Nash Out as Blazers GM

Salem-News.com Sports

PORTLAND – AP - John Nash will not be back as general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers, who finished with the worst record in the NBA this season.

The Trail Blazers released a statement late Tuesday that said Nash's contract, due to expire in a month, will not be extended for next season.

President Steve Patterson will serve as interim general manager.

"All of us at the Trail Blazers appreciate John's effort and hard work under difficult circumstances and thank him for the enormous class he displayed throughout his time here," Patterson said.

Nash spent three seasons as general manager, a time of rapid decline for the once-proud franchise. Portland finished 21-61 this season and closed with 19 losses in their final 20 games.

"Although we shared some successes as an organization, I wish we could have made more rapid progress on the court," Nash said in the statement released by the Trail Blazers.

Nash, a former GM with New Jersey, Philadelphia and Washington, joined the Trail Blazers three years ago. At the time, Nash said he planned to continue Portland's winning tradition while reducing its high payroll and signing players who wouldn't run afoul of the law.

"I didn't come here to lose basketball games, trust me when I tell you," Nash said at his introductory news conference in July 2003.

But the Trail Blazers finished 41-41 in Nash's first season, snapping a streak of 21 consecutive playoff appearances. In 2004-05, the Trail Blazers had their first losing season since 1988-89. The fall to the bottom of the NBA was completed this season.

Though it's widely believed Nash hasn't had complete control over personnel decisions, he has been criticized for spending high draft picks on high school players Sebastian Telfair and Martell Webster and for signing forwards Darius Miles and Zach Randolph to expensive, long-term contracts.

In its statement, the team said it would start looking for a new general manager. But that search could be halted if owner Paul Allen finds someone to buy the team in the coming weeks.

Allen announced in February he was considering "all options" for the Trail Blazers because the team was projected to lose $100 million over the next three years.

The Microsoft co-founder has sought some kind of public partnership to finance the team and has warned that he could put the franchise into bankruptcy, as he did with the Rose Garden arena in 2004

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports