Official Countdown Grunfeld Era-2nd SuperStar?

[tontoz]

He was just on the Mike Wise Show, Reid was. Mentioned Ernie's replacements: Alonzo Mourning or Danny Ferry. I changed it to Hot 99.5. He was making some good points but when he mentioned that, I couldn't take him seriously anymore.

Thank you. He should have put more thought into that response. "Having local ties" isn't enough of a qualification for the position of GM.

And Ferry's track record is spotty at best. He tanked for Lebron, and handed millions of dollars to the likes of Larry Hughes and Mo Williams.

Mo was a pretty good complement to Lebron though, as was Verajao. Getting Gibson in the 2nd round was nice too. I thought he did a decent job when he was there. I think he made a couple of desperation moves at the end which did him in.

I don't think he would be too eager to leave the Spurs to join the Wizards lol.

[closg00]

From Teds Take.

Trading young players for a vet player was executable because we had so many young players that were of interest to other teams in the NBA. Many teams in the NBA covet young players.

We expect to have a high pick in this next off season’s draft – which is a deep one.

We expect to be able to make additional trades this off season.

We expect to be able to add to the lineup via free agency.

The team will have been morphed dramatically in 2 years time.

Thank you for your ongoing interest in our team – for all of your emails to me; and for being so supportive.

Doesn't sound like Ernie is going anywhere at all does it?

[tontoz]

From Teds Take.

We expect to have a high pick in this next off season’s draft – which is a deep one.

Doesn't sound like Ernie is going anywhere at all does it?

I assume he is talking about this years draft. Strange way to word it.

No it doesn't sound like EG is going anywhere.

[WizarDynasty]

Ferry was horrible. The fact that he traded for Jamison tells me he had no clue of how to build a team with two way players.
I created this thread i definitely feel that Ernie has improved dramatically as a GM from the time when i started this thread. No to ferry. The guy who got marc gasol, drafted Rudy Gay and Conley is the guy i want.

[JonathanJoseph]

From Teds Take.

Trading young players for a vet player was executable because we had so many young players that were of interest to other teams in the NBA. Many teams in the NBA covet young players.

We expect to have a high pick in this next off season’s draft – which is a deep one.

We expect to be able to make additional trades this off season.

We expect to be able to add to the lineup via free agency.

The team will have been morphed dramatically in 2 years time.

Thank you for your ongoing interest in our team – for all of your emails to me; and for being so supportive.

Doesn't sound like Ernie is going anywhere at all does it?

I don't read anything about Grunfeld's status into that post.

Sure, the plan was always to stockpile youth and cap space and see which players fit, but that doesn't change the analysis of whether Grunfeld has actually executed that strategy well. Blatche, McGee and Young were huge busts and Vesely and Singleton are looking like questionable choices.

I think it is likely that Grunfeld will not be offered a new contract and that the development of Booker and Seraphin and any impact from Nene are what Grunfeld will have to hang his hat on.

Also, it's not out of the realm of possibility that how Young and McGee perform elsewhere will factor in. NY had 3 Rebs and 2 assists in his first start in LA. If there is further evidence that the culture/organization/locker room is has a negative effect on players I don't see how Grunfeld would have a chance at retaining his job.

[JonathanJoseph]

Jeff Van Gundy have his buddy Grunfeld a shout out during the Lakers vs Mavs game on ESPN. Says that getting rid of McGee, Young and Blatche has made the Wizards a smarter team and that the Wizards were now playing really good basketball and to credit Grunfeld for a smart move.

[verbal8]

Jeff Van Gundy have his buddy Grunfeld a shout out during the Lakers vs Mavs game on ESPN. Says that getting rid of McGee, Young and Blatche has made the Wizards a smarter team and that the Wizards were now playing really good basketball and to credit Grunfeld for a smart move.

Who acquired those players originally? They all were good draft picks, but building a team around them turned out to be a mistake. Also squandering other assets meant they were in roles where they needed to do more than they are capable of doing. The GM needs to build a team in addition to acquiring talent.

[Ruzious]

It is theater of the absurd that the trades EG gets the most back-slapping congrats for are trades where he's basically dumping players he acquired or signed in the first place - so he's good at undoing mistakes he's made.

[nate33]

I hate to always be put into the position of defending EG, but I think any analysis of his performance has to be put into context.

EG grabbed McGee, Young and Blatche late in the draft. I'm sure he was well aware of their bball IQ issues, that's why players with so much talent were available so late. When EG drafted them, we had a winning ball club with a lot of veteran leadership, including Jamison, Butler and Haywood. EG made a reasonable gamble that he could groom these young players in a veteran environment and hopefully maintain a strong talent base for the duration of Arenas' career. If EG knew that Arenas would never return to form, he may have gone in a different direction.

Once it became clear that we were rebuilding, EG changed gears and has drafted high character guys who he knew could handle a losing environment for a period of time. That's the right move for a rebuilding franchise.

[Severn Hoos]

nate, I started a post but abandoned it - saying things similar to your post here. Look at it this way - if EG had traded the 18th pick in the draft and an expiring contract for a 29 year old big man with solid career numbers and a good fundamental approach to the game (that you hope/think can rub off on your developing players), we'd all be pretty happy, I suspect. (Yes, I get the contract issue. But for now, he's definitely worth his contract, IMO.)

I think on McGee he bought low and sold kinda high (though probably not as high as he might have had he done so earlier). I wouldn't put that in the category of "cleaning up his own mistakes."

Amnestying Blatche, on the other hand....

[Ruzious]

Gambling on talent is fine, but ya gotta know when to stop and when to go in heavy - when to adjust - rather than just say year after year that we'll keep trying with this group that never was going to be great in the first place. He had 2 cycles to nowhere here - with the big 3 and the tres knuckleheads - after going through basically the same thing in Milwaukee - there's a pattern of mediocrity.

[nate33]

Gambling on talent is fine, but ya gotta know when to stop and when to go in heavy - when to adjust - rather than just say year after year that we'll keep trying with this group that never was going to be great in the first place. He had 2 cycles to nowhere here - with the big 3 and the tres knuckleheads - after going through basically the same thing in Milwaukee - there's a pattern of mediocrity.

If we assume that EG was under a "win now" mandate from Abe, then his decision made perfect sense. EG knew that the talent core of Arenas, Butler, Jamison and Haywood was only a .500 caliber team and they needed more star caliber players. He gambled on Young and McGee with their high upside.

Heck, up until this season, I thought EG was right with the Young and McGee picks. Young had shown steady improvement until he finally "broke out" last year after the Arenas trade. Young played well enough to retain into the offseason and see what could be worked out on his contract. (He lacked trade value anyway because of his impending free agency status.) Likewise, McGee had his best season last year and gave us reason to hope that he could be an elite center. I know I wouldn't have traded either guy last season.

[Ruzious]

Nate, as the GM, it was his job to set the owner straight on the reality of the situation. If he didn't do that, he was not a competent GM. And there were other moves he could have made - when he traded the Rubio pick - that could have been MUCH smarter. I think it actually was smart to trade that pick, but that trade was terrible. When you screw up the big trades like that, you can make a dozen solid moves and still not make up for the big bad trade.

[nate33]

Nate, as the GM, it was his job to set the owner straight on the reality of the situation. If he didn't do that, he was not a competent GM. And there were other moves he could have made - when he traded the Rubio pick - that could have been MUCH smarter. I think it actually was smart to trade that pick, but that trade was terrible. When you screw up the big trades like that, you can make a dozen solid moves and still not make up for the big bad trade.

You are absolutely right. The Miller trade was terrible. I wouldn't object if EG was fired solely for that move. It was that bad.

I'm just saying that outside of that one horrible trade, most of EG's moves were pretty reasonable given the circumstances under which the moves were made.

[JonathanJoseph]

nate, I started a post but abandoned it - saying things similar to your post here. Look at it this way - if EG had traded the 18th pick in the draft and an expiring contract for a 29 year old big man with solid career numbers and a good fundamental approach to the game (that you hope/think can rub off on your developing players), we'd all be pretty happy, I suspect. (Yes, I get the contract issue. But for now, he's definitely worth his contract, IMO.)

I think on McGee he bought low and sold kinda high (though probably not as high as he might have had he done so earlier). I wouldn't put that in the category of "cleaning up his own mistakes."

Amnestying Blatche, on the other hand....

+1

[Ruzious]

Nate, as the GM, it was his job to set the owner straight on the reality of the situation. If he didn't do that, he was not a competent GM. And there were other moves he could have made - when he traded the Rubio pick - that could have been MUCH smarter. I think it actually was smart to trade that pick, but that trade was terrible. When you screw up the big trades like that, you can make a dozen solid moves and still not make up for the big bad trade.

You are absolutely right. The Miller trade was terrible. I wouldn't object if EG was fired solely for that move. It was that bad.

I'm just saying that outside of that one horrible trade, most of EG's moves were pretty reasonable given the circumstances under which the moves were made.

Agreed. I think Ernie would make a great assistant GM - doing the little things right - as long as he was working for a smart GM with a vision.

[closg00]

What the heck, I'll put this link here. Enjoy the gallery.
http://www.foxsportssouthwest.com/pages ... d=19646&gf

[montestewart]

What the heck, I'll put this link here. Enjoy the gallery.
http://www.foxsportssouthwest.com/pages ... d=19646&gf

So, of the top 10 rookies, Grunfeld had no chance of drafting two of them without a trade up, and of the remaining eight, he could have gotten as many as three (or even four if he managed to trade down).

What a revolting predicament.

[Severn Hoos]

Just a reminder, the top 5 rookies for the last week of the 2006-07 season:


THIS WEEK'S RANKINGS (April 9-18)

1. Shelden Williams (ATL)
15.6 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 1.80 SPG, 1.60 BPG, .653 FG% in 5 games
2. Rajon Rondo (BOS)
14.2 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 6.2 APG, 2.33 SPG, .554 FG% in 6 games
3. Tarence Kinsey (MEM)
19.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 3.5 APG, 2.00 SPG, .536 FG% in 4 games
4. Walter Herrmann (CHA)
21.5 PPG, 6.3 RPG, .574 FG%, 15-26 3PT in 4 games
5. Mardy Collins (NYK)
14.8 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1.67 SPG, .423 FG% in 6 games

And for the season, guys like Jorge Garbajosa, Craig Smith, Randy Foye, and Adam Morrison all made the top 10. The next 10 included Shelden Williams, Marcus Williams, Walter Herrman, Sergio Rodriguez, Tarence Kinsey, and Mickael Gelabale.

Not saying that EG didn't blow it with last year's picks, but it's much more important where they are 3 years from now than how they look 3 months into their NBA careers.

[closg00]

Clever cherry-picking Sev, choosing from one of the worst drafts in recent years to make your point Why don't you post that-years lottery picks as -well.