Poll: Grade Ernie Grunfeld

[closg00]

Co-Valedictorians
Houston Rockets: 4.00 GPA
San Antonio Spurs: 3.92 GPA

Honor Roll
Oklahoma City Thunder: 3.75 GPA
Golden State Warriors: 3.59 GPA
Utah Jazz: 3.34 GPA

Passing, Room for Improvement
Boston Celtics: 2.84 GPA
Cleveland Cavaliers: 2.78 GPA

On the Right Track
Dallas Mavericks: 2.54 GPA

Just Getting By
Miami Heat: 2.33 GPA
Mempis Grizzlies: 2.11 GPA
Charlotte Bobcats: 2.08 GPA
Los Angeles Lakers: 2.00 GPA

Below Average
Phoenix Suns: 1.92 GPA
Toronto Raptors: 1.83 GPA
Chicago Bulls: 1.78 GPA
New York Knicks: 1.58 GPA

Should Consider a Tutor
Washington Wizards: 1.46 GPA
Minnesota Timberwolves: 1.44 GPA
Detroit Pistons: 1.37 GPA
Sacramento Kings: 1.33 GPA
Milwaukee Bucks 1.17 GPA

See Me After Class
Atlanta Hawks: 0.92 GPA
Denver Nuggets: 0.92 GPA
Portland Trail Blazers: 0.89 GPA
Los Angeles Clippers: 0.83 GPA
New Jersey Nets: 0.63 GPA
Philadelphia 76ers: 0.63 GPA

Failing, but with Signs of Improvement
New Orleans Hornets: 0.50 GPA

Failing, Not Even an E for Effort
Indiana Pacers 1.33/0.25 GPA
Orlando Magic: 0.00 GPA

^^^Here are the entire rankings. Everyone knows what a GPA is and a 1.46 ranking ( It should have been lower IMO) is below a C average It was only this last season that we really began to use call-ups and as has been pointed-out, John Ramos was the last Wizard to be sent to the D-League.What Ernie used to do is sign someone to a non-guaranteed contract, then cut them when they were no-longer needed.

[verbal8]

There should be some improvement in the use of D-League. However until the Wizards affiliate is somewhere other than the wilds of Dakota, I don't think it will be a significant factor in the Wizards player development strategy.

[montestewart]

There should be some improvement in the use of D-League. However until the Wizards affiliate is somewhere other than the wilds of Dakota, I don't think it will be a significant factor in the Wizards player development strategy.

Come winter, it takes a long time for the ten-day call up wagon to make it to DC via the cattle trail.

[no D in Hibachi]

Pretty much every player who qualified to play in the D-League over the last few years has received ample playing time on the big league team to justify keeping them around.

DMac was starting during his second season.
N1 played all 82 games his second season and and 75 during his rookie year.
Crittenton was playing regular minutes when he was here last year.
Blatche played in the D-League and wasn't allowed to play in the D-League during his 3rd season.
McGee played 75 games during his rookie year. However, that number did decrease last year to 60 so there might have been about a months worth of time he could have played in the D-League.

The only player who should have played in the D-League over the last five years was Pecher, but he stinks anyways so what would the D-League do for him? It'd just encourage him to become more trigger happy.

I'm not sure why anyone would overboard to knock EG for not using the D-League more often. Of the last five players who "might" have benefited from the D-League he neglected to send McGee down for one month. Big whoop. There has really been no concrete evidence which suggest players benefit from going to the D-League and all of a sudden grow up and return as contributors. In fact, it seems like every player that get's sent to the D-League ends up becoming "the man" takes every shot, drop 50, and then when they return they still don't know how to blend in at the pro level because they aren't the man any longer.

EG acquired 3 or so players from the D-League or off the streets last year, which is good enough for me. It's not like the Martins or Harris' of the world are making any pro teams better. They are training camp invite players, they are end of bench blow out players. So what if one or two players from the D-League become NBA starter material every ten seasons. Focusing your attention on such low rate of returns is not utilizing your resources appropriately when you should be focusing on scouting potential first round picks who will actually make an impact.

The best way to acquire impactful talent in the NBA is 1) the draft, 2) trades, 3) free agency, and a distant 4) the d-league. EG should spend more time on 1-3 because I'd rather see him have a 4.0 on drafting and trades and a 1.4 on d-league scouting than the opposite.

[verbal8]

The best way to acquire impactful talent in the NBA is 1) the draft, 2) trades, 3) free agency, and a distant 4) the d-league. EG should spend more time on 1-3 because I'd rather see him have a 4.0 on drafting and trades and a 1.4 on d-league scouting than the opposite.

Even the Spurs who used the D-League well got only 287 total points from players who played in the D-League. That would have been 11th on the Wizards in scoring if you combine the impact(just ahead of Al Thornton's 256 points in 24 games). While a very crude measure of impact, I think it gives you the idea that D-League has a use for keeping end of the bench players fresh, but really is not a factor in the development of star level talent.

According to my interpretation of Leonsis' plan, the top 4 or 5 players should be homegrown talent. The role players(the next 4 or 5 spots) on a championship team will be vets on short contracts. On this rebuilding Wizards team they may be late draft picks or players who have shown something in D-League. The remaining 2 to 4 spots are where D-League comes into play in filling out the roster.

[closg00]

Pretty much every player who qualified to play in the D-League over the last few years has received ample playing time on the big league team to justify keeping them around.

The reason the Wizards received a D grade for use of the D-League is because they share your view of how the D-League should be used - Maybe to send players there. Pech and McGee both should have been sent for stints in the D-League just like JJ Hickson of the Cavs and BJ Mullens has for OKC (and many others). Bigs take time to develop and they need court-time with coaching to go-along with it. Sitting on the bench can come later.

I'm not sure why you go to such extreme length's to knock EG for not using the D-League more often.

Extreme lengths????? I did not write the article.

There has really been no concrete evidence which suggest players benefit from going to the D-League and all of a sudden grow up and return as contributors.

You couldn't be more wrong here, you show a lack of understanding of what The NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE is used for. The League is in-fact expanding and it's future is that of a defacto farm system. The smarter teams (Houston, SA, OKC, Jazz etc) are ahead of the game. The Lakers have purchased a team. The Wizards are a late-comers. If the League did not benefit teams and players it would cease to exist.

EG acquired 3 or so players from the D-League or off the streets last year, which is good enough for me. It's not like the Martins or Harris' of the world are making any pro teams better. They are training camp invite players, they are end of bench blow out players. So what if one or two players from the D-League become NBA starter material every ten seasons. Focusing your attention on such low rate of returns is not utilizing your resources appropriately when you should be focusing on scouting potential first round picks who will actually make an impact.

Yes, last-year we did use the call-ups more, that's one of the benefits of the D-League, not every player is going to be a star or starter, but solid bench players can make or break you in the playoffs and finding the best ones are worth making the extra effort to find them

The best way to acquire impactful talent in the NBA is 1) the draft, 2) trades, 3) free agency, and a distant 4) the d-league. EG should spend more time on 1-3 because I'd rather see him have a 4.0 on drafting and trades and a 1.4 on d-league scouting than the opposite.

FAIL!!! Teams with the best General Managers try to excel in ALL FOUR categories you mentioned, not 3 out of 4.

On the positve side, it appears as-though we are moving in the right direction. Hamady's progress will be monitored should he get an contract overseas. I'm for getting as many irons in the fire as possible.

[AnotherFinn]

On the positve side, it appears as-though we are moving in the right direction. Hamady's progress will be monitored should he get an contract overseas. I'm for getting as many irons in the fire as possible.

Asuming he can find playing place, his agent did not sound that positive on it...

I would not be too surpriced if the question would turn up to be: give H 15th spot & put on D league or to dump him?

[Dat2U]

I hate to be debbie downer. (Ah who am I kidding, I get a kick out of it!) But Hamady isn't close to being an NBA player at this stage of his career. There's a reason why his agent wasn't too positive on finding a place for him to play overseas. He's simply not skilled or strong enough to really make a difference on the court. I doubt he could even make much of an impact overseas. When you can't do anything offensively other than dunk, you better damn well be able to rebound at a high level and he's not able to at this stage. I'd be surprised if he ever played a minute in the NBA.

But as the 57th pick in the NBA draft, there should have been no expectation that he would be able to. Ernie took a flier on him and got a free look in the summer league. That's about all you can expect for from a guy that's basically a rookie FA.

[closg00]

This will make Rico happy, NBA.com give us a B+ on their Summer Report Card. However when you break-down the individual categories, we really average a C. Only three NBA teams received a D grade. Thoughts?
http://www.nba.com/reportcard/summer/2010/wizards/

[hands11]

This will make Rico happy, NBA.com give us a B+ on their Summer Report Card. However when you break-down the individual categories, we really average a C. Only three NBA teams received a D grade. Thoughts?
http://www.nba.com/reportcard/summer/2010/wizards/

Yeah, you posted this in the wrong thread

[closg00]

Here is the NBA.com breakdown for the Wizards.

Front Court: C-
Wiz found a pair of foreigners, veteran Yi Jianlian of China and first-rounder Kevin Seraphin, a 6-9 French banger, to add depth up front. Yi might help; Seraphin's a project.

BackCourt: B
Kirk Hinrich and John Wall join Gilbert Arenas to form the league's most intriguing backcourt. Assuming Gilbert stays, will they be happy together? Does Josh Howard have anything left?

Defense: C
No shot-blocker or ace stopper was added to a middle-of-the-pack defensive team, although returning 7-footer JaVale McGee did have a good camp. Wall has quick hands, too.

Bench: C+
Hilton Armstrong hasn't done anything to distinguish himself in the NBA, maybe a change in scenery from the Hornets to Wizards will help.

Coaching: B
Is Flip Saunders a good fit for a rebuilding team? This isn't what he signed up for originally, but there's no choice now. Good luck with Andray Blatche.

Summary - Overall Grade B+
The Wizards' summer can be whittled down to two people: Wall and Ted Leonsis, who took over as the new owner. They will dictate much of what happens to this franchise in the near (and possibly distant) future. The Wiz also got a pair of rotation guys (Hinrich and Yi) for nothing because they were salary dumps. Basically, it was just short of a super summer for the Wizards, given what they went through last season.

But they still have Arenas; therefore, their summer wasn't truly a smash, assuming they tried to trade him and found no takers. Do they feel Arenas has turned himself around? Or will he influence Wall in the wrong way?

[montestewart]

^
The primary reason that they got a B+ appears to be the arrival of Wall and Leonsis, which don't really influence an EG grade one way or the other to me. The article also credits getting Hinrich and Yi for nothing, and if they turn out to be really good additions for nothing, that looks pretty good for EG, especially coupled with the Jamison dump. The article doesn't mention Booker or Howard as part of the front court or Booker on the bench; maybe a little fuzzy reporting?

[nate33]

I'm just happy to be considered a "middle of the pack defensive team". When was the last time we could say that?

While I think the C- rating in the front court is deserved, I'm a little surprised at the C+ rating for our bench. Our bench is Hinrich, Young, Thornton, Yi and Armstrong. Two of those guys (Hinrich and Thornton) would start for maybe 10 teams in this league. And two more of those guys (Young and Yi) are at least average for bench players (with both having upside breakout potential). Only Armstrong is a below-averge bench player.

I continue to be amazed at the hatred shown to Andray Blatche. That guy must be the most underrated player ever to average 21, 8 and 4 as a starter. It's incredible to me how much that near triple double incident destroyed his reputation. The guy has 25 points, 14 ASSISTS and 9 boards at age 23 and all anybody can talk about is the way he tried to get a cheap 10th rebound.

[willbcocks]

I think our bench is pretty terrible. Heinrich is a good bench player (he has versatility and leadership to keep the ship steady), but that's it. Neither Thornton nor Young is a difference maker...and one of them has to be starting for half of the season.

Seraphin, Booker, and Yi are all players we are taking flyers on for their potential--it's not clear that any of them will contribute next year or are suited to the role. Consequently I'd give our backup bigs a collective D grade.

We also lack an offensive sparkplug (I think a team should have one guard and one forward) and a high energy guy to get the crowd into the game (Booker is not this guy).

A good bench has guys who the coach can use to fit specific roles, change the pace of the game, or hold down the fort. We don't have these kind of guys. We have players we are evaluating for their future potential.

[closg00]

^
The primary reason that they got a B+ appears to be the arrival of Wall and Leonsis, which don't really influence an EG grade one way or the other to me. The article also credits getting Hinrich and Yi for nothing, and if they turn out to be really good additions for nothing, that looks pretty good for EG, especially coupled with the Jamison dump. The article doesn't mention Booker or Howard as part of the front court or Booker on the bench; maybe a little fuzzy reporting?

+1 Every sports writer HAS to give us a B just for landing Wall.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I'm just happy to be considered a "middle of the pack defensive team". When was the last time we could say that?

While I think the C- rating in the front court is deserved, I'm a little surprised at the C+ rating for our bench. Our bench is Hinrich, Young, Thornton, Yi and Armstrong. Two of those guys (Hinrich and Thornton) would start for maybe 10 teams in this league. And two more of those guys (Young and Yi) are at least average for bench players (with both having upside breakout potential). Only Armstrong is a below-averge bench player.

I continue to be amazed at the hatred shown to Andray Blatche. That guy must be the most underrated player ever to average 21, 8 and 4 as a starter. It's incredible to me how much that near triple double incident destroyed his reputation. The guy has 25 points, 14 ASSISTS and 9 boards at age 23 and all anybody can talk about is the way he tried to get a cheap 10th rebound.

nate, I love it when people underestimate me. In fact, I prefer it going into any competition. It only works to your advantage to know they don't know what you know. When you win, you act like it was a fluke and go on about your business. You hustle them and they don't even know.

The Wizards are in the ideal position coming into this season.

Blatche and Arenas are perhaps two of the top five underrated players in the league coming into this season. If they're merely average, they're both ABOVE AVERAGE players. Andray Blatche was beasting without Wall and Arenas or Hinrich. Now he's got Yi coming in after a great world's and McGee coming in off a great summer league with the MVP John Wall. Nick Young in a contract year has gained 10 pounds of muscle, and he IS an underrated pure shooter and scorer. Josh Howard is in a contract year and loving his opportunity in Washington. Thornton is in a contract year. Seraphin is an athlete that Portland wanted badly. Booker is a great athlete who played with passion in NCAA ball.

And NOBODY is taking the team seriously?

I think on numerous occassions and on many a nights this season the Wizards are going to kick butt and take names. barelyawake, I see things opposite the way you do.

[Dat2U]

I'm just happy to be considered a "middle of the pack defensive team". When was the last time we could say that?

While I think the C- rating in the front court is deserved, I'm a little surprised at the C+ rating for our bench. Our bench is Hinrich, Young, Thornton, Yi and Armstrong. Two of those guys (Hinrich and Thornton) would start for maybe 10 teams in this league. And two more of those guys (Young and Yi) are at least average for bench players (with both having upside breakout potential). Only Armstrong is a below-averge bench player.

I continue to be amazed at the hatred shown to Andray Blatche. That guy must be the most underrated player ever to average 21, 8 and 4 as a starter. It's incredible to me how much that near triple double incident destroyed his reputation. The guy has 25 points, 14 ASSISTS and 9 boards at age 23 and all anybody can talk about is the way he tried to get a cheap 10th rebound.

The Wizards success relies mainly on four players IMO. Arenas, Wall, Blatche & McGee. These four are the main reason I'm actually optimistic for once about our team. But after those guys I think our roster is hot trash. The only other guy that could possibly contribute towards us winning games is Hinrich. Everyone else is a huge questionmark and are likely to contribute more to the loss column than the win column. I think for the most part everyone has ignored the seriousness of Howard's injury and mistakenly assumes he's going to repeat that 4 game magic from last season. I don't think Thornton starts for anyone but us and is only a passable backup. Same with Young. Nate, I remember the very ugly truth u posted about Yi's numbers immediately after we dealt for him so I'm not sure the optimism about him is really deserved, regardless of what he did in FIBA. Seraphin & Booker seem more like long term prospects than potential contributers.

To me it's all about the big four + Hinrich. Our backcourt could potentially be devasting. Blatche & McGee offer a great deal of size, athleticism & offensive skill that most teams don't have and I suspect Wall's presence as a floor leader will accentuate these positives. If we can just be passable (slightly below average or better) on the defensive boards were going to run alot if teams out of the building and be very competitive.

[doclinkin]

I continue to be amazed at the hatred shown to Andray Blatche. That guy must be the most underrated player ever to average 21, 8 and 4 as a starter. It's incredible to me how much that near triple double incident destroyed his reputation. The guy has 25 points, 14 ASSISTS and 9 boards at age 23 and all anybody can talk about is the way he tried to get a cheap 10th rebound.

The Wizards success relies mainly on four players IMO. Arenas, Wall, Blatche & McGee. These four are the main reason I'm actually optimistic for once about our team. But after those guys I think our roster is hot trash. The only other guy that could possibly contribute towards us winning games is Hinrich. Everyone else is a huge questionmark and are likely to contribute more to the loss column than the win column. I think for the most part everyone has ignored the seriousness of Howard's injury and mistakenly assumes he's going to repeat that 4 game magic from last season. I don't think Thornton starts for anyone but us and is only a passable backup. Same with Young. Nate, I remember the very ugly truth u posted about Yi's numbers immediately after we dealt for him so I'm not sure the optimism about him is really deserved, regardless of what he did in FIBA. Seraphin & Booker seem more like long term prospects than potential contributers.

To me it's all about the big four + Hinrich. Our backcourt could potentially be devasting. Blatche & McGee offer a great deal of size, athleticism & offensive skill that most teams don't have and I suspect Wall's presence as a floor leader will accentuate these positives. If we can just be passable (slightly below average or better) on the defensive boards were going to run alot if teams out of the building and be very competitive.

I have McGee as a huge question mark as well. Ditto the chemistry between Wall, Gil, and Dray. Tritto the chemistry in Flip's offense.

Gil has never been a catch-and-shoot player. Last year showed flashes, it also showed a Gil hesitant to attack inside and with little trust in his outside jumper. I never put it past him to put in the work, and but for his defensive attention span he's a smart player. But the strength of his game in the past was his read/react terminator-like situation assessment in attack mode, dribbling outside the 3-line. Back off him, he could drop the ball in from 30 ft. Play him tight he could weasel past you in a quick skitter. Step into the lane to defend and he'd put his body on your chest to let the refs decide.

A Gilbert whose job is primarily to run off-ball and wait for the pass removes half the danger of his game. Flip was well-stubborn last year expecting veteran players to suddenly adjust and pick up concepts that were nothing like the system that made them each all-stars. Flip went into a sulk of disbelief and let the thing fall down around him, calling out the younger players instead of showing leadership and an ability to adjust.

Now there are hopeful signs in Flip's late-year tweaks. Committing to the twin-guard attack to showcase Shawn Livingston looked to me like a political move to entice Livi to re-sign. But it worked well, was a decent alteration. Leaning on Dray Blatche's particular strengths let him see what he'd been ignoring. But around draft time he made noises about turning over the keys to the team to John Wall entirely, now that he had a real point guard 'made by god' he could truly input the system he wanted to run. I suspect he hasn't quite forgiven Gilbert the embarrassment of Flip's exploded dreams, even pre-fingergun-pickme. I suspect he loves his playbook more than he trusts the talent on his team.

Gilbert and Dray do well as high-usage players. Both see their efficiency improve with more touches. Gil sees the efficiency of players around him improve when he has the ball alot. Dray came into his own when coaches were finally forced to let him play through mistakes, when he had no one to defer to, no excuses. John Wall's skills in the half court rely on his dribble attack. He needs the ball to be most effective.

And Wall's most reliable weapon scares me to perdition: he loves to finish at the rim in traffic. Or dump to the big finisher off the dribble drive. If he has no low-post bailout option I know for a certainty he will try to challenge on the interior. Watching him pick himself up off the ground in Summer Ball and thinking back to Kentucky makes me wince. We have no DeMarcus Cousins, and our best interior finisher drifts away from the paint like grease from soap. McGee's allergy to the interior endangers Wall. As does the fact that, as of right now, our second best alley-oop finisher is John Wall himself.

[doclinkin]

Now if all goes right. If Flip is able to release his white-knuckle grip on his playbook and develop plays to our strengths. If he's willing to stick with what was working last year and expand on it. There's potential Beauty in the trio.

Dray's midrange game is the lynchpin, if he's willing to seize his own stardom and demand respect. If he develops that telepathic timing that's the ideal of teamwork. If Flip trusts him enough to feature him. If JWall feeds him touches despite the fact that the will siphon assists since he has to dribble to work. If he and Gil develop a frictionless no-ego chemistry, as the two teammates of longest-standing.

Then the chemistry between these two becomes more important than overloading John Wall and forcefeeding him the playbook. I can see Wall's development even accelerated by sharing the stressload.

Gilbert can hit the catch and shoot. Half his threes last year were off the assist. Defenses that react to Blatche as the primary feed, where he takes the first pass in the halfcourt sets with the green light to attack, will allow more freedom on the exterior and underneath for Gil to attack on the give and go. Blatceh as a primary gives room for John Wall to cherry-pick wide open alley oops off the back door or the curl pattern past screens. No need to force it. There are some ricochet-quick passing/finishing options once the three develop their sight-reads with each other.

But we absolutely have to have a low-post bail-out option. McGee if he's not immune to it, if John Wall feeding him plus increased weight room work has allowed him the confidence to stand round near the interior. But Booker crashing in from the wing, or Seraphin banging to create space, I don't care who. If we don't have a funnel for low-post assists then we risk Gilbert and John Wall trying to create their own interior attack. To force it. You pray for mercy, but minimize vulnerabilities. I want some failsafes designed into the system.

[closg00]

Chad Fords loves our off-season moves, it seems as-though these writers re-hash what others have already written.

2. Washington Wizards

Key additions: John Wall (draft), Kirk Hinrich (trade), Josh Howard (re-signed), Yi Jianlian (trade), Kevin Seraphin (draft), Trevor Booker (draft), Ted Leonsis (owner)

Key subtractions: Mike Miller, Randy Foye, Shaun Livingston

While the Cavs, Bobcats and Raptors had the most painful summers, no one had a tougher regular season than the Wizards did last year. The Gilbert Arenas suspension, the death of longtime owner Abe Pollin and the dismantling of a team that many thought would be a contender all happened in the span of a few months.

But the Wizards are on the rebound, making significant strides over the summer to improve the team. Wall, the first pick in the 2010 NBA draft, has a chance to be a superstar. He's one of the quickest players with the ball I've ever seen. Meanwhile, Yi showed promise at the FIBA World Championship. If he goes inside more, like he did in the worlds, he could be a steal.

The Hinrich trade was a steal. Not only should he provide some veteran leadership in the backcourt, but the Wizards picked up an intriguing first-round talent in Kevin Seraphin as a result of the trade. And don't forget about the return of Arenas. He's healthy, humbled and vowing to take it out on opponents.

But the biggest strides may be taking place in the boardroom. Leonsis has a rep as an innovative owner who knows how to rebuild. If he can take the lesson he learned with the Capitals and apply it to the Wizards, they could finally be contenders again in a few years.

Grade: A