the Magic, couldn't screw up selecting Dwight Howard. Give me a top pick next year and I'll get you a stud. It's the talent you put around that caliber of player that determines the job you're doing.

In this instance, the Blazers' resiliency will validate Pritchard's work.

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