Discuss Ernie Grunfeld's GM skills here (Part 2)

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Markieff Morris 16 points 13 reb. Looks as if this trade was worth it and will pay off. Great Acquisition.

I'm feeling good about Anderson, Morris, Hickson and the rest healthy. I'm hoping for 44-45 wins and the Wizards playing their level best at playoffs.

I'm willing to live in the moment with the team. If you don't have me on ignore, I wrote the most seething criticisms I had and you read them. HOWEVER, if the moves work the moves work. Morris being fully embraced by Gortat and Dudley helps. We shall see, but Morris already has provided additional athleticism and experience and flexibility with youth that Hump/Blair didn't provide.

The unknown will remain the draft pick. It will be IMPOSSIBLE to evaluate this for some time IMO.

[milellie111]

Markieff Morris 16 points 13 reb. Looks as if this trade was worth it and will pay off. Great Acquisition.

I'm feeling good about Anderson, Morris, Hickson and the rest healthy. I'm hoping for 44-45 wins and the Wizards playing their level best at playoffs.

I'm willing to live in the moment with the team. If you don't have me on ignore, I wrote the most seething criticisms I had and you read them. HOWEVER, if the moves work the moves work. Morris being fully embraced by Gortat and Dudley helps. We shall see, but Morris already has provided additional athleticism and experience and flexibility with youth that Hump/Blair didn't provide.

The unknown will remain the draft pick. It will be IMPOSSIBLE to evaluate this for some time IMO.

Great post. This team has loads of potential.
Have you on ignore? Your one of the more sensible non confrontational posters on here.

[stevemcqueen1]

Has anyone else seen the 30 for 30 Bernie and Ernie? Apparently Ernie used to get mad trim in college.

Bernard King had such a reputation as a badass, I didn't know he was so cool and well spoken.

EGg reportedly caught a case from some of that tail. And didn't BK have a sexual predator history?

Always with the negativity. Ernie built one of the most promising young line ups of bootycalls with great depth.

[nate33]

Markieff Morris 16 points 13 reb. Looks as if this trade was worth it and will pay off. Great Acquisition.

I'm feeling good about Anderson, Morris, Hickson and the rest healthy. I'm hoping for 44-45 wins and the Wizards playing their level best at playoffs.

I'm willing to live in the moment with the team. If you don't have me on ignore, I wrote the most seething criticisms I had and you read them. HOWEVER, if the moves work the moves work. Morris being fully embraced by Gortat and Dudley helps. We shall see, but Morris already has provided additional athleticism and experience and flexibility with youth that Hump/Blair didn't provide.

The unknown will remain the draft pick. It will be IMPOSSIBLE to evaluate this for some time IMO.

We've had a nice run of games since the All Star break, going 7-2, but I'm not THAT optimistic yet. Both Philly games and the Minnesota game were way too close for comfort. If those had been half-decent .500ish teams, we probably would have lost.

I'm not hating. An ugly win is still a win and you need to happy about all of them. But I'm not yet convinced yet that we can go forward and play .600 ball down the stretch. I'm hoping for 43 wins, which will probably be enough to squeak into the playoffs as long as we beat Detroit at least 1 more time to secure the tiebreaker.

[dandridge 10]

Friggin Wizards are raising my ticket prices again. 6% increase for a team that's at least 20% worse, with a terrible future. They really have no shame. I'd gladly pay 10% more if they got rid of Ernie. I'm embarrassed to pay so much for this awful team.

The record of the team should have no impact on ticket prices. You are paying for the experience, not the wins and losses. Why should your ticket price decrease? You are paying to see quality basketball from a team of professional NBA players led by an All Star (John Wall). Verizon Center is a top quality venue inclusive of gourmet food options, amenities, club lounges and suites. Teams like the Lakers and Knicks, ticket prices remain at a premium regardless of the teams record and Staples Center and Madison Square Garden regularly sell out. So again, why should your ticket price decrease?

This is not written by someone who pays for tickets. More likely, someone who sells them.

As a 21 year season ticket holder in prime center section seats, I have already advised my ticket rep to take me off the automatic renewal and that I am not paying one additional cent for the season tickets. The Wizards raised by ticket prices $20 a seat last year, which my ticket rep acknowledged was much greater than he expected. They now raised my price again by $8 a seat, despite the team being worse. Enough is enough. Ted has the right to raise the ticket prices all he wants. But, at some point, consumers like me are just going to say the price he is charging is just not worth it for the product he is selling (and Millie, I could give a sh** about food, amenities, etc and the big difference between the Lakers and Knicks is that they have a history of winning and we do not and while those stadiums sell out games we normally don't). Anyway, that is where I am at.

If I want to go to a game in the future, I'll buy a ticket on the secondary market. For premium games, I might pay more for one individual game, but at least I wont be locked in for a full year and feel like I have to go to a game just because I spent so much money. For many weeknight games, I will likely able to pay less that the season ticket holder price.

[payitforward]

Markieff Morris 16 points 13 reb. Looks as if this trade was worth it and will pay off. Great Acquisition.

I'm feeling good about Anderson, Morris, Hickson and the rest healthy. I'm hoping for 44-45 wins and the Wizards playing their level best at playoffs.

I'm willing to live in the moment with the team. If you don't have me on ignore, I wrote the most seething criticisms I had and you read them. HOWEVER, if the moves work the moves work. Morris being fully embraced by Gortat and Dudley helps. We shall see, but Morris already has provided additional athleticism and experience and flexibility with youth that Hump/Blair didn't provide.

The unknown will remain the draft pick. It will be IMPOSSIBLE to evaluate this for some time IMO.

Great post. This team has loads of potential.
Have you on ignore? Your one of the more sensible non confrontational posters on here.

Finally something we agree on!

Then again, Millie, maybe you don't read closely enough? "I'm willing to live in the moment with the team." We just traded away a piece of our future potential in a desperate hope to come close this season to where we were last season.

That said, we might just squeak into the playoffs -- largely because of the devastating injuries Chicago has suffered, but... injuries are part of the game. It'd be a plus to watch the Wizards play more post-season basketball.

The really great day will come, however, when they fire Ernie Grunfeld and maybe, at least maybe, we can start thinking about the possibility of building a team that can challenge for a title.

[DCZards]

Then again, Millie, maybe you don't read closely enough? "I'm willing to live in the moment with the team." We just traded away a piece of our future potential in a desperate hope to come close this season to where we were last season.

Yes, that's one way of looking at the Morris trade, but here's another way: The Zards traded away a chance to draft a young player who will likely spend 2-3 years developing (the prime years of JWall's career) for the chance to pickup an experienced (yet young) player on a good contract who could help them win games both this season as well as the next 2-3 seasons.

[montestewart]

Behold a pail o' ****

[dckingsfan]

Then again, Millie, maybe you don't read closely enough? "I'm willing to live in the moment with the team." We just traded away a piece of our future potential in a desperate hope to come close this season to where we were last season.

Yes, that's one way of looking at the Morris trade, but here's another way: The Zards traded away a chance to draft a young player who will likely spend 2-3 years developing (the prime years of JWall's career) for the chance to pickup an experienced (yet young) player on a good contract who could help them win games both this season as well as the next 2-3 seasons.

I could agree with you on that one if I thought there was going to be any chance that this "vet" would be a top 15 PF next season.

I could agree if the same logic wasn't used to trade our 2009 pick.

I could agree with you if there wasn't a high probability that we couldn't have better protected the pick.

It was a bad trade. And I have given Ernie credit when he makes good trades. But this is a bad trade and he is a meh GM.

[closg00]

Poor Millie is delayed in crowing that we are in the playoffs.

[payitforward]

Then again, Millie, maybe you don't read closely enough? "I'm willing to live in the moment with the team." We just traded away a piece of our future potential in a desperate hope to come close this season to where we were last season.

Yes, that's one way of looking at the Morris trade, but here's another way: The Zards traded away a chance to draft a young player who will likely spend 2-3 years developing (the prime years of JWall's career) for the chance to pickup an experienced (yet young) player on a good contract who could help them win games both this season as well as the next 2-3 seasons.

That would make sense, Zards, if Morris really was a guy who "could help them win games" -- i.e. a PF w/ above average productivity overall.

But he isn't that, and he's never been that -- in his best year, 2013-14, he was just slightly above average, but he was very bad in his first two years, and he's been very bad his last two years.

In 250 minutes with us, he's certainly been better than he was the first part of this season w/ the Suns - no one would have traded anything for that level of play! - but he's not really been better than his overall career average. In other words, he hasn't been good.

[willbcocks]

Fivethirtyeight gives us a 30% of making the playoffs. They don't have the odds of EG being fired if we don't make the playoffs, but my guess is that those odds are quite high. 70% chance of Grunfeld being fired? That is cause for optimism!

[Dark Faze]

sato with another extension lol

[TheSecretWeapon]

Fivethirtyeight gives us a 30% of making the playoffs. They don't have the odds of EG being fired if we don't make the playoffs, but my guess is that those odds are quite high. 70% chance of Grunfeld being fired? That is cause for optimism!

My guess is there's very little chance of Grunfeld being fired whether they make or miss the playoffs. Leonsis seems pretty well invested in the "It's the Injuries" storyline.

[nate33]

Fivethirtyeight gives us a 30% of making the playoffs. They don't have the odds of EG being fired if we don't make the playoffs, but my guess is that those odds are quite high. 70% chance of Grunfeld being fired? That is cause for optimism!

My guess is there's very little chance of Grunfeld being fired whether they make or miss the playoffs. Leonsis seems pretty well invested in the "It's the Injuries" storyline.

My only hope is that Ted's apparent investment in the injuries narrative is merely PR spin. He has to try and keep the fans positive.

Privately, he's got to be pretty upset that the Wizards won't make the playoffs and will be without a lotto pick. And with EG's contract up (and no new extension reported), I really hope he'll at least consider alternatives.

[queridiculo]

Fivethirtyeight gives us a 30% of making the playoffs. They don't have the odds of EG being fired if we don't make the playoffs, but my guess is that those odds are quite high. 70% chance of Grunfeld being fired? That is cause for optimism!

70%

Looking at Leonsis twitter account I'd put the odds at 0%, he's clearly out of touch.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/TedLeonsis/status/706472188904275970[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/TedLeonsis/status/705421974626045952[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/TedLeonsis/status/705419446215680000[/tweet]

[TheSecretWeapon]

Fivethirtyeight gives us a 30% of making the playoffs. They don't have the odds of EG being fired if we don't make the playoffs, but my guess is that those odds are quite high. 70% chance of Grunfeld being fired? That is cause for optimism!

My guess is there's very little chance of Grunfeld being fired whether they make or miss the playoffs. Leonsis seems pretty well invested in the "It's the Injuries" storyline.

My only hope is that Ted's apparent investment in the injuries narrative is merely PR spin. He has to try and keep the fans positive.

Privately, he's got to be pretty upset that the Wizards won't make the playoffs and will be without a lotto pick. And with EG's contract up (and no new extension reported), I really hope he'll at least consider alternatives.

That would make sense to me -- I know if I was in his position, I'd be pissed about missing the playoffs and (probably) not having a lottery pick. But, little of what Leonsis says and does makes much sense to me. I think he wants to be "right" about keeping Grunfeld, and it's far easier for him -- within his own brain -- to say "it's injuries" than it is to say, "I was wrong when I judged Ernie to be a competent basketball man, and now I have to fire him and find a replacement." Considering how he's publicly backed Grunfeld, how he's publicly peddled the injuries narrative, and his little "you're not so smart" digs at outside-the-organization "experts," I think it would take a pretty major about-face for him to punt on Grunfeld now. Especially when it's so easy to point at "most games lost to injury" as the biggest reason.

[TheSecretWeapon]

Man, considering what I expected and what I hoped for when Leonsis bought the Caps and Wizards, seeing him tweet "analytics this" makes me realize he's a much douchier guy than I could have imagined.

[Sluggerface]

Man, considering what I expected and what I hoped for when Leonsis bought the Caps and Wizards, seeing him tweet "analytics this" makes me realize he's a much douchier guy than I could have imagined.

I just don't get how he can employ talented people in both the Mystics and Capitals, and continue to watch this train wreck as it unfolds.

[queridiculo]

Privately, he's got to be pretty upset that the Wizards won't make the playoffs and will be without a lotto pick. And with EG's contract up (and no new extension reported), I really hope he'll at least consider alternatives.

Is there any precedent for being so hush on the contract status of the top guy in your organization?

There basically haven't been reports on the status or details on Grunfelds contract for something like 3 years now.

To me too much of what Leonsis parrots on his various social media outlets echo's how I imagine Grunfeld rationalizes the franchises shortcomings.

Dunning/Kruger comes to mind when I think about Teddie, and I have this sneaking suspicion that Leonsis is only waiting for the right moment for his I told you so Grunfeld contract extension announcement.

What we do works, Leonsis belief is unshaken, we're just not smart and informed enough to get it.