The Trail Blazers are in no hurry to fill their vacant general manager position and the NBA lockout certainly hasn't added any sense of urgency to the pursuit. But when the Blazers finally get around to it, they've decided on one of the candidates:

Chad Buchanan.

The person who assumed interim duties when former GM Rich Cho was unexpectedly fired has more than held his own in the eyes of owner Paul Allen and president Larry Miller. So much so that he has become a candidate to keep the job permanently.

"Chad has done a really good job for us up to this point," Miller said. "As we move forward and start finalizing what we're looking for in a GM, Chad would definitely be considered in that mix.

"He's done a good job. I think he's definitely stepped up as a leader. Sometimes it's tough to be a part of a group and then be thrust into a leadership role of that group. I think he's done a good job stepping into that role."