Bobcats promot Higgins to President; Rich Cho hired as GM

[Dpantherman]

***BREAKING NEWS*** The Charlotte Bobcats have promoted Rod Higgins to President of Basketball Operations and hired Rich Cho as General Manager. More information coming on bobcats.com this Tuesday.

http://www.nba.com/bobcats/

Cho is known for his eclectic background - he has been an engineer and a lawyer - and his experience in quantitative analysis. Higgins said those are strengths the Bobcats need.

“He has a unique set of skills that I don’t possess,” Higgins told the Observer. “His analytical mind is a big plus for us. His legal background is a big plus for us.

Read more: http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=7784#ixzz1PDuBAZyx

[Dpantherman]

Cho was fired by Portland last month and will replace Rod Higgins, who will take over as president of basketball operations for Michael Jordan. Why Cho, who was instrumental in acquiring Gerald Wallace from the Bobcats last season, was fired by the Blazers remains a bit of a mystery and we're guessing he'll do a good job in Charlotte.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nba/503/stephen-jackson

[C-A-T-S]

Huge move if MJ stays out of the way and let's Cho do his job. Ignore Cho's year in Portland and remember he played a hand in what has been built in Oklahoma City. OKC is the perfect model for what we need to do in remodeling the franchise but we still have to be patient!

[cbarrier90]

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nba/503/stephen-jackson

I assume Cho was fired because he traded for Wallace to build a squad that would contend in the playoffs, and instead, wound up getting defeated in the first round and leaving the Blazers with aging and expensive talent that can only go so far. Essentially, the Blazers are now what the Bobcats were last season, except they actually have some talent to build around.

As far as the actual hire, the guy has a good track record, so I'm optimistic as long as MJ doesn't try to do Cho's job.

EDIT: Blazers fans are not happy, sounds like a great hire http://www.clubblazers.com/blazers-discussion/rich-cho-part-ways-with-the-blazers-t4070.html

[Panthers128]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/18422/nine-things-to-know-about-rich-cho

Sounds like a hard working intelligent Asian guy. Enjoys sushi and ping pong. On top of all this he drafted Kevin Durant.

What's not to like?

[C-A-T-S]

Presti also said it was not uncommon for Cho to engineer the framework of a trade on the phone, then run it by the management team for approval.

The latest example came on draft night last month, Presti said. Cho traded Oklahoma City's No. 32 pick to Miami for the Heat's No. 18 pick and guard Daequan Cook. In turn, Cho turned the 18th pick into a future first-round pick with the Los Angeles Clippers.

So what started out to be the No. 32 pick turned out to be Cook and a future first-round pick.

That type of move, Cho says, is typical of his way of thinking.

"When you make trades you have to look at it in a layering aspect: So let's make this trade, and maybe what we get out of this trade can help us make a subsequent trade," Cho explained. "Sometimes you have to make one deal to make another."

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/07/new_general_manager_rich_cho_h.html

This is the exact approach the Bobcats need.

[Wanderlai]

Great hire.

[Snowman926]

lets see what he can do with our picks this year. maybe we can trade them for next year and hopefully package something for Austin Rivers the kid is gonna be a stephen curry like STAR!

[HeatCheck]

Seems like a very intelligent guy. I like the hire.

[Dpantherman]

I assume Cho was fired because he traded for Wallace to build a squad that would contend in the playoffs, and instead, wound up getting defeated in the first round and leaving the Blazers with aging and expensive talent that can only go so far. Essentially, the Blazers are now what the Bobcats were last season, except they actually have some talent to build around.

As far as the actual hire, the guy has a good track record, so I'm optimistic as long as MJ doesn't try to do Cho's job.

EDIT: Blazers fans are not happy, sounds like a great hire http://www.clubblazers.com/blazers-discussion/rich-cho-part-ways-with-the-blazers-t4070.html

yea, I was reading that a lot of people were scratching their heads when he was fired from Portland

[Proudiddy]

I blew a wad in my pants when I found out this morning.

GREAT HIRE. I was really surprised MJ went out of the circle for the hire. Love this even more because this guy has worked his way up to this point and worked under Presti if I'm not mistaken. Helped build the framework for what OKC has now.

Oh, and from what I've read, apparently he was let go from Portland for conflicting personalities with owner Paul Allen. It had nothing to do with performance, apparently he and Paul Allen just didn't get along with each other. I've read Allen likes to have a lot of say in the personnel decisions also...

Regardless, this is a steal... I can't wait to see what he does.