Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder kicks off at 5:30pm Pacific in Oklahoma City, and while the Portland Trail Blazers failed to make the playoffs this season, a number of folks with ties to Portland helped guide the Pacers to their tremendous season.
Kevin Pritchard, President of Basketball Operations for the Pacers, tops the list. Pritchard was hired by the Blazers prior to the 2004-2005 as Director of Player Personnel. When Head Coach Maurice Cheeks was fired, Pritchard was made interim head coach for the final 27 games of that season, compiling a 5-22 record. Before the 2006-2007 season Pritchard was made an assistant general manager. When GM Steve Patterson resigned in March of 2007, Pritchard was promoted to general manager. In spite of the Blazers winning 50 games in 2009-2010 while suffering a torrent of injuries, Pritchard was fired just an hour or so before the beginning of the 2010 NBA Draft. Pritchard stayed on long enough to complete the draft.
The current general manager of the Pacers, Chad Buchanan, also has ties to the Blazers. Buchanan served in Portland as the director of college scouting from 2005-2015. He was also named interim general manager from 2011-2012. His tenure in the GM chair is most notable for the trade of Gerald Wallace to the Nets in exchange for Shawne Williams, Mehmet Okur and a top three protected 2012 first-round pick. The players the Blazers received never suited up for Portland, but the pick landed at number six, where the Blazers drafted a certain four-year guard named Damian Lillard.
Pritchard joined the Pacers in 2011 as their director of player personnel. He became GM in 2012, and was made president of basketball operations in 2017. Buchanan was made GM of the Pacers in 2017. Together they have helped reshape a team that missed the playoffs three seasons in a row from 2020-2023 to a team that lost in the Eastern Conference Finals last season and now find themselves in the NBA Finals after defeating the New York Knicks in the previous round.
The connections to Portland don’t stop there. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle gained experience in Portland, serving as an assistant coach under P. J. Carlesimo from 1994-1997. Two current assistant coaches for Indiana also served the Blazers: Jannero Pargo was an assistant coach for the Blazers from 2019-2021, while Maurice Baker finished his playing career with Portland, playing 18 minutes over four games during the 2004-2005 season without scoring.
The only direct connection I can find to the Oklahoma City Thunder is Eric Maynor, who is an assistant coach. Maynor played in 27 games for the Blazers in 2012-2013, averaging 6.9 points per game.
Let us know in the comments if any other players, coaches, or staff in the finals have a Portland connection that we missed!