Who should be the next GM for the Wizards?

[pcbothwel]

Sheppard will probably be the pick. He's going to work for a significant discount like Grunfailed, and he's going to do what Leonsis tells him to do.

Should Ted and Co elect to do this, then feel free to discuss pros and cons accordingly. But lets not overlook Sheppard as a serious candidate just because he has been here.
If Ted wanted to maintain continuity and save money, we would of named Sheppard GM 2+ weeks ago.

I think the "Easy" and less imaginative thing to do is hire Weaver. He is young, a minority, local, and part of whats been viewed as a great organization. But when you dig deeper, you see the weaver hire has a lot of risk.

[payitforward]

Would it be possible to have both Ferry and Sheppard? Ferry could be the GM and dictate the general philosophy of the franchise, hopefully in the Spurs mold. Sheppard could be the director of player personnel and have the primary say in the draft.

Meh. Probably too expensive to hire both guys.

Maybe Tommy would take a pay cut? Or take on some extra duties... sweep the place out? Save on that job, wch would help Ted. Actually... maybe Ted could do the sweeping? Himself along w/ the rest of the dust & cobwebs?

We didn't look at Trajan Langdan, btw -- most recent GM signing out of the University of San Antonio.

[payitforward]

It doesn't concern anyone that Weaver's track record with picks have been awful lately? If we're going to associate Shep with Ernie, we should associate Weaver with Presti right? Isn't that how it works?

2014: Mitch McGary and Josh Huestis
2015: Cameron Payne
2016: Sabonis (also acquired Oladipo for Ibaka), Furkan Korkmaz
2017: Terrance Ferguson who is atrocious. Traded a 2nd round pick to Denver and that turned out to be Monte Morris
2018: Their first round pick was traded, that turned out to be Josh Okogie. 2nd round pick they got from the Bulls was traded to the Knicks w/Kanter, that ended up being Mitchell Robinson.

Sabonis was traded for PG 13, but they have like 2 first round picks that they have drafted since 2013 on their team right now (Adams and Ferguson). And one of the biggest complaints about OKC is their lack of bench.

Agreed... I think Im going with Ole Tommy at this point. Elevate Sheppard to President and bring on a young/analytic mind to be a VP/GM.
Look at how the Clippers designed their FO. They have West as the real visionary/deal maker, while Winger is their GM and does a lot of the day to day work and scouting.

It's his familiarity w/ & use of analytics that makes me favor Tommy Sheppard.

[Illuminaire]

The concern with Tommy is that there is no way to separate his decision making capability from EG's failures. He may have been on the right side of most of those mistakes, and constantly overturned... or not. We have no way to know.

For me, my wariness stems from this logical conundrum: if Tommy was both smarter than EG and a capable leader, why was his voice so small and futile for the last ten years?

Alternatively, if Tommy's voice *was* heard and put into action... damn, that's worse.

It seems to me that his ceiling has to be relatively low as a GM, else we would have seen the fruits of his labor at some point during his stint with the Wizards. (Counter argument: EG made himself the only bridge between the FO and Leonsis, and basically ignored every other opinion for 16 years. If that's true, though, it raises even more questions about Leonsis as an owner and Tommy's willingness to work in an environment where he would be unappreciated and completely ignored for years at a time.)

I dunno. I have trouble finding a version of the Wizards reality where Tommy is an amazing executive ready to take the league by storm.

[payitforward]

Sheppard will probably be the pick. He's going to work for a significant discount like Grunfailed, and he's going to do what Leonsis tells him to do.

Grunfeld worked at a discount? Who says? What was his salary?

[payitforward]

The concern with Tommy is that there is no way to separate his decision making capability from EG's failures. He may have been on the right side of most of those mistakes, and constantly overturned... or not. We have no way to know.

For me, my wariness stems from this logical conundrum: if Tommy was both smarter than EG and a capable leader, why was his voice so small and futile for the last ten years?

Alternatively, if Tommy's voice *was* heard and put into action... damn, that's worse.

It seems to me that his ceiling has to be relatively low as a GM, else we would have seen the fruits of his labor at some point during his stint with the Wizards. (Counter argument: EG made himself the only bridge between the FO and Leonsis, and basically ignored every other opinion for 16 years. If that's true, though, it raises even more questions about Leonsis as an owner and Tommy's willingness to work in an environment where he would be unappreciated and completely ignored for years at a time.)

I dunno. I have trouble finding a version of the Wizards reality where Tommy is an amazing executive ready to take the league by storm.

You're thinking about it an abstract way. Look at what other people in the league say about him.

Ernie was conceited & way out of date. The franchise also had no vision or goals. The problem was & is Ted. Just for starters, if Ted had a clue he'd have fired Ernie long ago. He didn't, which tells you that when it was obvious to most of us that Ernie was making mistake after mistake after mistake, Ted thought he was doing a swell job. We "made the playoffs." BFD.

It seems an absolute certainty that Connelly stayed in Denver b/c the parameters of leadership & deal-making Ted offered were insufficient for him to feel he could do a good job.

[Rafael122]

It doesn't concern anyone that Weaver's track record with picks have been awful lately? If we're going to associate Shep with Ernie, we should associate Weaver with Presti right? Isn't that how it works?

2014: Mitch McGary and Josh Huestis
2015: Cameron Payne
2016: Sabonis (also acquired Oladipo for Ibaka), Furkan Korkmaz
2017: Terrance Ferguson who is atrocious. Traded a 2nd round pick to Denver and that turned out to be Monte Morris
2018: Their first round pick was traded, that turned out to be Josh Okogie. 2nd round pick they got from the Bulls was traded to the Knicks w/Kanter, that ended up being Mitchell Robinson.

Sabonis was traded for PG 13, but they have like 2 first round picks that they have drafted since 2013 on their team right now (Adams and Ferguson). And one of the biggest complaints about OKC is their lack of bench.

Agreed... I think Im going with Ole Tommy at this point. Elevate Sheppard to President and bring on a young/analytic mind to be a VP/GM.
Look at how the Clippers designed their FO. They have West as the real visionary/deal maker, while Winger is their GM and does a lot of the day to day work and scouting.

It's his familiarity w/ & use of analytics that makes me favor Tommy Sheppard.

One of DX guys said he seems Sheppard a lot on the scouting circuit, so at least he has his fingers on the pulse. It would be very surprising if Ted hired someone from the outside. He had McPhee there for awhile for the Caps, fired him, and promoted the Assistant GM. Most of the Caps coaches during Ted's tenure have been from within:

Hanlon was the assistant coach, Boudreau was plucked from the minor league affiliates, Dale Hunter was a former cap, so was Oates. Trotz came from outside the organization, but they promoted the assistant Reirden.

[80sballboy]

Sheppard will probably be the pick. He's going to work for a significant discount like Grunfailed, and he's going to do what Leonsis tells him to do.

Should Ted and Co elect to do this, then feel free to discuss pros and cons accordingly. But lets not overlook Sheppard as a serious candidate just because he has been here.
If Ted wanted to maintain continuity and save money, we would of named Sheppard GM 2+ weeks ago.

I think the "Easy" and less imaginative thing to do is hire Weaver. He is young, a minority, local, and part of whats been viewed as a great organization. But when you dig deeper, you see the weaver hire has a lot of risk.

How is this an unimaginative move? You are taking a chance on an assistant GM with many years of experience as an assistant, who finally gets to run an organization. Forget the other stuff about local and minority (majority in the NBA). After Bob Ferry, they went for experience in John Nash, no experience in Wes Unseld and Michael Jordan and too experienced with EG. How the hell did that work out?

https://www.nba.com/thunder/team/basketballops1html

I didn't know he spent so much time as an assistant coach in college and graduated PGCC, which is interesting (I went there in between Md and Towson). So I guess he doesn't have a four-year degree? Apparently has done ok without one.

[Illuminaire]

You're thinking about it an abstract way. Look at what other people in the league say about him.

Ernie was conceited & way out of date. The franchise also had no vision or goals. The problem was & is Ted. Just for starters, if Ted had a clue he'd have fired Ernie long ago. He didn't, which tells you that when it was obvious to most of us that Ernie was making mistake after mistake after mistake, Ted thought he was doing a swell job. We "made the playoffs." BFD.

It seems an absolute certainty that Connelly stayed in Denver b/c the parameters of leadership & deal-making Ted offered were insufficient for him to feel he could do a good job.

You're absolutely right about my perspective. I tend to find the forest long before I start investigating trees.

I also agree about Ernie. Also about Leonsis. I have great concerns about the Wiz' going forward primarily because of Leonsis.

Which is, I think, what really bothers me about Tommy as a possible GM. The Wizards were screwed for over a decade because of Ted's horrible vision and myopic leadership. Tommy was not able to break through that or effect positive results during that time. So would he really be able to as the GM?

I think maybe, sort of, a little? But not enough. Which is why I'd prefer to see the Wiz hand that title to someone with both talent and clout - and enough balls to tell Ted his job is making sure the urinal cakes are fresh, not forcing stupid trades so the team can squeak in as an 8th seed.

Ferry is probably my favorite right now. But he'd be coming in fresh off the naughty list and might not have the necessary gravitas.

Ferp, man, how did Ted screw up with Connelly...

[payitforward]

I'm rooting for Troy Weaver to be the next Zards GM. I like what he brings to the table--DC guy, minority, great rapport with players, learned a great deal working with Presti, etc.

From The Athletic article:

Those who know Weaver look to his relationships with players as one of his obvious strengths. Many around the league believe that D.C. is an untapped basketball market. If given the opportunity, why couldn’t he convince a big name to come to the nation’s capital, just as he did with others in Oklahoma City? They’ll mention his abilities as a talent-evaluator. He was one of the voices pushing the man at the top, Sam Presti, to draft Russell Westbrook fourth in 2008, when most at the time considered that pick a shoulder-dislocating reach. Now, Weaver is one of the favorites to replace former Wizards president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld.

I wish his recent record didn't make me so nervous. Note that the recommendation of his talent-evaluation ability is based on something he did almost 11 years ago.

Anybody we hire is likely to be a big improvement over Ernie. At the same time, anybody we hire will be working for Ted. It's a problem.

[payitforward]

Sheppard will probably be the pick. He's going to work for a significant discount like Grunfailed, and he's going to do what Leonsis tells him to do.

Should Ted and Co elect to do this, then feel free to discuss pros and cons accordingly. But lets not overlook Sheppard as a serious candidate just because he has been here.
If Ted wanted to maintain continuity and save money, we would of named Sheppard GM 2+ weeks ago.

I think the "Easy" and less imaginative thing to do is hire Weaver. He is young, a minority, local, and part of whats been viewed as a great organization. But when you dig deeper, you see the weaver hire has a lot of risk.

How is this an unimaginative move? You are taking a chance on an assistant GM with many years of experience as an assistant, who finally gets to run an organization. Forget the other stuff about local and minority (majority in the NBA). After Bob Ferry, they went for experience in John Nash, no experience in Wes Unseld and Michael Jordan and too experienced with EG. How the hell did that work out?

https://www.nba.com/thunder/team/basketballops1html

I didn't know he spent so much time as an assistant coach in college and graduated PGCC, which is interesting (I went there in between Md and Towson). So I guess he doesn't have a four-year degree? Apparently has done ok without one.

The donkey's on vacation; that's the problem. As soon as the donkey gets back, Ted can pin the tail on him, & we'll know who the new GM is.

[80sballboy]

In other words, we are effed. Connelly basically said today he had a nice conversation with Ted. Wow, no offer? Shocking. So it's probably Sheppard or bust. Maybe Ted will make Zach his Director of Player Personnel. We'll be number one in Fortnite and sports gambling.

[gtn130]

Maybe the plan was to hire Sheppard all along and all of this was political theater?

[Kanyewest]

I guess the Wizards have a chance to strike out on Masai after the Raptors get eliminated.

[TGW]

Sheppard will probably be the pick. He's going to work for a significant discount like Grunfailed, and he's going to do what Leonsis tells him to do.

Grunfeld worked at a discount? Who says? What was his salary?

I remember reading reports that Grunfeld took a major paycut when he received the "secret" extension.

[TGW]

By the way—Weaver being a relationship manager is not a skill that I value in a general manager. I don't care if the GM has a good rapport with players...it's simply not important. Good players want to be a part of good organizations that win, not organizations that have GMs that are nice to them. If that were important, Durant wouldn't have left OKC to sign with GS.

Having a good rapport with players is a nice to have. It shouldn't be the basis of who is hired for the position.

[doclinkin]

The concern with Tommy is that there is no way to separate his decision making capability from EG's failures. He may have been on the right side of most of those mistakes, and constantly overturned... or not. We have no way to know.

For me, my wariness stems from this logical conundrum: if Tommy was both smarter than EG and a capable leader, why was his voice so small and futile for the last ten years?

Alternatively, if Tommy's voice *was* heard and put into action... damn, that's worse.

It seems to me that his ceiling has to be relatively low as a GM, else we would have seen the fruits of his labor at some point during his stint with the Wizards. (Counter argument: EG made himself the only bridge between the FO and Leonsis, and basically ignored every other opinion for 16 years. If that's true, though, it raises even more questions about Leonsis as an owner and Tommy's willingness to work in an environment where he would be unappreciated and completely ignored for years at a time.)

I dunno. I have trouble finding a version of the Wizards reality where Tommy is an amazing executive ready to take the league by storm.

Folks in the know who crush Ernie still have only good things to say about Sheppard. You hear about him scouting here and overseas. Scouts say good things. Stat heads like the Secret Kevin like and respect him. Even players who know him say good things, Beal likes him and seems to think the team would have a good direction under him.

It’s not Tommy who inked large deals just to get the off-season over with and call it a day. Fans have liked players like Oubre, Troy Brown Jr., Satoransky. The selections of Beal and Porter were not sure things, not unanimous picks. And they were solid choices. I think our scouting has been alright recently over the past few drafts.

I am okay with Sheppard. Ernies worst moves were shortsighted trades, undervaluing picks, overpaying free agents irrespective of their ability, and having a fetish for talented guys who under perform or are discounted due to attitude problems. Oh and refusing to hire competent back ups and build a bench so our starters had to play too many minutes. None of that can be hung on Tommy who seems to have been on the scouting and player evaluation end of the business.

[TGW]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wizards-insider/post/wizards-finally-get-their-man/2011/06/27/AGgdKrnH_blog.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9cce55a2afaf

Wizards vice president of basketball administration Tommy Sheppard went to watch Vesely in the Serbian championship game last month and several members of the basketball operations staff were in New Jersey two weeks ago when Vesely held an individual workout for Washington, Sacramento and Toronto. Saunders admitted that Vesely didn’t shoot the ball very well during the workout, but “no matter what he did, he did everything in an explosive manner.”

Sorry, but wtf. Like I said in an earlier post—anyone who's watched Ves for more than 15 minutes should be able to conclude that he couldn't shoot, dribble, pass, or make a layup. I'm not sure what the hell they were looking at when they scouted him, but missing this badly on a lottery pick is unacceptable to me.

As for the Wizards other draft picks of the past few years...decent at best but other than the guys who were taken top 3, none of them move the needle. Almost all of them have been traded, released, or never made it to the NBA.

[80sballboy]

By the way—Weaver being a relationship manager is not a skill that I value in a general manager. I don't care if the GM has a good rapport with players...it's simply not important. Good players want to be a part of good organizations that win, not organizations that have GMs that are nice to them. If that were important, Durant wouldn't have left OKC to sign with GS.

Having a good rapport with players is a nice to have. It shouldn't be the basis of who is hired for the position.

You're right. Thank God Ernie had a good rapport with Ian Mahinmi. Not saying we could have gotten KD if Weaver was GM but we would have had a better shot. And a stronger shot with Horford. But I agree you don't hire him because of his people skills. You hire if you think he could find diamonds in the rough like Connelly did with Jokic and Nurkic.

[Rafael122]

Are the Wizards beat writers the only ones who talk more about the local ties? The average Wizards fan wouldn't care if Ferry went to high school locally, or if Weaver has an AAU team.