Pritchard promoted to GM of Blazers

The 39-year-old Pritchard, now the youngest GM in the NBA, first joined the Blazers in 2004-05 as director of player personnel in 2004-05. At the end of that season he served as interim head coach for the last 27 games. He had been working as assistant general manager since the beginning of this season.

"Kevin has repeatedly demonstrated his total dedication to producing a championship caliber culture and performance for our players, both on and off the court," Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen said. "Kevin has been a part of winning championships in college, the minor leagues and the NBA. His reputation for assessing talent is known throughout the NBA and we’re quite fortunate to have watched him take his last few professional steps within our organization. He knows what it takes to bring a championship to Portland once again."

Portland was coming off one of the worst seasons in franchise history with a 21-61 mark last year, and the team is again on track not to make the playoffs this season.