Grunfeld Turned-Down $4.5 Mil Extension Offer

[closg00]

Peter Vecsey of the New York Post is reporting that Grunfeld was offered a three-year, $4.5 million extension, and turned it down.

Vecsey indicates that Grunfeld was making considerably more on his current contract than what was offered by Ted Leonsis to stay on as Wizards General Manager.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_spo ... R7tWWRc5iJ


Could go in the Fire Ernie thread, but please give this a little run before merging. Thanks!

[verbal8]

I hope this means his gone. I think he might be able to help a team that wants to build a play-off team. Maybe he can hire Flip as a coach there

I don't really see him and Leonsis agreeing on basic philosophy. Hopefully the Wizards replace him with someone young and hungry. I also think a new GM means bringing in a young up and coming coach rather than a re-tread.

[closg00]

If the report is accurate, perhaps Ernie has a deal to go to another team at the end of this season, that would be ironic.

[Nivek]

Peter Vecsey's reporting sucks. Was this a $4.5 million PER YEAR extension, or was it 3 years and $4.5 million TOTAL?

Either way, it's disappointing that Ted even made the offer (if Vecsey's report is true). Although it's encouraging that Ernie turned it down for whatever reason. There's still a chance he could be gone.

[Zonkerbl]

Kind of a slap in the face if you ask me. You want to stay? Here's what I think you're worth, you POS.

[Nivek]

In a way, this is the perfect Wizards story. Ernie has presided over a steep decline in the team's record -- one of the worst eras in team history when you factor in the various scandals, hijinks and police blotter stuff (virtually all of which was mishandled on multiple levels).

Somehow, Ernie gets the chance to fix his errors. So, he goes out and assembles a mish-mash of deeply flawed players (many of whom are profoundly immature), which are on pace to be one of the worst teams in franchise history.

Despite this, the owner offers him a 3-year extension for a bit less money. Given ALL that's happened, you'd think that Ernie would say, "Thank you, sir, for your generosity. I'll do my best to build you a winner. Thank you, sir."

Instead he says, "I'm worth more than that."

That's the reason I'm a Bullets fan.

[hands11]

What an average wage range for a GM ?

What is the wage range ?

[Ruzious]

In a way, this is the perfect Wizards story. Ernie has presided over a steep decline in the team's record -- one of the worst eras in team history when you factor in the various scandals, hijinks and police blotter stuff (virtually all of which was mishandled on multiple levels).

Somehow, Ernie gets the chance to fix his errors. So, he goes out and assembles a mish-mash of deeply flawed players (many of whom are profoundly immature), which are on pace to be one of the worst teams in franchise history.

Despite this, the owner offers him a 3-year extension for a bit less money. Given ALL that's happened, you'd think that Ernie would say, "Thank you, sir, for your generosity. I'll do my best to build you a winner. Thank you, sir."

Instead he says, "I'm worth more than that."

That's the reason I'm a Bullets fan.

Yeah, if Ted wants to get rid of him, there's no reason to go through the charade of offering him a contract that Ted expects him to turn down. Just fire his arse. Be transparent.

Jeebus, I wish someone would insult me with a 4.5 mil offer. I can be every bit as mediocre as Ernie - and then some.

[Halcyon]

Ugh, the fact that Ted offered him anything is kind of frightening. Maybe it was out of courtesy?

[rockymac52]

http://www.iamagm.com/news/2012/03/23/e ... um=twitter

Have we heard any rumblings of Donnie Walsh being our next GM elsewhere before this? It was news to me, hadn't even considered somebody like him a possibility.

But as far as EG declining the contract, I'm pretty surprised. I've supported most of EG's moves along the way, and don't think he's as bad as some guys here make him out to be, but he's clearly not awesome at what he does either. But to be fair, if we're really building a new culture from scratch, then it was probably best to let Ernie go and go in a different direction. I like that Ted offered to keep him around though at the same time.

I wonder if Ernie declining was because he was insulted at the pay cut, or if he just didn't get along with Ted and his vision, or if he wants to go to another team in particular, or if he has had enough of being a GM and just wants to call it quits, or what. So many possibilities. We'll probably never know the real answer.

Excited about the possibility of having a new GM (and coach). Hope Ted lands us a good one. Would hate to see a new guy come in and do something controversial early on.

[Nivek]

My guess is that the average GM pay is $4-5 million per season.

[rockymac52]

Ernie does realize how lucky he is to still have a job, all things considered, right? There's been good reasons for all the moves he's made over the years IMO, but clearly they haven't worked out again and again.

I wonder how control Ernie actually had over the years, and how much he was influenced by the owners. Because his moves definitely mirrored what most of us expect Ted and Abe's (RIP) philosophies, respectively. Is Ernie just a basketball mind puppet for the owners?

[Nivek]

I wouldn't want Donnie Walsh running the Wizards. When he was running the Pacers -- this would have been in 06 or 07, I got an email from an intern. They were interested in STARTING a statistical program. One of their assistant GMs had given the intern a stack of articles culled from the web and told him to contact people and figure out what they should do. Among those articles were pieces I'd written from my defensive tracking project.

I asked what they'd been doing. Answer: nothing. Just looking at per game stats -- points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals. I was astounded. It took them another couple years to hire Kevin Pelton on a consultant basis. (Which was an excellent hire, by the way.) But by then Walsh was on his way out. Walsh had his day, but now would be a good time to hire someone like Kevin Pritchard.

And, whoever the GM is would be smart to steal Ben Falk from Portland. Ben designed the database for my defensive tracking project when he was a senior in high school. He started working for Portland when he was still an undergrad, and he'd be happy to come back to the DC area. Smart as hell, good programmer, asks good questions and then finds the answers.

[closg00]

So $1.5 million per year is beneath Ernie? $1.5 million per year is plenty to run a mediocre basketball franchise like the Wizards. I could understand if Ernie had a history of excellence during his tenure here he would merit a raise.

[Higga]

Yeah I definitely want someone young, hungry, and smart(at both GM and Coach). I'm sick of these has been retread losers. Seems like that's all Washington sports teams are able to hire and people wonder why we're stuck in a never ending cycle of mediocrity.

[TGW]

Kind of a slap in the face if you ask me. You want to stay? Here's what I think you're worth, you POS.

That's exactly how I read that.

[Nivek]

Michael Lee has this up:

Grunfeld has been one of the league’s highest-paid general managers for the past five years, with league sources contending that he earns a salary between $3.5 million and $4.5 million. The salaries for general managers and coaches have dipped considerably in recent years, with teams seeking different ways to cut down costs.

[keynote]

This story doesn't make any sense. $1.5M per *does* seem extremely low for a GM (I had always assumed that an average GM made a bit more than an average coach, but that's just me). But if Ted doesn't think EG is worth the going rate, what's the benefit of locking him in at a discount? Why bother trying to save $3M/year (outside of the cap) in expenses if you don't have any confidence in the guy steering the ship? That's the kind of penny-pinching nonsense that fans used to accuse Abe of doing.

Now, I remember reading somewhere that Vescey's tight w/ Walsh, and has often served as a mouthpiece for Walsh's strategic leaks. Perhaps this is just a bit of misinformation to further Walsh's agenda.

[keynote]

Michael Lee has this up:

Grunfeld has been one of the league’s highest-paid general managers for the past five years, with league sources contending that he earns a salary between $3.5 million and $4.5 million. The salaries for general managers and coaches have dipped considerably in recent years, with teams seeking different ways to cut down costs.

Huh. Interesting.

*Highest-paid*?

Oof.

[mohammed10]

Michael Lee has this up:

Grunfeld has been one of the league’s highest-paid general managers for the past five years, with league sources contending that he earns a salary between $3.5 million and $4.5 million. The salaries for general managers and coaches have dipped considerably in recent years, with teams seeking different ways to cut down costs.

Huh. Interesting.

*Highest-paid*?

Oof.

Oy-vey!!!

I am also worried that the Ted offered the chance for Ernie to turn him down...