The Portland Trail Blazers officially pulled the plug on Neil Olshey's time as the GM, firing the 56-year-old on Friday. Joe Cronin has been promoted to the position for the time being, but the team is still searching for a full-time replacement. That being said, Tayshaun Prince is a name that is being floated around, but according to The Athletic's Jason Quick, he isn't considered a candidate right now:
A popular name floated to replace Neil Olshey in Portland has been Tayshaun Prince, who is a VP in the Memphis Grizzlies front office and a former teammate of Blazers coach Chauncey Billups. However, a source says Prince is not a candidate at this time.
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) December 3, 2021
As mentioned, Prince is a VP with the Memphis Grizzlies. The obvious connection here that ties him with to the Blazers would be Chauncey Billups, who was teammates with Prince during their Detroit Pistons days. The duo won an NBA title together in 2004.
The Blazers have pinpointed a number of different front office figures to take over for Olshey, including Bulls GM Marc Eversley and Knicks GM Scott Perry. While Quick's report does say that Prince isn't in the mix, the fact that his name is even being involved means that it's not totally out of the question.
You'd have to believe Prince's championship experience and relationship with Billups would undoubtedly be valuable to Portland if they somehow ended up going down this route.
It will be interesting to see who the Blazers ultimately hire, but they could wait until the summer to make a decision.
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