Poll: Grade Ernie Grunfeld

[montestewart]

Grunny was pumped as hell last year and look how that turned out.

True, but that was the good soldier smile for Pollin in his final days. Whatever the roster going in was, it would be called a contender, and Pollin would believe it. Pollin thought Mitch Richmond and Juwan Howard would lead a playoff contender, so that's not a hard sell.

GM's enthusiasm about their own moves always seem like self-PR. I'm more persuaded by the apparent enthusiasm of Leonsis, and with Wall leading the way, it's hard not to be enthusiastic.

[Dat2U]

I'd give Ernie a C for the offseason. He really redeemed himself in my eyes. But I still didn't like much of anything else. I wasn't a fan of the Hinrich trade. Or the Yi deal. Drafting John Wall was really not a decision he made. It was made for him. But the Blatche extension was really a stroke of genius. Good for Ernie & good for the Wizards.

[Hoopalotta]

What would have been really excellent and upped things a grade level would be if we had found a way to get in on the Daquan Cook dump from Miami instead of Oklahoma and gotten the 18th pick I'm actually fairly comfortable with the Hiney deal as I'm not that excited about alternate uses for Hiney's 2010 salary (the 2011 salary is inconvenient, but I'd ultimately still take it).

IIRC, OKC had the 32nd pick and we had the 35th (the 32nd was included in the Cook deal), so you'd need to find a way to beat their offer. I don't know if that was doable or not or how the inter division angle interferes, but I think all here would agree that getting the 18th would have been excellent. OKC turned right around and dealt that pick to the Clippers for a future 1st as well. You've gotta take the future Clippers 1st. Gotta.

We were also greatly put out by having the ownership transfer cut in on the trade deadline. That Jared Jeffries dump was so horrible for the Knicks that I convinced myself that somehow there was an insider angle to where T-Mac was going to get Le Bon Bon to Yonkers or some such foolishness. It was so horrible and lopsided that this was the only angle that made sense. We could have undercut that Houston offer easily, except that we weren't cleared for trades where we took on salary at the time.

[Wizardspride]

Ranking the NBA General Managers http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?sto ... z10YzVhka5

9. Washington Wizards – Ernie Grunfeld - President of Basketball Operations

In a year Washington won 26 games and just about everything went wrong, Ernie Grunfeld took advantage of his situation and rebuilt his team from the ground up. Getting the first overall pick in the draft was luck, but obtaining Kirk Hinrich, Yi Jianlian, and Kevin Seraphin for virtually nothing was a stroke of genius.

In a short space of time, Grunfeld turned his team from the butt of jokes into a respectable group of players with a future. Considering where the Wizards were last season, that is worthy of executive of the year consideration.

[Ruzious]

What would have been really excellent and upped things a grade level would be if we had found a way to get in on the Daquan Cook dump from Miami instead of Oklahoma and gotten the 18th pick I'm actually fairly comfortable with the Hiney deal as I'm not that excited about alternate uses for Hiney's 2010 salary (the 2011 salary is inconvenient, but I'd ultimately still take it).

IIRC, OKC had the 32nd pick and we had the 35th (the 32nd was included in the Cook deal), so you'd need to find a way to beat their offer. I don't know if that was doable or not or how the inter division angle interferes, but I think all here would agree that getting the 18th would have been excellent. OKC turned right around and dealt that pick to the Clippers for a future 1st as well. You've gotta take the future Clippers 1st. Gotta.

I think EG wouldn't change what he did to go in that direction simply because he wanted Booker, and the 35th pick was needed, in his opinion anyway, to get him. And I think he genuinely likes Hinrich to help develop Wall - probably over Cook. And he might have had a concern about the posibility of someone sneaking in and taking Seraphin.

[closg00]

Ranking the NBA General Managers http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?sto ... z10YzVhka5

9. Washington Wizards – Ernie Grunfeld - President of Basketball Operations

In a year Washington won 26 games and just about everything went wrong, Ernie Grunfeld took advantage of his situation and rebuilt his team from the ground up. Getting the first overall pick in the draft was luck, but obtaining Kirk Hinrich, Yi Jianlian, and Kevin Seraphin for virtually nothing was a stroke of genius.

In a short space of time, Grunfeld turned his team from the butt of jokes into a respectable group of players with a future. Considering where the Wizards were last season, that is worthy of executive of the year consideration.

This response to the article sums-up my thoughts.

This is stupid. Looks to me like you're comparing each teams off season moves, not how good their GMs are. Use your head.

[Hoopalotta]

I think EG wouldn't change what he did to go in that direction simply because he wanted Booker, and the 35th pick was needed, in his opinion anyway, to get him. And I think he genuinely likes Hinrich to help develop Wall - probably over Cook. And he might have had a concern about the posibility of someone sneaking in and taking Seraphin.

I was really thinking about Cook AND Hiney. If possible, I'd have gone for Seraphin and then flipped the 18th pick to the Clips for that 2012 pick that OKC picked up. Personally, I would have been well pleased to compromise our late picks this year in order to get that Clippers pick. As noted, I don't know if it would have been possible to get the HEAT pick, but that would have been my ideal deal.

2012 first round draft pick from L.A. Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers’ own 2012 first round draft pick to Oklahoma City (top 10 protected in the 2012 draft, top 10 protected in 2013, top 10 protected in 2014, top 10 protected in 2015 and unprotected in the 2016 Draft). In addition, if the Los Angeles Clippers are required to send their 2012 first round pick pursuant to the above and are also entitled to receive Minnesota’s own 2012 first round draft, then Oklahoma City shall receive the lesser of the Los Angeles Clippers’ own 2012 first round pick and Minnesota’s own 2012 first round pick. [L.A. Clippers -Oklahoma City, 6/24/2010]

I don't mention all this to grouse, but rather just to go on record from the much vaunted position of honorable arm chair strategist. I mean, if not here then where, right?

Maybe Booker will outperform that future Clippers pick, but I cannot help but indulging in inadvertent Pavlovian salivations at the thought of the rights to a future Los Angles Clippers first round draft pick. A future Los Angles Clippers first round draft pick - it's just satisfying to say out loud. Give it a try, just say it and then tell me you don't want one. Hard, right?

I do think we did pretty well all told and definitely endorse not taking the cap space to the deadline as that's a swing and a miss waiting to happen with the league's books as they are. There were also a lot of really poor offseasons enacted by other squads which we avoided.

[JonathanJoseph]

Ranking the NBA General Managers http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?sto ... z10YzVhka5

9. Washington Wizards – Ernie Grunfeld - President of Basketball Operations

In a year Washington won 26 games and just about everything went wrong, Ernie Grunfeld took advantage of his situation and rebuilt his team from the ground up. Getting the first overall pick in the draft was luck, but obtaining Kirk Hinrich, Yi Jianlian, and Kevin Seraphin for virtually nothing was a stroke of genius.

In a short space of time, Grunfeld turned his team from the butt of jokes into a respectable group of players with a future. Considering where the Wizards were last season, that is worthy of executive of the year consideration.

This response to the article sums-up my thoughts.

This is stupid. Looks to me like you're comparing each teams off season moves, not how good their GMs are. Use your head.

Right. So why don't you look at Ernie Grunfeld's 20+ year career and let us know where he ranks as a GM.

My guess is you won't.

[Ruzious]

I was really thinking about Cook AND Hiney. If possible, I'd have gone for Seraphin and then flipped the 18th pick to the Clips for that 2012 pick that OKC picked up. Personally, I would have been well pleased to compromise our late picks this year in order to get that Clippers pick. As noted, I don't know if it would have been possible to get the HEAT pick, but that would have been my ideal deal.

2012 first round draft pick from L.A. Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers’ own 2012 first round draft pick to Oklahoma City (top 10 protected in the 2012 draft, top 10 protected in 2013, top 10 protected in 2014, top 10 protected in 2015 and unprotected in the 2016 Draft). In addition, if the Los Angeles Clippers are required to send their 2012 first round pick pursuant to the above and are also entitled to receive Minnesota’s own 2012 first round draft, then Oklahoma City shall receive the lesser of the Los Angeles Clippers’ own 2012 first round pick and Minnesota’s own 2012 first round pick. [L.A. Clippers -Oklahoma City, 6/24/2010]

I don't mention all this to grouse, but rather just to go on record from the much vaunted position of honorable arm chair strategist. I mean, if not here then where, right?

Maybe Booker will outperform that future Clippers pick, but I cannot help but indulging in inadvertent Pavlovian salivations at the thought of the rights to a future Los Angles Clippers first round draft pick. A future Los Angles Clippers first round draft pick - it's just satisfying to say out loud. Give it a try, just say it and then tell me you don't want one. Hard, right?

I do think we did pretty well all told and definitely endorse not taking the cap space to the deadline as that's a swing and a miss waiting to happen with the league's books as they are. There were also a lot of really poor offseasons enacted by other squads which we avoided.

Gotcha. I'm happy with the way EG utilized the Wiz cap room. I'd love an unprotected future 1st from the Clips, but that pick has so much protection, it might as well have a condom on it.

[WizarDynasty]

just watching how javale coward to Seraphin shows just how far Ernie has come in terms of his bigman talent evaluation and i saw this looking at the wizard website with the highlights of seraphin grabbing an offensive rebound over mcgee.
McGee was so scared to go up for a rebound that he watched Seraphin jump and then jump afterward after seraphin had already scored just to pretend like he was trying, instead Javale was afraid of catching forearm to his chest. Moving from soft and finese to tough and finese with seraphin is the reason ernie deserves and A. javale is definitely a bench player there is not an ounce of toughness to him especially if the guy he is going against has more strength.

[Ruzious]

just watching how javale coward to Seraphin shows just how far Ernie has come in terms of his bigman talent evaluation and i saw this looking at the wizard website with the highlights of seraphin grabbing an offensive rebound over mcgee.
McGee was so scared to go up for a rebound that he watched Seraphin jump and then jump afterward after seraphin had already scored just to pretend like he was trying, instead Javale was afraid of catching forearm to his chest. Moving from soft and finese to tough and finese with seraphin is the reason ernie deserves and A. javale is definitely a bench player there is not an ounce of toughness to him especially if the guy he is going against has more strength.

Better this happen in practice now than continue to happen in games. This offseason should have given Javale a ton to learn from. If he uses it constructively and grows from it, the sky's the limit.

[pineappleheadindc]

I'm one of the potentially few who was really happy with the Hinrich acqusition. I think he has an opportunity to be a glue guy, someone whose impact is not measurable via statistics. I've always liked him as a player - was my fave Bull.

Glad he's here.

[closg00]

Overall, Washington has hit the restart button fairly successfully. New owner Ted Leonsis purchased the team from the family of Abe Pollin and appears to be taking a much more realistic approach to building it. The Wizards stayed out of the free-agent market despite having cap space, notably eschewing the quick-fix mentality the team employed the previous few seasons. The only eyebrow-raiser was his decision to retain general manager Ernie Grunfeld, whose serial mistakes got Washington here in the first place.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/training ... recast1011

Hollinger on Ted and Ernie, a rare moment of complete candor by someone in the media.

[Hoopalotta]

Gotcha. I'm happy with the way EG utilized the Wiz cap room. I'd love an unprotected future 1st from the Clips, but that pick has so much protection, it might as well have a condom on it.

We could'a gone with a theme night - trade the 18th pick for a Clippers pick in a rubber and pick up "The French Tickler" with the 17th pick. Nice marketing opportunities there.

[pineappleheadindc]

say what you will about EG, at least we didn't get stuck with Eddy Curry. The Knicks board has 3 active anti-Curry threads going at once. In one of them, a Knick fan advocates pushing Curry out of a plane to get rid of him. Another suggests shooting him in the face.

Every time I visit the Knicks board, I get a little scared.

[montestewart]

say what you will about EG, at least we didn't get stuck with Eddy Curry. The Knicks board has 3 active anti-Curry threads going at once. In one of them, a Knick fan advocates pushing Curry out of a plane to get rid of him. Another suggests shooting him in the face.

Every time I visit the Knicks board, I get a little scared.

I've been following basketball since the late-60s. Maybe I'm just not a really passionate fan, because I've never wanted to kill a player. Even LeBJ.

Curry would make quite a crater.

[Dat2U]

say what you will about EG, at least we didn't get stuck with Eddy Curry. The Knicks board has 3 active anti-Curry threads going at once. In one of them, a Knick fan advocates pushing Curry out of a plane to get rid of him. Another suggests shooting him in the face.

Every time I visit the Knicks board, I get a little scared.

I've been following basketball since the late-60s. Maybe I'm just not a really passionate fan, because I've never wanted to kill a player. Even LeBJ.

Curry would make quite a crater.

If you dropped Curry out of an airplane over water it would likely start a typhoon.

The Knicks probably can thank Curry & his salary slot this season for them losing out on LeBron & Wade. They would have had close to 3 max slots with out him. I'm sure it probably crossed the mind of Walsh & D'Antoni to make Curry 'disappear' at some point.

Curry is like Albert Haynesworth on depressants.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

My EG grade shifts like wind speed and direction. Watching Midnight Madness made my buzz over the Blatche signing wear off....

I dropped EGs grade that (after the signing) I had moved up from D to B back down to C.

Watching MM it looked like Hinrich shrunk, Wall was mostly out of control, Seraphin looked terrible on offense, Booker continues to look like a stiff, Yi looked really weak, and Adam Morrison looks good enough to make the team--not a good thing based on his actual performance years in the league.

Gotta see the preseason games starting October 5 against Dallas to hopefully get my happy feeling back.

[JonathanJoseph]

My EG grade shifts like wind speed and direction. Watching Midnight Madness made my buzz over the Blatche signing wear off....

I dropped EGs grade that (after the signing) I had moved up from D to B back down to C.

Watching MM it looked like Hinrich shrunk, Wall was mostly out of control, Seraphin looked terrible on offense, Booker continues to look like a stiff, Yi looked really weak, and Adam Morrison looks good enough to make the team--not a good thing based on his actual performance years in the league.

Gotta see the preseason games starting October 5 against Dallas to hopefully get my happy feeling back.

Oh come on. I know that you don't really believe that few minute snippets of a half speed pickup game amongst teammates who have never had a full practice together is a signal of anything relevant. At all.

And my favorite part about MM? Andray Blatche looks like he's got a "mans" shoulders now. 7 Day Dray is all growns up.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

October 5th, I could change it from a C to a B ... or from a C back down to D. Just depends on the wind speed, JJ.

That practice was just like the first impression you get when you meet somebody. Seeing them all out there I couldn't help thinking the year's not going to be as good as I expected. But since I had unrealistically high expectations (45-50 wins) I still won't be unhappy with 35 wins.