ESPN draft analyst Mike Schmitz is jumping from the media to an NBA front office position.
Schmitz is finalizing a contract to join the Trail Blazers as an assistant general manager, his ESPN colleague Adrian Wojnarowski reports. Schmitz will play a significant role under new GM Joe Cronin in leading the Blazers’ domestic and international scouting departments.
Schmitz has also been a contributor to DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service utilized by NBA, NCAA and international teams. Schmitz, who was a video coordinator for the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA G League in 2012/13, is expected to formally join the Blazers in July, so he’ll spend one last draft with ESPN.
Cronin signed a four-year contract this month to become Portland’s permanent GM after being the interim at the position following the December firing of Neil Olshey. Portland also hired Andrae Patterson as an assistant GM earlier this year and is parting ways with assistant GM Bill Branch, who had been with the team since 2010.
This guy is actually somewhat knowledgable. I sometimes have used his draft breakdown videos as part of my draft prep, when I’m trying to find info on players
Yes he seems to know his stuff!
Woj’s report said he wouldn’t join team until after the draft in July.
Likely a 12-18 month gig, which will probably give him some insight when he goes back.
Schmitz is more important working to inform the public, not just Cronin.
Cronin could subscribe to espn+ and get Schmitz’s advice for #7 just as well!
The latter may require more work. After his deadline work, I would think GMs would be lining up to do a deal with Cronin.
The last guy to jump from ESPN to an NBA team was a disaster. I hope they don’t rely upon him for this upcoming draft. They need a real basketball person to utilize their picks. You definitely will not get any basketball knowledge from ESPN.
Which guy are you talking about. Hollinger?
I’m kinda reminded of that old YouTube clip of the KINGS office during the 2014 draft.
You have the owner, the GM and all these young, white dudes with their neat shirts, ties and pages upon pages of their draft analytics.
These dudes were very sure that Nik Stauskas was the steal of that draft.
Good luck BLAZERS.