ESPN New York reports that Walsh is given permission to speak with other teams now.
The Portland Trail Blazers have reportedly shown interest as they plan to rebuild more around LaMarcus Aldridge as all else failed for the past few years as fatal injuries hit Brandon Roy and Greg Oden hard. They have also fired GM Kevin Pritchard a year ago along with head coach Nate McMillan during the trade deadline. Blazers president, Larry Miller, mentioned talking to a "big-time" candidate sometime soon, and that person my in fact be Walsh.
Walsh also might make the return to the Indiana as GM again, where he helped build a solid franchise during the Reggie Miller era. Walsh has been rumored to return Indiana since last season. It could be a possibility as well if the news of Larry Bird stepping down this off-season is true.
Ken Berger of CBS Sports basically had my assumptions 100-percent correct:
"The Portland Trail Blazers already have begun yet another GM search, and it is believed that Walsh will explore that situation first since the job is known to be open. If Larry Bird steps down as Pacers president after the season, there are indications that owner Herb Simon -- a longtime friend and proponent of Walsh -- would strongly consider a reunion."
As a Pacers fan, I definitely look forward to this.
