{"id":316746,"date":"2025-11-27T13:03:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T13:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/316746\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T13:03:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T13:03:30","slug":"general-manager-vanja-cernivec-proves-to-be-right-fit-for-portland-fires-big-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/316746\/","title":{"rendered":"General manager Vanja \u010cernivec proves to be \u2018right fit\u2019 for Portland Fire\u2019s \u2018big vision\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Ohemaa Nyanin<\/a> was scouring the women\u2019s basketball community in search of her first hire as general manager of the Golden State Valkyries<\/a>, one name kept popping up over and over again.<\/p>\n

Vanja \u010cernivec<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And every time someone mentioned \u010cernivec\u2019s name, it included the same refrain.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody that you talk to about her has a positive story they kind of leave you with,\u201d Nyanin said. \u201cWhat she\u2019s done, how she\u2019s done it, where she\u2019s done it. It was the same with everybody, everywhere. It was overwhelmingly positive, and the breadth of that was super important to me. The first thing I told my ownership group, our operations people \u2014 and anybody who would listen \u2014 is that Vanja \u010cernivec is the person that I want to build with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thirteen months later, Nyanin will have to continue her build with someone else.<\/p>\n

The Portland Fire<\/a> introduced \u010cernivec as their first general manager during a news conference Tuesday morning at the Moda Center, touting her passion for women\u2019s sports, her deep and diverse knowledge of women\u2019s basketball and her track record for building successful teams. But it was her experience working as an assistant under Nyanin at Golden State, which has not yet completed its first season in the WNBA, that cemented her front office candidacy with the expansion Fire. <\/p>\n

The Valkyries, who boast a 19-18 record and sit in seventh place in the WNBA standings, are in the thick of the most successful expansion season in league history. With seven games and roughly two weeks remaining, they are on the verge of becoming the first expansion team to make the playoffs. And \u010cernivec has been instrumental to the success, building the roster \u2014 and culture \u2014 alongside Nyanin from scratch.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s very inclusive … she\u2019s very collaborative and she has a great ability to care,\u201d Nyanin said. \u201cShe will allow space for others to operate and showcase their strengths, such that everyone feels empowered to make whatever decision that they need to make. But she also will have an analytical view, a critical eye, and she\u2019ll want to push the envelope in all kinds of categories and never want to take no for an answer. I\u2019m really glad that she\u2019s been given an opportunity, and I expect nothing but the best.\u201d <\/p>\n

After a rocky introduction to the WNBA \u2014 the Fire waited seven months to hire their first president, then let her go after less than three months on the job \u2014 the franchise seems to finally have found its footing. Interim President Clare Hamill<\/a> hinted Tuesday that she\u2019s poised to remove her interim tag, saying she was \u201cin it for the long haul\u201d as she flashed a new tattoo of the Fire\u2019s logo on her forearm. The organization has secured more than 13,000 season-ticket deposits. And it\u2019s in the middle of \u201cphase one,\u201d Hamill said, of building a new practice facility in Hillsboro, where it will share space with the Portland Thorns.<\/p>\n

But the hiring of \u010cernivec is the next, and perhaps most important, step for a nascent franchise that sits roughly nine months away from the first game of its inaugural season. The 43-year-old from Slovenia is not only tasked with building a roster, hiring a basketball operations staff, creating an analytics department and hiring a coach, but also with establishing the foundation for a winning and positive culture in a city that loves both basketball and women\u2019s sports. <\/p>\n

What kind of style will the Fire play? What kind of basketball abilities will she look for in a player? What kind of roster does she aspire to build?<\/p>\n

\u010cernivec said she wouldn\u2019t \u2014 or rather, couldn\u2019t \u2014 answer those questions until she hires a coach and a staff and they craft a shared vision. But she did say that one thing above all else would guide her moves as a first-time WNBA general manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I evaluate talent, I first look at the character of the person, who they are as a person, and I stick to that,\u201d \u010cernivec said. \u201cNo matter how good of a player they are, if they\u2019re not a good teammate, if (they) won\u2019t come in a work hard, they\u2019re off my list. And then it all has to align with the head coach we\u2019re going to have. What\u2019s the strategy and the vision he or she will have on the court? And the front office needs to make sure to kind of align with the vision. So for me to sit here today and tell you what that\u2019s going to be like, I would lie to you. I don\u2019t have that answer yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

She did have answers, however, to questions about her scouting philosophy and what she will look for in the Fire\u2019s first coach.<\/p>\n

\u010cernivec said she values analytics in scouting, but is mostly \u201ceyeball-driven\u201d based on what she sees a player do on the court, a philosophy that was shaped during her many years coaching in Europe, where a lack of resources limited the use of analytics. She has more than 12 years of professional basketball operations experience, mostly overseas. She spent two seasons as GM of the London Lions of Super League Basketball \u2014 helping the team win back-to-back Women\u2019s British Basketball League Championships and its first FIBA EuroCup Women\u2019s title \u2014 and also spent six years working internationally for the NBA, which included a two-year stint as the Chicago Bulls\u2019 international scout. She was the first female to hold the position.<\/p>\n

It was during that two-year stint with the Bulls, from 2020-22, when she first delved into analytics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely now look at both sides, but it\u2019s always like \u2026 what are your weaknesses?\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like eye test never fails and it\u2019s all about the volume of basketball you\u2019ve seen. And I\u2019ve been lucky enough to travel all around the world, so just seeing basketball in different continents, different levels of competition, I think that kind of is my biggest strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her vast knowledge of international basketball was certainly a strength at Golden State. Seven of the 11 players selected by the Valkyries in last year\u2019s expansion draft hailed from foreign countries. And of the 19 players who have seen action for Golden State this season, 10 were born outside the United States. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think my advantage is that I\u2019ve spent years in in Europe,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have highly competitive leagues in Euroleague, EuroBasket, French League, Spanish League, Turkish League. All the best talent plays there. So just having that volume of games and knowing the players and the coaches, I think, it\u2019s hugely beneficial. I know the teams here are catching up as well. A lot of teams have scouts now in Europe. I feel like coming from there, just having a relationship with players and coaches, it\u2019s probably an advantage that we\u2019re going to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the first order of business if finding a coach, \u010cernivec said, and there apparently is no shortage of interested parties. Since she was named Portland\u2019s general manager<\/a>, her phone has been \u201cblowing up with people raising their hands\u201d to interview for the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely looking for someone that\u2019s going to be a strong leader with a huge basketball IQ and will empower players to make decisions on their own,\u201d \u010cernivec said. \u201cI\u2019m looking for someone that will build an environment where players will be encouraged to be problem-solvers, not a coach who will try to give all the solutions to players.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fire are one of two expansion franchises, along with the Toronto Tempo, joining the WNBA in 2026, and their first games are expected to be played in May. So \u010cernivec has a lot of work to do in a small amount of time.<\/p>\n

Her job in Portland doesn\u2019t officially start until Sept. 15, which will give her time to complete her first season in Golden State and take part in a playoff run she helped facilitate.<\/p>\n

But at the same time, \u010cernivec said, she will shift her focus to the Fire and the myriad tasks that lay ahead. Thirteen months after helping steer an expansion franchise from the beginning, she\u2019s doing it all over again, only this time in the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can speak for everybody when I say, when we all met Vanja, we knew she was exactly right for this big vision in Portland,\u201d Hamill said. \u201cWe are getting somebody that knows basketball, that\u2019s excited to come to Portland, and I know you\u2019ll all be just as excited as I am as you get to know her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joe Freeman<\/a> is a senior writer at The Oregonian\/OregonLive covering the Trail Blazers and NBA. Reach him at 503-294-5183, jfreeman@oregonian.com<\/a>, @BlazerFreeman<\/a> or @freemanjoe.bsky.social<\/a>. Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today<\/a> to OregonLive.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n