2018-2019 Washington Wizards Season Thread - FREEDOM!

Will this be the year that the Wizards finally win 50 games?

  • Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No

    Votes: 5 83.3%
  • Who cares?

    Votes: 1 16.7%

  • Total voters
    6
  • Poll closed .
Michael_Jordan_crying.jpg


Tears of joy man
 
What do you fans in Washington think they will do with Wall? Isn's his contract essentially unmovable?

I was thinking MAYBE you trade him and throw in a future first for another overpaid star with atleast some upside?

I'm just curious as an outsider what you guys are subjectively hoping happens?
 
Alright, time to get down to business.

From the Athletic:

Danny Ferry
General manager: Cleveland Cavaliers, 2005-10; Atlanta Hawks, 2012-14; New Orleans Pelicans, 2019 to present

Ferry, who is currently the Pelicans’ interim GM, wants the Wizards job, according to multiple sources with knowledge of his thought process. And why wouldn’t he? He’s from Washington and is a DeMatha alum. His father, Bob, was a two-time Executive of the Year who built the Bullets’ 1978 championship team.

Please god no.

Tim Connelly
Denver Nuggets GM, 2013-17; Nuggets president of basketball operations, 2017 to present

The Athletic has already reported that league sources believe the Wizards are targeting Connelly as a top candidate for the job. He worked for the Wizards from 1996 to 2010 after beginning his career as an intern. His family still lives in the D.C. area, as does his wife’s. He and the rest of the Nuggets’ front office signed extensions not even two months ago, meaning the Wizards might have to part with draft-pick compensation in order to land him (and remember, the soonest second-round pick they can trade is the 2023 Chicago pick they own), but if the Wizards truly want him and if he wants to come to Washington, both parties could find a way to make it happen.

Ted's to cheap to buy him out from Denver. I doubt it.

David Griffin
Cleveland Cavaliers GM, 2014-17

Griffin is the one guy on this list who has earned a ring in a leadership position, piecing together the Cavaliers’ 2016 title team. He’s been out of the league for a couple of seasons now, working for NBA TV for the past year, but as one rival executive describes, “He must be itching to get back in.” He reportedly interviewed for the Pelicans’ open GM position this week. Don’t be surprised if he ends up meeting with the Wizards at some point, too.

No qualms with Griffin, but it's probably Sheppard's job to lose.
 
the sad thing is that ernie left too much crap for the next gm to manage
-no salary cap, 2 max players; 1 wont be ready until 2 years, bradley beal padding his stats on useless games to set up the next pay day like kirk cousins :lol: etc etc

hoping the next gm will have an actual plan to make this team relevant again
 
I don't think most people realize just how long this nightmare actually lasted.
saito-1024x428.jpg


Zion Williamson was 3 years old when Ernie Grunfeld was hired.

This was the top selling mobile phone that year:
nokia 1100.jpg


How do you compile a losing record for that long and claim, as Ted Leonsis has, that you have a "culture of accountability?"

Ted's statement reads, "We did not meet our stated goals of qualifying for the playoffs this season, and, despite playing with injuries to several key players, we have a culture of accountability and a responsibility of managing to positive outcomes.”

So what happened two years ago, when the Wizards also missed the playoffs "despite playing with injuries to several key players?" What was the goal that year?

As I feared, Ted's grown delusional after the Capitals' victory. He seems to think that competing against NBA organizations is the same as winning a Stanley Cup, which is a bit like saying, "our local TV network beat out all five of its regional competitors for the first time in thirty years, so we're confident that we can beat Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Apple."

Ted's in over his head.

He's recently claimed that no one would question the team's willingness to spend money. I beg to differ.

Although the team has dipped into the luxury tax in recent seasons, they've also made a number of cost cutting decisions that have ultimately held the franchise back.

In the NBA Draft, there are two types of teams: teams that buy draft picks and teams that sell draft picks. The Wizards, throughout the Leonsis era, have been sellers. When's the last time Washington purchased a second round pick for cash considerations?

In attempt to wriggle out of the luxury tax this year, the team gave away Otto Porter for a half-season rental of Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker, whose $20 milllion option the team will most likely not exercise.
We all knew that the Wizards would eventually have to choose between Oubre and Porter due to Grunfeld's atrocious cap management. Initially, they sided with Porter in a typical Ernie Grunfeld mid-season job-saving special, in which they landed Trevor Ariza for the sake of a pointless playoff push. When that failed, they dumped Porter and Morris for cap relief.

Perhaps the most worrying example, for Wizards fans, is how the team handled the firing of Flip Saunders. They insisted on sticking with Saunders' assistant Randy Wittman so as to avoid paying two competitive head coaching salaries simultaneously.

When Ted announced, recently, that Ernie had been relieved of his GM responsibilities, but not fired entirely, some of us suspected that history would soon repeat itself.

A few days ago, our fears were confirmed. Ernie still has a year left on his deal: https://www.nbcsports.com/washingto...had-year-left-his-contract-when-fired-wizards

Now we're seeing all of this nonsense about how Tommy Sheppard is "in demand." Yeah, right.

That's like saying, "give me the vice president of Theranos" or "find me the second unit director for The Adventures of Pluto Nash." Nobody in their right mind would hire Ernie Grunfeld after over a decade and a half of failure. We're supposed to believe that someone out there is chomping at the bit to hire the first mate from the Titanic?


If history offers us any indication, the Wizards will hire Tommy Sheppard. They will claim that some outside firm recommended the hire.

We will know the truth.


What do you fans in Washington think they will do with Wall? Isn's his contract essentially unmovable?

I was thinking MAYBE you trade him and throw in a future first for another overpaid star with atleast some upside?

I'm just curious as an outsider what you guys are subjectively hoping happens?
HOPE? The dream would be for, say, the Lakers to get desperate after striking out on free agents this summer and next and trade for Wall to unload their own band aid free agent blunders.

Realistically, we're stuck with that albatross contract until 2023. The Wizards need draft picks. They can't be trading draft picks just to dump salary. That would be counterproductive. You can be bad and stockpile draft picks with Wall on the roster. The cap space is only helpful if you can sign free agents. This team is not one free agent away from competing.


Alright, time to get down to business.

From the Athletic:

Please god no.
How many second chances does a White man get before a qualified person of color gets one?
 
The “GM search” is thus far proving itself to be every bit the farce I’d feared it would be.

In the weeks that went by since that nonsense rumor about the Pelicans’ purported interest in Sheppard was fed to the press, New Orleans filled their vacancy, the possibility of a higher profile vacancy emerged following Magic’s departure, and the Wizards sat idle, without so much as interviewing a single candidate. It’s almost like they intended to let Randy Wittman, GM edition handle the draft and the whole “process” was a sham, intended only to provide cover for the organization’s frugality.

Well, that wasn’t lost on the media: https://www.bulletsforever.com/2019/4/29/18522883/washington-wizards-silence-general-manager-vacancy

The day after that story ran, a list of four “finalists” conveniently emerged (one of whom has since been hired as Minnesota’s new GM), and a guy fired in disgrace for racism emerged as the team’s first outside interviewee, because of course he is: https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...idate-interview-wizards-gm-job/?noredirect=on

Today, NBC Sports published another unsourced gem claiming that the Wizards are considering Masai Ujiri, despite the rather notable impediment that he’s currently under contract with a more successful organization: https://www.nbcsports.com/washingto...earch-latest-raptors-gm-masai-ujiri-wild-card

That’s like saying we’re considering signing Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer. He’s not available and he has no reason to jilt a contender for a laughingstock.


Grunfeld was a symptom, not the disease.
 
Back
Top Bottom