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Former Washington Wizards coach, current ESPN analyst and potential future Minnesota Timberwolves GM Flip Saunderswas on ESPN 980 the other day, and he told Kevin Sheehan and Thom Loverro that he was vocal with Ted Leonsis about the need to "clean out some of that knucklehead." A transcript, via DC Sports Bog:

payitforward wrote:^^^
And yet... this is an awfully slow "countdown" I'm sorry to say.

Ted is happy. He's building and marketing Monumental Sports; the Wizards contending for a championship isn't a big part of that. He's satisfied if we play .500 ball. And this is i3 years after a teardown/rebuild. And having the first, sixth and third picks in successive drafts. Plus several other round 1 (and a very high round 2) picks.

Worse yet... maybe fans will be happy too. And there are even people happy here.

After all, Okafor and Ariza are playing well. Sharp-eyed Ernie picked up Webster as a bargain. Temple is a bargain off a D-League roster. Etc.

Pay no attention to the fact that this guy has never, in 10 years, built a sustainable good team. His moves have given Ted a narrative that works for presenting Monumental Sports. Who needs to excel?

Upper Decker wrote:

payitforward wrote:^^^
And yet... this is an awfully slow "countdown" I'm sorry to say.

Ted is happy. He's building and marketing Monumental Sports; the Wizards contending for a championship isn't a big part of that. He's satisfied if we play .500 ball. And this is i3 years after a teardown/rebuild. And having the first, sixth and third picks in successive drafts. Plus several other round 1 (and a very high round 2) picks.

Worse yet... maybe fans will be happy too. And there are even people happy here.

After all, Okafor and Ariza are playing well. Sharp-eyed Ernie picked up Webster as a bargain. Temple is a bargain off a D-League roster. Etc.

Pay no attention to the fact that this guy has never, in 10 years, built a sustainable good team. His moves have given Ted a narrative that works for presenting Monumental Sports. Who needs to excel?

This is it right here. Ted has no intentions of winning anything serious. He's not a fan, he's a business man. The NBA is designed for owners to roll in money hand over fist if they don't pay the lux tax even if the team stinks. Why go through the effort to make a winner when your pockets are getting fat playing .300 ball?

The largest controlled costs for owners are coaching staff and GM. Which explains why EG and Wittman are the GM and coach. Both stink, and have no marketable demand. I'm certain Ted low balled them and said take it or leave it, but you ain't getting anything from anyone else.

Teds real 5 point plan for success.
1) Keep costs at a minimum,
2) roll in the money,
3) spray tan it up,
4) sit court side looking like Jabba the Ted,
5) make excuses until you're blue in the face.

Upper Decker wrote:

payitforward wrote:^^^
And yet... this is an awfully slow "countdown" I'm sorry to say.

Ted is happy. He's building and marketing Monumental Sports; the Wizards contending for a championship isn't a big part of that. He's satisfied if we play .500 ball. And this is i3 years after a teardown/rebuild. And having the first, sixth and third picks in successive drafts. Plus several other round 1 (and a very high round 2) picks.

Worse yet... maybe fans will be happy too. And there are even people happy here.

After all, Okafor and Ariza are playing well. Sharp-eyed Ernie picked up Webster as a bargain. Temple is a bargain off a D-League roster. Etc.

Pay no attention to the fact that this guy has never, in 10 years, built a sustainable good team. His moves have given Ted a narrative that works for presenting Monumental Sports. Who needs to excel?

This is it right here. Ted has no intentions of winning anything serious. He's not a fan, he's a business man. The NBA is designed for owners to roll in money hand over fist if they don't pay the lux tax even if the team stinks. Why go through the effort to make a winner when your pockets are getting fat playing .300 ball?

The largest controlled costs for owners are coaching staff and GM. Which explains why EG and Wittman are the GM and coach. Both stink, and have no marketable demand. I'm certain Ted low balled them and said take it or leave it, but you ain't getting anything from anyone else.

Teds real 5 point plan for success.
1) Keep costs at a minimum,
2) roll in the money,
3) spray tan it up,
4) sit court side looking like Jabba the Ted,
5) make excuses until you're blue in the face.

leswizards wrote:Ted Leonsis has said having the second or third worst record in the NBA this season is unacceptable. If the Wizards finish with the second or third worst record, does EG get fired. If so, it is another reason to root for the tank.

Nivek wrote:

leswizards wrote:Ted Leonsis has said having the second or third worst record in the NBA this season is unacceptable. If the Wizards finish with the second or third worst record, does EG get fired. If so, it is another reason to root for the tank.

If Ted has made not having the 2nd or 3rd worst record a condition of Grunfeld's continued employment, The Tank will not happen. Grunfeld's job would be riding on not tanking, as would Randy Wittman's. I can't imagine Troy Weaver taking over as GM and choosing to keep Wittman as the coach.

leswizards wrote:Ted Leonsis has said having the second or third worst record in the NBA this season is unacceptable. If the Wizards finish with the second or third worst record, does EG get fired. If so, it is another reason to root for the tank.

payitforward wrote:We are now almost exactly 3 years from when management completely broke up the previous team and started over. In 3 years, it's acceptable FO performance to climb all the way back to 30 wins. To be a .500 team. That's the performance level he demands of his GM.

WizarDynasty wrote:This is definitely the team i have always envisioned since the i piggy back the concept of dynasty from a bulls fan a decade ago. Two way players at all positions. This team can battle with anyone. Trevor Ariza was the hardest piece to find and the only problem is that its going to be extremely difficult to keep him.
Wall--the point guard i always envisioned.
Beal definitely the shooting guard i envisioned
Ariza the perfect shooting guard especially since his handle has improved this season.
Nene--the perfect powerforward.
Okafor--light years ahead of what we got from Haywood.

We got a powerful agile big future banger in seraphin, webster three ball and some defense. This team seems to fit the blue print i set out to a perfect tee.
We got the san antonio coach to change the culture.

Now all we need to do is wait and let the soup marinate on slow cooker until the flavor becomes legendary. Only problem is keeping the pieces together...most important holding on to Ariza even though he wants to go the west coast with his family understandable.

if this trio was kept together for three years, there is no way we aren't top 3 in the eastern conference. Ted and

Andray Blatche (Washington: three years, $23.4 million)
Blatche signed a three-year, $23.4 million extension in September of 2010 that didn't kick in until the 2012-13 season. They amnestied him last summer. Hold on, I'll let you do the math. (Waiting.) Did you figure it out? Yup, Blatche's extension was such a mistake that the Wizards ended up amnestying it before it even started! Ted Leonsis and Ernie Grunfeld are like Bizarro Jerry Buss and Bizarro Jerry West.

Emeka Okafor (two years, $28.1 million): Since December 22, he's averaging 11.3 points and 11.3 rebounds, playing solid defense and doing the whole "I'm a stellar guy to have in the locker room, unlike just about everyone you had on this team since 2007" thing. Dwight Howard's stats since December 22: 14.2 points and 12.1 rebounds. Remember when I wrote during 2004's Draft Diary that Orlando should take Okafor over Howard? I'm still alive!!!! YOU CAN DO IT, EMEKA!!!!

29. Nene: four years, $52 million
28. JaVale McGee: four years, $44 million
27. DeAndre Jordan: three years, $33 million

The Nuggets are paying McGee $11 million a year to play 18.7 minutes a game. Not a misprint. And Nene is somehow playing 27 minutes a night in D.C. without averaging 13 points, seven rebounds or one block per game, or shooting 50 percent, which actually seems impossible — I kept staring at these numbers thinking I had a cataract or something. Nobody won that Nene-McGee trade. It was like the Richard Sherman–Skip Bayless fight on First Take — everyone lost. As for Jordan, if you're making eight figures a year, but your coach only plays you half the game and sits you in crunch time for The Artist Formerly Known As Lamar Odom — someone who should NEVER be playing crunch time for any contender that's allegedly trying to win a title — then you're on the list. Sorry.

20. Jan Vesely: four years, $17.3 million
Vesely brought a hot girlfriend to the 2011 draft, and since then, it's been one long bungee jump that won't end. Six things you might not know/remember about the Janster:

1. He already has 23 DNPs this season.

2. He has nearly as many fouls (86) as points (94).

3. Repeat: He has nearly as many fouls as points.

4. The Wizards owe him $3.5 million next season, but after that, they can bail from the last two years and $10.5 million of his deal — something that's only happened three other times in the past 10 drafts (Jonny Flynn, Hasheem Thabeet and Shelden Williams).10

5. He's 328th in PER right now, six away from last place.

6. I know only one Wizards fan — my buddy House, who says that the Vesely pick makes him feel the same way he did when Cousin Sal was throwing up fried food in House Eats 3, and that as bad as Vesely's numbers are, it's even worse when you're watching him. Says House, "He can't play basketball. You don't need to say anything else."

The moral of the story: Maybe that isn't a disastrous contract, but when you throw in the real estate (no. 6), the wasted money (not overwhelming, but still), the stench of bad luck/bad management (not only did the Wiz land the only no. 1 overall pick from 2008 through 2011 that wasn't Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin or Kyrie Irving, they ended up with zilch from the 2009 and 2011 drafts despite landing the fifth and sixth picks), and the constant game-after-game reminder that you totally screwed up … it's more than a little atrocious.

nate33 wrote:

payitforward wrote:We are now almost exactly 3 years from when management completely broke up the previous team and started over. In 3 years, it's acceptable FO performance to climb all the way back to 30 wins. To be a .500 team. That's the performance level he demands of his GM.

The expectations are to be a .500 team only when fully healthy? That's sad. They don't seem to get that in real life, the ".500" teams are actually .600 teams when healthy but suffer the usual injuries that come with being an NBA team. You don't see Chicago slumming in the lottery just because Rose missed the season, or Boston throwing in the towel when Rondo got hurt.

The expectations are way too low. This team has two quality big men, a #1 overall pick in his 3rd season, and a $58M payroll. They should be aiming much higher. They suck because there is no depth on this team thanks to 4 years of botched draft picks.

sashae wrote:Love it. Bill Simmons' "The Worst Contracts in the NBA" column is rife with Ernie Specials. To wit:

Andray Blatche (Washington: three years, $23.4 million)
Blatche signed a three-year, $23.4 million extension in September of 2010 that didn't kick in until the 2012-13 season. They amnestied him last summer. Hold on, I'll let you do the math. (Waiting.) Did you figure it out? Yup, Blatche's extension was such a mistake that the Wizards ended up amnestying it before it even started! Ted Leonsis and Ernie Grunfeld are like Bizarro Jerry Buss and Bizarro Jerry West.

Emeka Okafor (two years, $28.1 million): Since December 22, he's averaging 11.3 points and 11.3 rebounds, playing solid defense and doing the whole "I'm a stellar guy to have in the locker room, unlike just about everyone you had on this team since 2007" thing. Dwight Howard's stats since December 22: 14.2 points and 12.1 rebounds. Remember when I wrote during 2004's Draft Diary that Orlando should take Okafor over Howard? I'm still alive!!!! YOU CAN DO IT, EMEKA!!!!

29. Nene: four years, $52 million
28. JaVale McGee: four years, $44 million
27. DeAndre Jordan: three years, $33 million

The Nuggets are paying McGee $11 million a year to play 18.7 minutes a game. Not a misprint. And Nene is somehow playing 27 minutes a night in D.C. without averaging 13 points, seven rebounds or one block per game, or shooting 50 percent, which actually seems impossible — I kept staring at these numbers thinking I had a cataract or something. Nobody won that Nene-McGee trade. It was like the Richard Sherman–Skip Bayless fight on First Take — everyone lost. As for Jordan, if you're making eight figures a year, but your coach only plays you half the game and sits you in crunch time for The Artist Formerly Known As Lamar Odom — someone who should NEVER be playing crunch time for any contender that's allegedly trying to win a title — then you're on the list. Sorry.

...and my favorite:

20. Jan Vesely: four years, $17.3 million
Vesely brought a hot girlfriend to the 2011 draft, and since then, it's been one long bungee jump that won't end. Six things you might not know/remember about the Janster:

1. He already has 23 DNPs this season.

2. He has nearly as many fouls (86) as points (94).

3. Repeat: He has nearly as many fouls as points.

4. The Wizards owe him $3.5 million next season, but after that, they can bail from the last two years and $10.5 million of his deal — something that's only happened three other times in the past 10 drafts (Jonny Flynn, Hasheem Thabeet and Shelden Williams).10

5. He's 328th in PER right now, six away from last place.

6. I know only one Wizards fan — my buddy House, who says that the Vesely pick makes him feel the same way he did when Cousin Sal was throwing up fried food in House Eats 3, and that as bad as Vesely's numbers are, it's even worse when you're watching him. Says House, "He can't play basketball. You don't need to say anything else."

The moral of the story: Maybe that isn't a disastrous contract, but when you throw in the real estate (no. 6), the wasted money (not overwhelming, but still), the stench of bad luck/bad management (not only did the Wiz land the only no. 1 overall pick from 2008 through 2011 that wasn't Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin or Kyrie Irving, they ended up with zilch from the 2009 and 2011 drafts despite landing the fifth and sixth picks), and the constant game-after-game reminder that you totally screwed up … it's more than a little atrocious.

FY-ER ER-KNEE