Indiana Pacers general manager David Morway impressed the Portland Trail Blazers' brass during an interview in Indy on Wednesday, so now Morway will reportedly meet with Portland owner Paul Allen on Friday to advance the discussions.
According to Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski, Morway is a leading candidate for the job along with former New Orleans GM Jeff Bower who also met with Paul Allen recently. His experience with the Pacers rebuilding while hovering around the salary caps is apparently appealing to Allen.
As Allen has promised an end to his free-spending days, it appears he's narrowing his focus to front-office executives with a history of constructing playoff contenders on small-market budgets. Morway, who works under Pacers president Larry Bird, has helped shape Indiana's revival. The Pacers have advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Miami Heat, stocked with several talented young players drafted and developed within the organization.
This may end up being a great opportunity for Morway, not to mention his best option if Herb Simon doesn't want to let him run the Pacers, but on some level it would have to be frustrating. Back to an arduous, penny-pinching rebuilding job except this time Paul Allen is holding the purse strings?
The Blazers are already in much better shape as far as draft picks and young players to begin changing things for the better. But still, knowing Allen's checkbook could speed up the process will be like being given the keys to a Ferrari with instructions not to shift past third gear.
Of course, on the other hand, if Morway spins the right combos of picks and player moves to get the Blazers back on track again coming on the heels of the Pacers' resurgence, he could secure a reputation as the Winston Wolf of NBA executives.
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