Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien is not under consideration to be the Portland Trail Blazers’ next general manager.
Blazers president Larry Miller told reporters Thursday night that Warkentien, who is a former Blazers GM, is not among the candidates for the open job.
Portland fired its general manager, Kevin Pritchard, on Thursday. Speculation has swirled for a couple months about the possibility of Warkentien becoming the Blazers’ general manager. Late in the regular season, Warkentien fended off speculation that he was somehow orchestrating the dismissal of Pritchard so he could take over.
Warkentien is one of a number of Nuggets front office personnel working the final months of their current contracts. Should he decide to leave, he would be a coveted commodity, particularly after winning the NBA’s executive of the year award in 2009.
But as of now, it’s business as usual. Rex Chapman, the Nuggets’ vice president of player personnel, spoke with the media Thursday about the team’s efforts to get into the draft.
The Nuggets are currently putting together a summer league team that begins play in Las Vegas on July 9 and negotiating with star Carmelo Anthony on a contract extension.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
