The Amazingly Suck Theodore Leonsis Thread

[closg00]

The Wizards are average to below average and the home games are well-attended, that is Ted's "Double Bottom-Line". Ted will do nothing more than give a PR presser expressing disappointment if we don't make the playoffs, I would bet the house on it.

[AFM]

I really don't believe that's it
I think Ted cares about winning, he's just woefully incompetent. He's loyal to a fault (way beyond that actually) and refuses to part with EG or Wittman out of some weird sense of loyalty or trust.
Or he's arrogant and sees firing EG as admission of his plan failing.

[closg00]

I really don't believe that's it
I think Ted cares about winning, he's just woefully incompetent. He's loyal to a fault (way beyond that actually) and refuses to part with EG or Wittman out of some weird sense of loyalty or trust.
Or he's arrogant and sees firing EG as admission of his plan failing.

I believe this^ to be true as-well, but you know what? All we'll get is a sad-eyed Ted giving a presser and Ernie will have new marching orders to be agressive in FA. Ted moves-forward with everyone.

[Mickstix]

Took 15 years of sucking to finally fire George McPhee (Caps GM) and all he replaced him with was the assistant.. Thank god that's worked out, but still.. Not much of an owner if he can't even hire/fire the guy repeatedly running his ship aground. Some may say it's loyalty, I think he just avoids drama/confrontation. If they're not loosing money, he's just fine with that. Any post season appearance is just a bonus.

[fishercob]

Took 15 years of sucking to finally fire George McPhee (Caps GM) and all he replaced him with was the assistant.. Thank god that's worked out, but still.. Not much of an owner if he can't even hire/fire the guy repeatedly running his ship aground. Some may say it's loyalty, I think he just avoids drama/confrontation. If they're not loosing money, he's just fine with that. Any post season appearance is just a bonus.

I have a slightly different angle on the Caps perspective. I have been thinking for several weeks now that Ted has to look at the Caps -- who, in case you guys aren't following are the the best team in the NHL (and franchise history) by far -- and realize that there's a direct link between him moving on from GMGM and the Caps ascent to greatness.

[Kanyewest]

I really don't believe that's it
I think Ted cares about winning, he's just woefully incompetent. He's loyal to a fault (way beyond that actually) and refuses to part with EG or Wittman out of some weird sense of loyalty or trust.
Or he's arrogant and sees firing EG as admission of his plan failing.

I agree that Leonsis cares about winning; he just isn't as savvy as other owners or hasn't been lucky enough (although getting Wall was some good fortune). I would imagine that Leonsis is ultimately more patient than the average owner. He must have learned from Abe Pollin as a minority owner or at the very least share the same beliefs about continuity and loyalty.

I would imagine that a significant portion of teams would have fired EG for drafting Vesley. Leonsis must have been pretty supportive of that pick at the time for EG to still have a job.

Leonsis must have liked some of the things EG has done since the takeover

- Trading Arenas for Lewis
- Getting Hinrich and a first round pick for cap space.
- Trading Hinrich for Crawford (at the time a young prospect) and a first round pick
- Trading Lewis for Ariza/Okafor
- Trading Maynor/Vesley for Miller (saved Leonsis money; essentially Leonsis gives credit for EG for cleaning up the mess he created)
- Drafting Beal (while in retrospect the Wizards should have drafted Drummond, Drummond had red flags of being a knucklehead and the Wizards were wary)
- Trading McGee for Nene

Of course, Leonsis has overlooked a few things
- 2010 draft- not getting a single starting caliber player outside of Wall despite having multiple first round picks, and high second picks
- 2011 draft
- 2012- Satoransky because he was friends with Vesley
- 2013- 2nd round pick for cash
- 2014- no picks and cash
- Moves before 2010

Leonsis does not seem to be supportive of EG using his second rounders. I would imagine that Leonsis could have told EG to pick a player if he didn't prefer the cash. Leonsis also doesn't seem to believe in developmental prospects because he hasn't purchased a D-league team.

While I would probably go in a different direction (for a number of reasons), I imagine Leonsis will most likely keep EG unless Washington fails to make the playoffs and even then EG could still have a job. From Leonsis's perspective, the Wizards did seem to be on the right track in the past two seasons, getting to the second round in consecutive years and may have gotten to the Eastern Conference Finals had Wall not gotten injured. Leonsis must be giddy over Kelly Oubre who has already shown more as a rookie than Otto Porter.

[TheSecretWeapon]

For a guy who constantly pats himself on the back for being forthright and transparent, I've found Leonsis neither forthright nor transparent. He articulated a plan, permitted Grunfeld to make moves that appeared to be outside the plan Leonsis had defined, then said they were part of the plan. His blog reads like an 8th grade attempt at spin. In email exchanges, I found him to be defensive and condescending (and not just mine, which were few -- because life's too short to spend time getting insulted by a complete stranger).

Does he care about winning? Seems hard to believe considering he kept Grunfeld in place despite a horrific record, and that he awarded Wittman the permanent head coaching job without so much as interviewing another candidate. Someone in the organization (probably Leonsis' son) hired some stat guys, but that doesn't seem to have filtered into the on-court or player acquisition strategies -- at least not in any significant way.

So, I don't believe much of what Leonsis says, and his direct decisions as they relate to the team aren't consistent with building a winner. Whether he cares about winning or not, the major decisions he's made haven't been conducive to winning.

[WizTom]

I sincerely hope Ted has a PR person monitoring this thread.

Here are two words he needs to hear:

Danny Ferry

[nuposse04]

I sincerely hope Ted has a PR person monitoring this thread.

Here are two words he needs to hear:

Danny Ferry

Danny Ferry would be much better then EG but I wonder if hiring him would draw the ire of players since he made those Luol Deng comments, however apt they are (In that Deng is not wort acquiring cause of his facetious value).

[queridiculo]

Last year Leonsis, when talking about the Wizards playoff run, essentially said that winning a championship was simply a matter of making the playoffs and getting hot at the right time.

To me that told story of how out of touch Leonsis was with respect to the league and how little he really cared about this basketball franchise.

Leonsis idea of winning a championship is basically the infinite monkey theorem.

[Kanyewest]

For a guy who constantly pats himself on the back for being forthright and transparent, I've found Leonsis neither forthright nor transparent. He articulated a plan, permitted Grunfeld to make moves that appeared to be outside the plan Leonsis had defined, then said they were part of the plan. His blog reads like an 8th grade attempt at spin. In email exchanges, I found him to be defensive and condescending (and not just mine, which were few -- because life's too short to spend time getting insulted by a complete stranger).

Does he care about winning? Seems hard to believe considering he kept Grunfeld in place despite a horrific record, and that he awarded Wittman the permanent head coaching job without so much as interviewing another candidate. Someone in the organization (probably Leonsis' son) hired some stat guys, but that doesn't seem to have filtered into the on-court or player acquisition strategies -- at least not in any significant way.

So, I don't believe much of what Leonsis says, and his direct decisions as they relate to the team aren't consistent with building a winner. Whether he cares about winning or not, the major decisions he's made haven't been conducive to winning.

It seems like it's Ted's weakness is firing people. I still think he cares about winning but not as ruthless as other owners when it comes to winning.

[queridiculo]

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/05/27/how-did-capitals-gm-get-job-he-tore-owner-leonsis-a-new-one

Apparently one way to become general manager of an NHL franchise is to tell off the owner.

Brian MacLellan did just that during his interview for the Washington Capitals job.

“He led off with some of the things that I have to do to be a better owner,” Ted Leonsis told reporters Tuesday. “I thought he was very brave and very astute, because you don’t want to hear things like that.”

Too bad none of that trickled down to the Wizards.

[pineappleheadindc]

The Cleveland Cavs, who are in FIRST PLACE in the East, have fired their underperformaing Head Coach David Blatt.

Meanwhile, lagging way behind in 10th place and out of playoff contention, YOUR Washington Wizards are still maintaining that "double bottom line" by employing Randy Wittman and Ernie Grunfeld. It's clear to see which franchise is serious about winning a championship and which franchise doesn't care about its fans.

#ThanksTed

[J-Ves]

The Cleveland Cavs, who are in FIRST PLACE in the East, have fired their underperformaing Head Coach David Blatt.

Meanwhile, lagging way behind in 10th place and out of playoff contention, YOUR Washington Wizards are still maintaining that "double bottom line" by employing Randy Wittman and Ernie Grunfeld. It's clear to see which franchise is serious about winning a championship and which franchise doesn't care about its fans.

#ThanksTed

I agree Witt and GMEG have overstayed their welcome, especially EG, but this firing by the Cavs is moronic. They weren't winning the championship with or without Blatt.

[lastemp3ror]

The Cleveland Cavs, who are in FIRST PLACE in the East, have fired their underperformaing Head Coach David Blatt.

Meanwhile, lagging way behind in 10th place and out of playoff contention, YOUR Washington Wizards are still maintaining that "double bottom line" by employing Randy Wittman and Ernie Grunfeld. It's clear to see which franchise is serious about winning a championship and which franchise doesn't care about its fans.

#ThanksTed

I agree Witt and GMEG have overstayed their welcome, especially EG, but this firing by the Cavs is moronic. They weren't winning the championship with or without Blatt.

Most likely true but after last years finals and the blowout loss a few days ago at home, it was evident they weren't going to win the finals. Something needed to change, and the only big change that can happen is the coach. They really had nothing to lose by letting him go either. At worst they still get to the finals since the team is clearly better than any other eastern conference team. So there isn't any real downside to this move. Maybe Lue can shake things up.

[TheSecretWeapon]

I'm not sure Blatt was ever truly empowered to coach that team.

[keynote]

More from Woj:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/how-david-blatt-never-stood-a-chance-with-lebron-james-and-his-camp-035612484.html

Before David Blatt ever conducted his first training camp practice in September 2014, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James and his agent, Rich Paul, had the coach's succession plan in place: Mark Jackson.

To become the preferred candidate of the most powerful player in the NBA – and de facto Cavaliers general manager – Jackson understood what he needed to do: Bring on James' and Paul's Klutch Sports agency as his representation, and prepare to deliver those commission fees into the King's coffers. Blatt never had a chance. He never knew what hit him.

From the beginning, the Klutch Sports campaign to puncture Blatt's standing as head coach had been as relentless as it was ruthless. James is one of the great leaders in pro sports, and he directed the Cavaliers how he wanted them: in complete defiance of Blatt.

Wall, of course, is rumored to be signing with Klutch Sports. He doesn't carry the same power within the Wizards organization that LeBron carries with the Cavs. Still, I wonder if he's dissatisfied enough (and Machiavellian enough) to attempt a similar power play in DC to unseat Wittman and/or EG.

Of course, even LeBron's leverage has its limits:

In the end, here was the problem for Klutch Sports' original plan: Cleveland refused to hire Jackson. General manager David Griffin is too well-connected in the NBA, too knowledgeable of the truths inside Jackson's Warriors regime to let that happen. So much of Griffin's job has been to manage the constant demands of James' camp and the volatility of owner Dan Gilbert. As much as anything, his job has been to bridge the chaos above and below him.

[payitforward]

Ted cares about winning to the extent that winning affects his ability to run a profitable business that's worth more $ every year.

That business, btw, is not the Washington Wizards. It's Monumental Sports. *That* is Ted's business, not the Wizards.

I don't understand how people can miss this obvious set of facts. They don't make Ted different from any other businessman.

[WizTom]

The Nets are reportedly considering hiring Danny Ferry to be their new GM.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--four-serious-candidates-emerge-for-nets--gm-job-074420156.html

Ted, please move on this! Get him before he gets hired somewhere else.

[TheSecretWeapon]

The Nets are reportedly considering hiring Danny Ferry to be their new GM.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--four-serious-candidates-emerge-for-nets--gm-job-074420156.html

Ted, please move on this! Get him before he gets hired somewhere else.

Yeah, Ferry would be good. He's worked with (and listened to) some good stat guys in the past. At least one of them is still part of the group in Atlanta.

That said, kinda interesting that a former Duke guy is part of the search that's pointing toward hiring another former Duke guy.