Kevin Pritchard of the Blazers spoke to the media today and confirmed one of the league’s worst kept secrets – Portland is actively looking for his replacement. “We all know that they’re looking for another GM,” Pritchard said at the end of this video (via) while taking a deep swallow. He’s technically still under contract. Who’s getting the coveted job – a good one, for sure, since Portland has a solid roster and has been to the playoffs two years in a row – will be a hot NBA topic in the coming weeks. Here’s our short list:

Danny Ferry: Worked briefly in San Antonio after his playing career was over, and did a pretty solid job collecting talent in Cleveland, although he didn’t win a title and had the best player in the league on his side. (But you could easily blame that on Mike Brown.)

RC Buford, San Antonio: Built the Spurs’ empire, and is well known for unearthing NBA gems late in the first round (Tony Parker) or the 2nd round (Manu Ginboili). Will be expensive … but money’s no object for Paul Allen, right?

Sam Presti, Oklahoma City: One of the best young front-office minds in the game and is building a real nice franchise in Oklahoma City. Clearly, this is a team of the future. For any good GM search, Presti’s going to get a call.

Darryl Morey, Houston: Stat-lover has become a media-darling and is a FOS (friend of Simmons). Has set the Rockets up for a nice future … would he leave?

Steve Kerr: The Suns aren’t retaining him. That was surprising news to us until we heard Kerr lived in San Diego and apparently left most of the heavy lifting to his No. 2, up-and-coming David Griffin. Apparently Kerr is going back to TV (Doug Collins’ analyst chair is open).