We heard yesterday that Jerry Sloan withdrew his name from consideration for the Trail Blazers' head coach opening. Today, GM Neil Olshey revealed that Sloan was more seriously considered than we originally thought. Olshey told reporters, including Mike Tokito of the Oregonian, that he offered Sloan the job, but the former Jazz coach declined the offer after sleeping on it (Twitter links). Here are a few more Blazers updates, primarily involving the team's coaching search….
- The Blazers requested and received permission to interview Grizzlies assistant Dave Joerger for the coaching job, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.
- Bulls assistant Adrian Griffin will also interview for the Portland job, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
- According to Olshey, the Blazers will interview about seven to 10 candidates, starting on Sunday (Twitter links via Chris Haynes). The search is expected to continue "deep into July," and the list of candidates will be pared down before owner Paul Allen becomes involved, tweets Jason Quick of the Oregonian.
- One ex-coach that won't be interviewing for the Portland job is Jeff Van Gundy. Quick tweets that Van Gundy isn't interested in considering a coaching job until his daughter graduates from high school in June 2013.
- A non-coaching note: While Nicolas Batum has signed his offer sheet, the Blazers still haven't officially received it from the Timberwolves, tweets Joe Freeman of the Oregonian. Olshey said that could happen on Sunday.
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