San Antonio Spurs vice president and assistant General Manager Dennis Lindsay’s name is being mentioned once again as a GM candidate.
This time, the Toronto Raptors are reportedly interested in the services of Lindsey.
While Bryan Colangelo currently serves in a dual role as team president and GM, Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski says Colangelo could be interested in giving up the title for the right candidate.
Former New Orleans Hornets GM Jeff Bower, Philadelphia 76ers GM Ed Stefanski and San Antonio assistant GM Dennis Lindsey are three focuses of the franchise to work under Toronto president Bryan Colangelo, sources said.
No formal interviews have been conducted, sources said, but Colangelo has started the process of getting permission from teams to talk to candidates. It may not be until August that Colangelo starts formal interviews for the job.
This isn’t the first time Lindsey has been offered a GM job. He was considered the top candidate for vacancies for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns and Atlanta Hawks, but pulled out of consideration for all three jobs.
Could Lindsey, who replaced Sam Presti when he took the GM job with Seattle after the 2006-07 campaign, be the next Spurs alumnus to take over another front office or coaching position outside of San Antonio.
As part of their continued success, the Spurs have seen Presti, Dell Demps, Lance Blanks, Danny Ferry (currently Vice President of Basketball Operations) and Kevin Pritchard move from front office positions in San Antonio to take over as General Managers for several other franchises. The Spurs also have a long line of former assistants currently coaching throughout the league including Mike Brown, Monty Williams, Mario Elie, James Borrego and Joe Prunty among others. Mike Budenholzer and Don Newman’s names are also at the top of many lists, but both have chosen to remain with the Spurs regardless of several other opportunities.
Lindsey is highly regarded, not only for his work in San Antonio, but his track record in Houston. I would think it would take a special situation to get Lindsey to move from San Antonio. It took getting the opportunity to work with R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich to get him to leave Houston after more than a decade in 2007.
“There are not too many people in the league as attractive to work with as R.C. and Pop,” Lindsey said then. “I think it will be good for my professional development.”
It remains to be seen whether or not the struggling Raptors, who finished last season with 22-60 record and have been on the wrong side of .500 for the last four years, will be where Lindsey eventually takes over as GM. The right opportunity may not take too long to come around.
