The Amazingly Suck Theodore Leonsis Thread

[nuposse04]

Listened to a podcast by the wizard of awes guys, and some of them were saying that if they fire grunfeld they wouldn't be surprised if Tommy Sheopard took over... would kind of fit Ted's mantra... cheaper...in house and not flashy? They claim he actually would be an upgrade is an "analytical" guy but if he is part of the same FO that unanimously picked Jan Vesley (don't know if he was with us at that time actually)... don't know how encouraging such a proposition it would be.

I'm pretty sure Billy King isn't about to get another job anytime soon after how putrid the nets situation is.

Tommy is a smart guy who is uber connected in the league. He knows everyone and their parents. He was a college football player who came up in the league as a PR guy. Also worth noting: He's been part of front offices that have made two of the worst high draft picks in league history: Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Jan Vesely.

If it was my pick, I'd flush all the basketball people and bring in someone from outside the organization. I'd be okay with Tommy as an interim guy, but he wouldn't be my first pick to replace Grunfeld.

Ok... Assuming Billy king is 0.1 and the Spurs FO is. 9.9... What would you rate a Tommy hire as? I ask cause I kinda assume this is the eventuality that Ted's lazy ass will settle on.

[TheSecretWeapon]

There are reasons to not hire Ferry, including that behind the scenes he's one of those jackasses who thinks it's okay to scream at, berate and belittle the people who work for him.

There is precisely zero reason to think he'd be worse -- or even as bad as -- Grunfeld.

Think about this: since Grunfeld took over as the Wizards chief basketball executive, they've been outscored by 2446 points.

So far.

This is interesting on several levels, as well. The Aldridge article touched on the fact that Ferry has the reputation of being abrasive, if not abusive, at times. I would think his recent experiences may have tempered his approach in some cases. But heck, Pop screams at Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard all the time.

According to the guy I talked with, Ferry definitely crossed the line regularly between the kind of yelling that everyone associated with sports gets used to on some level, and abuse. That Ferry would get profane (big deal), and very personal. That stuff about people's personal lives would be used against them when Ferry went ballistic. My friend was on the receiving end a couple times, several years into working for Ferry, but didn't quit and didn't go and report Ferry to HR or anything. Different management styles can be effective, of course. "Abusive a-hole" hasn't been one of the more effective ones in my experience, but mileage may vary.

[Dark Faze]

this is unforgiveable

dammit ted this team SUCKS

[queridiculo]

If it was my pick, I'd flush all the basketball people and bring in someone from outside the organization. I'd be okay with Tommy as an interim guy, but he wouldn't be my first pick to replace Grunfeld.

Would you give Jeff VanGundy the keys to the kingdom?

[payitforward]

Did Tommy Shephard argue against the idiotic series of moves that have landed the Wizards where they are? If so, he has standing in a search. If so, his *preferred* moves are presumably part of some kind of (informal) record.

If not, if he didn't differ w/ the moves we've made but rather was a part of the decision-making that led to those moves, then why would he be considered even for a moment?

Would we be *scapegoating* Grunfeld so that Leonsis doesn't have to take any responsibility, or would we be making an actual change in the way this failure of an organization functions?

[AFM]

Both are culpable, this highly cringeworthy plan of trying to woo Durant, like some creepy high school boyfriend, comes from the top. Other teams actually tried to get better. We decided to tread water in case Durant has a stroke and decides to sign here.

[Dark Faze]

nothing wrong with trying to woo durant so long as you actually try to woo him by making your team an attractive option

we've done anything but this season though

[TheSecretWeapon]

If it was my pick, I'd flush all the basketball people and bring in someone from outside the organization. I'd be okay with Tommy as an interim guy, but he wouldn't be my first pick to replace Grunfeld.

Would you give Jeff VanGundy the keys to the kingdom?

Oh hell no.

I like Van Gundy on TV. I'd happily hire him as a defensive coordinator. Wouldn't want him as the head coach, much less GM/coach.

[benb331]

Can we start the fans' "Hire Kevin Broom to be the Wizards GM" petition already? Hey if we go through the White House and get 50k signatures, maybe Obama could force Ted's hand.

[AFM]

It cant just be Kevin, it has to be a board of RealGM members. 12 Angry Men

[Kanyewest]

Ferry was solid with Atlanta but he had his share of flaws with the Cavs.

- Signing Larry Hughes to that big contract
- Traded for Shaq when he was washed up
- Trading for Antawn Jamison who didn't mesh with LeBron
- Did draft decent talent like Shannon Brown and Danny Green but didn't hire a coach that integrated them well with the Cavs

[Ruzious]

With the schedule looking tougher, I think there will be a firing coming in the next few weeks. Whether it's Ernie or Wittman depends on whether or not Ted decides the talent is good. Based on how he's responded in the past, he's likely to conclude the talent level is fine, and it's simply under-achieving. The good thing is - there are outstanding coaches available - like Blatt and Thibs.

[queridiculo]

Grunfeld isn't getting fired, he's got tenure.

[nate33]

I posted this in the Toronto game thread, but figured it makes more sense to repost here:

It seems like in several of the past seasons, there was always some excuse or rationale to keep the existing management structure in place:

2009-10: the "gungate" year which led to the decision to rebuild. Jamison, Butler and Haywood are dumped.
2010-11: a complete rebuild/tank year where we started a rookie John Wall and youngsters Blatche and McGee.
2011-12: Randy installed late in the season and the team starts to look half-decent after the Nene acquisition.
2012-13: We were 24-18 after Wall returned from injury (until we tanked the last 5 games). We had "turned the corner".
2013-14: We had just made the 2nd round after 5 years of suckitude. Tough to fire Wittman after that.
2014-15: We made the 2nd round and were a John Wall injury away from the ECF's.

The last time it would have been really easy to change management was when Ted first took over in 2010. He should have canned EG and started from scratch. But once he made the decision to stick with EG, there really wasn't any offseason where Ted didn't have a pretty good excuse to stick with the status quo. Ego is a big thing, and each offseason, Ted could tell himself that his overall ownership strategy was essentially working, which beats admitting that he screwed up in 2010.

That narrative will finally change this summer. If the Wizards miss the playoffs despite a healthy Wall and Gortat, then it's compelling evidence that the plan isn't working and a justification for a change in management.

[queridiculo]

That narrative will finally change this summer. If the Wizards miss the playoffs despite a healthy Wall and Gortat, then it's compelling evidence that the plan isn't working and a justification for a change in management.

All you have to do is listen to guys like Buckhantz and Thompson Jr., the narrative is already in place.

The reason the Wizards are underachieving is not a matter of talent, but merely bad luck with the Wizards leading the league in man games lost. The team never had a chance to gel, and the injuries were simply too hard to overcome.

[nate33]

That narrative will finally change this summer. If the Wizards miss the playoffs despite a healthy Wall and Gortat, then it's compelling evidence that the plan isn't working and a justification for a change in management.

All you have to do is listen to guys like Buckhantz and Thompson Jr., the narrative is already in place.

The reason the Wizards are underachieving is not a matter of talent, but merely bad luck with the Wizards leading the league in man games lost. The team never had a chance to gel, and the injuries were simply too hard to overcome.

Yeah, I'm sure homers would say that, but those excuses really ring hollow and I'm sure they know it. The excuses in each of the last few seasons were MUCH more compelling. We literally were a Wall injury away from the ECF's last year. We really did have the most successful season in 30 years two years ago. We really would have been a playoff team 3 years ago if Wall didn't get hurt.

You can't make that same argument this year. None of our health issues were all that unexpected. Yes, maybe bad luck resulted in Beal missing 20 games instead of 10 or so, but the team hasn't really been much better with Beal playing. It's not the same thing as the Wall injury when the difference between a Wall-led team and a no-Wall team was night and day. Basically, with better luck, maybe we're 2 or 3 games better, but we'd still be scraping for an 8th seed bid despite an aging front line. That is NOT progress.

[Dark Faze]

Well what's done is done now. Question is if you think having Witt and Ernie across the table from KD and his agents gives us the best chance to lure him at this point.

Zero reason whatsoever to keep both on if Durant turns us down of course. We'll be transitioning to yet another era at that point.

[nate33]

At this point, I think our best chances for Durant would be served by scrapping our hopes of sneaking into the 8th seed and instead taking steps to get better for next season. I really don't think Durant will be impressed by a 4-1 defeat to the Cleveland Cavs that we achieved by riding expiring veterans like Jared Dudley and Drew Gooden.

If we instead traded Dudley and Hump for some young guys with cheap contracts to fill out the roster, we would be more enticing to Durant. Furthermore, we should fire EG after the Trade Deadline and install an new GM to handle the draft. Danny Ferry probably makes the most sense. Wittman can be let go at the end of the season when his contract is up.

If I were running things, here's what I would do:

1. Trade Dudley to OKC for McGarry plus CHA 2nd and OKC 2nd (see Trade Thread)
2. Trade rights to Sato to Houston for Terrence Jones.
3. Fire EG after these trades are completed.
4. Hire Danny Ferry (I'm open minded to other candidates)
5. Let Wittman walk at the end of the season.

If we still make the playoffs, great. If not, we'll have a lotto pick plus McGary and Jones to add to our asset base. Our lineup next year will look like this:

PG Wall/Sessions (signed with Room Minimum)
SG Beal
SF Porter/Oubre
PF Jones
C Gortat/McGary

We'd also have a lotto pick and max cap room.

[Dark Faze]

we need an all-star--if its not KD it needs to be someone else

we have our firsts, some young talent--an all-star addition to go with Wall needs to be the priority moving forward

[Higga]

At this point I'm rooting for us to miss the playoffs. Ted fired the Capitals GM and Coach a few years ago when they missed the playoffs for the first time in a long time. Hoping for history to repeat itself.