Wizards nearing extension with Wittman (Woj)

[fishercob]

I see. I'm entitled to my opinions. I'm just not entitled to express them... on a sports message board.

Who said anything about you not being entitled to express them? But if you do express admittedly uninformed opinions, why should you assume that they won't be met with opposition?

Alright guys. Can you just drop it?

Really? WTA can hijack threads with impunity, but we can't have discussion. Got it.

[verbal8]

I wish it was for a little less. At $3.5M a year, it's going to be hard for Ted to fire him if things go south in the future. I just can't believe he couldn't have been signed for something more like $2M a year.

That said, I can live with the decision. Firing him was just not an option, and he has been a competent coach. I'd really like to bring in an outside voice or two who could get into his ear about the long 2's though. On the upside, I do think that Wittman isn't hopelessly stubborn and inflexible. I think he has improved as a coach and there's no reason to believe that he won't continue to get better.

I addition to making it easier to get rid of a coach if things aren't going well, another advantage of a cheaper contract would be it would make it easier to bring in a highly-paid assistant. I think Wizards at the very least will need to bring in an assistant to help improve the offense.

I wonder what Eddie Jordan is up to these days.

I am not sure D'Antoni would be the right guy, but looking at him might be a good starting point.

[jeffsays]

Who said anything about you not being entitled to express them? But if you do express admittedly uninformed opinions, why should you assume that they won't be met with opposition?

Alright guys. Can you just drop it?

Really? WTA can hijack threads with impunity, but we can't have discussion. Got it.

There are other boards on RealGM for the Caps right? Couldn't you take it over there?

[Severn Hoos]

I wish it was for a little less. At $3.5M a year, it's going to be hard for Ted to fire him if things go south in the future. I just can't believe he couldn't have been signed for something more like $2M a year.

That said, I can live with the decision. Firing him was just not an option, and he has been a competent coach. I'd really like to bring in an outside voice or two who could get into his ear about the long 2's though. On the upside, I do think that Wittman isn't hopelessly stubborn and inflexible. I think he has improved as a coach and there's no reason to believe that he won't continue to get better.

This might sound like something Forrest Gump (Gumpfeld?) might say, but the big question is - do they really want Witt back or not? If they didn't really want him, wanted a chance to move on to a bigger name ("There's a Mr. Karl on line 2 for you, sir"), they could have done it by offering to extend Witt's contract for one year. The public statement would be to match up with the GM, you guys are connected, etc. Behind the scenes, the idea would be to offend Randy enough that he gets upset and walks away. Of course, it would paint him a a lame-duck, target of rumors, and all the rest if he did accept the offer. But again, if you're not sold on him or want to talk to other coaches while not having the stigma of "dumping" the first coach in a decade to have any success with your team, that would have been one way.

Once they decided not to take that route, they really had to come in with a "legitimate" offer. Which means, 3 years @ about $3M per would be the minimum. The most recent number I could find in a quick search was from 2010, and listed the average coach's salary then to be $3.4M. So even in the offer they did make, it's still below average for the league. And like it or not, the perception is that Witt took a dysfunctional team to the playoffs, and was one of the last 8 coaches standing at the end of the season. Paying him like (roughly) the 20th best coach is probably the minimum they could get away with from a credibility standpoint.

Again - if they didn't care about credibility and keeping him, then they should have just gone the one-year extension route. But if it was a serious offer, I don't think it's too much.


And for kicks, here's the list of highest paid coaches in 2005. Some of the names cracked me up (O'Brien!?!), but it's interesting that Randy's current deal barely rates as a top 10 salary from a decade ago...

TOP NBA COACH SALARIES (Source: New York Daily News on July 25, 2005): Yearly Average Salaries based on current overall contract: (1) Rick Adelman, Kings, $6.9M... (2) Jerry Sloan, Jazz, $5.5M... (3) Larry Brown, Pistons, $5M... (4) Doc Rivers, Celtics, $5M... (5) Jeff Van Gundy, Rockets, $5M... (6) Rick Carlisle, Pacers, $4M... (7) Mike Fratello, Grizzlies, $4M... (8) Jim O’Brien, 76ers, $4M... (9) Gregg Popovich, Spurs, $4M... (10) Byron Scott, Hornets, $3.3M

Oh, and a massive +1 on the need to bring in an offensive-minded assistant. If they could get the mirror image of a Tom Thibodeau to design the offense and draw up plays (please no more long 2s!) while Randy focuses on defense and the big picture, I'd be a lot more confident going forward.

[DCZards]

I addition to making it easier to get rid of a coach if things aren't going well, another advantage of a cheaper contract would be it would make it easier to bring in a highly-paid assistant. I think Wizards at the very least will need to bring in an assistant to help improve the offense.

I wonder what Eddie Jordan is up to these days.

I am not use D'Antoni would be the right guy, but looking at him might be a good starting point.

You think low-balling Witt would make it easier to bring in a highly-paid assistant? I think just the opposite is true. You can't underpay the head coach and then turn around and hire a top dollar assistant...someone who might make close to what the head coach is being paid. That would be an insult to the head coach.

[dckingsfan]

Oh, and a massive +1 on the need to bring in an offensive-minded assistant. If they could get the mirror image of a Tom Thibodeau to design the offense and draw up plays (please no more long 2s!) while Randy focuses on defense and the big picture, I'd be a lot more confident going forward.

Violent agreement on the confidence note there!

[verbal8]

Good point on needing to pay a top assistant significantly less. $9 million/3 years does allow offer an assistant $4 to $5 over 2 years, which would be pretty good pay for an assistant coach. Also it would probably be a position that would have good visibility when teams(NBA and NCAA) search for head coaches.

I guess I mainly wasn't sold on the 3rd year being necessary to retain Wittman, especially if it means a 4th year for EG

I addition to making it easier to get rid of a coach if things aren't going well, another advantage of a cheaper contract would be it would make it easier to bring in a highly-paid assistant. I think Wizards at the very least will need to bring in an assistant to help improve the offense.

I wonder what Eddie Jordan is up to these days.

I am not use D'Antoni would be the right guy, but looking at him might be a good starting point.

You think low-balling Witt would make it easier to bring in a highly-paid assistant? I think just the opposite is true. You can't underpay the head coach and then turn around and hire a top dollar assistant...someone who might make close to what the head coach is being paid. That would be an insult to the head coach.

[nate33]

I addition to making it easier to get rid of a coach if things aren't going well, another advantage of a cheaper contract would be it would make it easier to bring in a highly-paid assistant. I think Wizards at the very least will need to bring in an assistant to help improve the offense.

I wonder what Eddie Jordan is up to these days.

I am not use D'Antoni would be the right guy, but looking at him might be a good starting point.

You think low-balling Witt would make it easier to bring in a highly-paid assistant? I think just the opposite is true. You can't underpay the head coach and then turn around and hire a top dollar assistant...someone who might make close to what the head coach is being paid. That would be an insult to the head coach.

Yeah, i was thinking the same thing after reading SevernHoos' post. Perhaps the $3.5M contract makes sense so that now there wouldn't be any ego issues with bringing in a highly-paid assistant coach. After all, it's not my money.

[montestewart]

I addition to making it easier to get rid of a coach if things aren't going well, another advantage of a cheaper contract would be it would make it easier to bring in a highly-paid assistant. I think Wizards at the very least will need to bring in an assistant to help improve the offense.

I wonder what Eddie Jordan is up to these days.

I am not use D'Antoni would be the right guy, but looking at him might be a good starting point.

You think low-balling Witt would make it easier to bring in a highly-paid assistant? I think just the opposite is true. You can't underpay the head coach and then turn around and hire a top dollar assistant...someone who might make close to what the head coach is being paid. That would be an insult to the head coach.

Yeah, i was thinking the same thing after reading SevernHoos' post. Perhaps the $3.5M contract makes sense so that now there wouldn't be any ego issues with bringing in a highly-paid assistant coach. After all, it's not my money.

Wittman's largely been a career assistant, who's bombed in the past as a head coach. Were all his head coaching stints replacing his newly fired head coach? Is this the first time he's ever been extended as HC? Possible the new contract addresses some confidence and anxiety issues. Might help, who knows?

[montestewart]

Alright guys. Can you just drop it?

Really? WTA can hijack threads with impunity, but we can't have discussion. Got it.

There are other boards on RealGM for the Caps right? Couldn't you take it over there?

Very entertaining, especially the resurrection of the face sitting ID image.

[verbal8]

Alright guys. Can you just drop it?

Really? WTA can hijack threads with impunity, but we can't have discussion. Got it.

There are other boards on RealGM for the Caps right? Couldn't you take it over there?

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