Portland Trail Blazers general manager and former Jayhawk point guard Kevin Pritchard speaks to reporters in a news conference in this file photo. Pritchard was reportedly fired by Portland on Thursday.

Portland, Ore. ? With the NBA draft looming, the Portland Trail Blazers have a lot more issues than just who to take with the 22nd pick. From the looks of it, the Blazers — at least the part of the team that doesn’t actually suit up — are in disarray.

The tumult is centered around former Kansas University guard Kevin Pritchard, who has been left squirming in the general manager’s seat for the past several months.

Pritchard has been considered one of the NBA’s best GMs, transforming the malcontent “Jail Blazers” of a few years back into one of the most promising young teams in the league.

But, for reasons that aren’t clear, Pritchard has fallen out of favor with billionaire owner Paul Allen, who has reportedly hired a headhunter to find a new GM. Pritchard acknowledged the search last week during workouts for draft prospects, in which he basically invited the team to bring it on.

“Life isn’t fair, right?” he said. “I’m going to do what’s best for this organization every single day and may the best man win.”

Blazers president Larry Miller said the Blazers were continuing the evaluation process and would not comment on the matter until it played out.

The rumors about Pritchard’s future began to fly in late March, when the Blazers abruptly fired Tom Penn, Portland’s vice president of basketball operations, who was widely considered a salary cap specialist and key to many of Pritchard’s past player moves.

At the time Allen issued a statement in support of Pritchard. He has not addressed the matter publicly since then.

Fan sentiment has been almost overwhelmingly in Pritchard’s favor. Several online petitions supporting the Blazers GM have cropped up. A rally was set for Thursday during the NBA draft at the team’s practice facility in Tualatin, a Portland suburb.

“At the end of the day … they’re going to make their decision. But until then, I’m going to compete like heck,” Pritchard said.

“I’ve done it all my life. This is not something unusual. I’m OK with it, and, again, what I would tell you is this: May the best person win.”