Report: Stefanski to join Raptors front office
Would be Colangelo's No. 2 guy
By RYAN WOLSTAT and MIKE GANTER, QMI Agency
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  Ed Stefanski speaks with the media in Philadelphia, Penn., Dec. 13, 2008. (TIM SHAFFER/Reuters)
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TORONTO - Labour talks aren’t the only negotiations going on in the NBA these days.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Philadelphia GM Ed Stefanski is in “advanced” talks to take on that title with the Toronto Raptors. Current GM Bryan Colangelo would retain No. 1 decision maker status as team president if the negotiations are successful.
Stefanski, who is in the last year of his contract in Philadelphia is also up for consideration for the same job title in Portland.
Also in the running for the Raptors GM job is former Hornets GM Jeff Bower according to Wojnarowski.
Stefanski was also the former GM of the New Jersey Nets and was involved, along with Rod Thorn, in the Vince Carter heist from the Raptors.
Some of his best moves as a general manager were trading for Richard Jefferson on draft night, the Carter robbery and drafting standout point guard Jrue Holiday and decent forward Marreese Speights outside of the lottery.
The Trail Blazers had received some criticism for taking their time to find a replacement for former general manager Rich Cho.
Apparently the team decided not to go with any of the candidates it interviewed this summer and, according to the Oregonian earlier this week, had a new list, which started with Stefanski and Bower. That likely forced the Raptors to move.
The Raptors’ job is believed to be different than the Portland opening in that Colangelo would still very much be the man in charge and running the shots, while the new Blazers GM would be more of a traditional boss with traditional basketball powers. That said, whoever gets that job will have to deal with an owner, Paul Allen, who has long been regarded as extremely meddlesome (hence Cho’s dismissal) whereas MLSE seems to have backed off over the years.
