Whats the story on David Morway?

DusterBuster · Post #1 » by **DusterBuster** » Fri May 4, 2012 9:10 pm

There's a report here in Portland that the Blazers have requested and been granted permission to interview the Pacers GM David Morway.

http://www.csnnw.com/pages/landingblaze ... eedID=5212

I'm curious to how the Pacers FO works exactly. When reading over the 08 press release by the Pacers announcing Morway's promotion to being GM, they basically made him sound like a glorified Assistant GM to Larry Bird. In fact, a direct quote from the press release describing what Morway's new responsibilities entail said that he would be "assisting Pacers President of Basketball Larry Bird with all personnel decisions."

So what's the story? Is he REALLY the GM, or is he basically just a GM in title only and the real decision lie with Bird?

Post #2 » by **Miller4ever** » Fri May 4, 2012 9:27 pm

I'm not sure, either, but he's more than a glorified assistant and has significant input. In fact, he was involved even when Donnie Walsh was around.

Post #3 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Sat May 5, 2012 2:04 am

He handles a lot of the finances of personnel, and does a lot of the scouting. I think ultimately, the buck stops at Bird, but that Morway has a lot of leeway and input.

However, if Bird retires as rumored, Morway isn't a shoo-in to get the job, especially after we also hired Pritchard as a consultant.

DWCP2 · Post #4 » by **DWCP2** » Sat May 5, 2012 12:00 pm

Scoot McGroot wrote:He handles a lot of the finances of personnel, and does a lot of the scouting. I think ultimately, the buck stops at Bird, but that Morway has a lot of leeway and input.

However, if Bird retires as rumored, Morway isn't a shoo-in to get the job, especially after we also hired Pritchard as a consultant.

If I read rumor articles right. Pritchard isn't even a shoe in to get the job either. Simon will look at either Chris Mullin or Reggie to run the show.

Post #5 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Sat May 5, 2012 12:58 pm

No, there is no shoo-in on this one. There's even rumors of Donnie coming back (which, to me, is crazy).

Wizop · Post #6 » by **Wizop** » Sat May 5, 2012 1:39 pm

Donnie coming back is only crazy if Larry stays. they each deferred to the other too much. I'm also not sure why Mel Daniels was booted out and I'd think he could come back if Larry left.

I'm not sure how Morway's duties are defined. Larry is high enough on the totem pole that I'm sure more than one department head reports to him. I don't know the chart though. Morris is near the top somewhere on the community side. Fuson runs the fieldhouse. Terry Tiernon does sponsorships and someone else does tickets. I'm more familiar with the Colts organization where I know the football side reports to Grigson and the administrative side reports to Pete Ward and they both report to Jim. I think the Pacer chart is more complicated because they have all the non-basketball events to administer (the Entertainment side of Pacer Sports and Entertainment). in any event I'm sure Morway is much more than an assistant.

DusterBuster · Post #7 » by **DusterBuster** » Sat May 5, 2012 11:28 pm

Good to hear that it sounds like he has a little more input than it seemed in the press release. It still worries me a bit as it seems really hard to pin down exactly what moves he was directly responsible for and which were Birds' moves. That said, it seems that Morway is comfortable working in a "unconventional" FO environment which will definitely help in Portland. In that respect, he might end up fitting right in if he ends up being the guy they pick.

Wizop · Post #8 » by **Wizop** » Sun May 6, 2012 1:26 am

DusterBuster wrote:Good to hear that it sounds like he has a little more input than it seemed in the press release.

poke around in the archives on pacers.com and you should be able to find some video interviews with Morway which will give you some background on the man.

Post #9 » by **Miller4ever** » Wed May 9, 2012 5:20 am

Looks like this is happening. It'll be interesting if Pritchard becomes our guy. We would have effectively swapped GM's.

Hopefully Pritchard doesn't ignore health concerns this time.

DusterBuster · Post #10 » by **DusterBuster** » Wed May 9, 2012 4:08 pm

I do wonder what KP might be telling Morway about the Blazers....

Post #11 » by **Gremz** » Thu May 10, 2012 10:04 am

Wants to be the man? :dontknow:

Post #12 » by **PR07** » Thu May 10, 2012 3:56 pm

Seems like a pretty good sports business mind. If Bird bolts, I'd like to see him promoted here for continuity reasons.

I really don't want to see Donnie Walsh back. I respect everything he did back in the day, but he's one of the big reasons that we were in the big mess that we got in. It wouldn't seem fair for him to return once Bird cleaned up his mess.

DusterBuster · Post #13 » by **DusterBuster** » Thu May 10, 2012 5:02 pm

Gremz wrote:Wants to be the man?

Yeah, I suppose KP could be talking up the Blazer job to Morway to make less competition for him to get the GM spot in Indy.

For most Blazer fans, Morway has become one the favorites outside of a far-fetched chance at Mitch Kupchak.

DusterBuster · Post #14 » by **DusterBuster** » Thu May 10, 2012 6:53 pm

Sam Amick is reporting that Morway is meeting with Paul Allen tomorrow. Team President Larry Miller said that candidates go through 3 steps in the interview process....

Step 1 - Larry Miller makes contact with a candidate for an initial interview.
Step 2 - Miller and Paul Allen's first hand man Burt Kolde meet with the candidate for a formal interview.
Step 3 - The candidate interviews face to face with Paul Allen.

When Miller explains the interview process, he also said that they were only going to bring about 3 candidates to Paul Allen for him to choose from. Jeff Bower has already interviewed with Allen and now Morway did, so it looks like they're getting down to the wire with the interviews.

BTW, good luck against Meamee, kick their arse.

PDXKnight · Post #15 » by **PDXKnight** » Thu May 10, 2012 8:35 pm

The more I hear about Morway the more he seems like a good candidate. Hopefully no matter what Jeff Bower doesn't become the Blazers GM

.

Post #16 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Fri May 11, 2012 3:15 pm

It's amazing how a little success can change an image. I don't think ANYONE would have considered Morway 2 years ago, and very few would have even thought of him last year.

DusterBuster · Post #17 » by **DusterBuster** » Fri May 11, 2012 4:07 pm

Scoot McGroot wrote:It's amazing how a little success can change an image. I don't think ANYONE would have considered Morway 2 years ago, and very few would have even thought of him last year.

To be fair, I think Blazer fans would have impressed with him even without the success. Particularly when talking about his drafting acumen. With or without the playoff success this year, the Pacers have been one of the better drafting teams, finding core talent in the 10-20 range for quite a few seasons now. That's a rarity in the NBA.

On top of that, most of the candidates the Blazers are seriously considering are far inferior to Morway, so it's not like he has a ton of competition. The reports are that the other two serious candidates are ex-Hornet GM Jeff Bower and current Hawks GM Rick Sund..... ugh.

That said, do any of you guys know anything about Morway's checkered past from the MLB in the late 90's?

http://www.csnnw.com/pages/landingblaze ... eedID=5212

Post #18 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Fri May 11, 2012 6:39 pm

How do you know Morway's "drafting acumen"? We're all at a loss as to who had the "acumen" to draft guys like Hibbert and Paul George where they did. They also drafted Tyler Hansbrough in the lottery, as well as drug dealing Shawne Williams.

DusterBuster · Post #19 » by **DusterBuster** » Fri May 11, 2012 8:13 pm

Scoot McGroot wrote:How do you know Morway's "drafting acumen"? We're all at a loss as to who had the "acumen" to draft guys like Hibbert and Paul George where they did. They also drafted Tyler Hansbrough in the lottery, as well as drug dealing Shawne Williams.

I was under the impression that Morway was the head of scouting for the Pacers.