A trusted NBA source insists the Trail Blazers have Spurs vice president of basketball operations Danny Ferry at, or near, the top of their list of candidates to replace their general manager, Rich Cho.

Cho on Monday became the second Blazers GM in the past year to be fired by club owner Allen, the Seattle-based multi-billionaire and Microsoft co-founder.

Any team that wants to put together a championship-contending roster should consider Ferry, a smart executive whose experience as general manager of the Cavaliers makes him uniquely qualified.

During his five years in Cleveland, Ferry worked for a billionaire owner with a big ego, Dan Gilbert. He also dealt with a superstar, LeBron James, who had a team of sycophants behind the scenes second-guessing and undercutting the GM. Still, Ferry built a team that made it to one NBA Finals and posted the NBA’s best regular-season record in back-to-back seasons.