LOVERRO: Not even Wall thinks the Wizards have the right pieces
Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan, left, talks with Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) after Game 6 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Friday, April 27, 2018, in Washington. The Raptors won 102-92, and won the series. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)Thom Loverro - - Sunday, April 29, 2018
ANALYSIS/OPINION:Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, following their Game 6 first-round exit at the hand of the Toronto Raptors Friday night, let the team’s fans know that he feels their pain in a “note to DC family:”
“Our singular goal in everything we do is to win a championship. You deserve it. Our city deserves it. It remains our first and only priority and I think our team showed this year that we have the pieces to make it happen.”
I prefer, though, to remember Leonsis’ tweet following his team’s opening season 120-115 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at the Capital One Arena:
“Process started here, 4 first round picks contributed to last nights win. Trust. Verify.”
What arrogance.
How can a man who is hailed as a visionary be so clueless?
Who, after the years of failure that have defined this franchise before and since Leonsis arrived, plants the flag of validation after one win?
A desperate man who is clinging to the hope that, despite all evidence otherwise, he will be proven right? Or a delusional man who truly believes that, despite all evidence otherwise, he is right?
The Wizards continue to wallow in the pool of mediocrity that has pretty much defined the franchise now for nearly 50 years, a franchise that hasn’t won 50 regular season games for four decades, an organization that hasn’t made it past the second round of the NBA playoffs in almost a half century.
This was the team that Leonsis took over when he assumed full ownership of the Wizards after the death of Abe Pollin in 2009 — the latest version at the time being the dysfunctional, embarrassing team built by general manager Ernie Grunfeld, who just completed his 15th season in the job and, based on some rumors, received a contract extension during this season, with a regular season record of 526-665 to show for it.
If ever a franchise cried out for change from Day 1 of new ownership, it was when Leonsis took over. Instead, he has embraced the status quo — keeping Grunfeld on board, year after year, ignoring the damage that it is doing to his fan base here, damage that will take years to repair.
A few playoff appearances and 45-win seasons aren’t going to cut it. Or didn’t you hear the boos at the arena at the end of Game 6 Friday night?
Contrary to Leonsis’ statement, no one believes they have the “pieces” here to win an NBA championship — not even his $207 million point guard John Wall, who, in his season-ending meeting with reporters, put the onus on the “front office” to get the missing pieces.
“It’s just figuring out what pieces we can add to our team,” Wall told reporters. “What guys can stay and what guys can go … that really want to win and really want to take that next step.
“I don’t put the pressure on everybody else. I put the pressure on myself because I am that franchise guy. I am the guy that has to be the leader of the team, that has to get everybody better, make everybody better on my team. At the same time, if I’m doing my part, the other 14 guys on my team have to do their part at getting better every year. Just being true to the team. Our problem at a lot of times is guys don’t understand guys their role and respect their role.”
In other words, it’s not me – it’s everyone else.
He is right, in the sense that this team’s failure to move forward is in large part because of Grunfeld’s inability to build a roster around his high-priced stars — Wall, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter, with one bad contract, like Ian Mahinmi’s $64 million deal, after another.
But another part of the problem is Grunfeld’s inability to attract quality star free agents to Washington — like Al Horford two years ago — leaving the general manager little choice but to spend the money on keeping his own players. And these three — Wall, Beal, and Porter — may simply not be able to take this next step.
Paul Pierce, who played in Washington three seasons ago and was a driving force behind their second playoff push in the Wall-Beal era, told ESPN last week that three years later, this team is still missing that leadership quality Pierce brought to the roster after a Game 2 confrontation on the bench between Wall and Marcin Gortat, with Beal covering his face with a towel.
“They’re lacking that veteran presence, such as myself, to get in the huddle and say look guys, this is what we have to do’” Pierce said. “Now, I tried to breed them into that role. Now it’s up to John and Bradley to step up. Everything they’re doing is between their head. They’re frustrated with one another, they’re not playing well, and if they don’t get it together, they can’t be like this.”
“For them not to break up, they would have to get to the conference finals,” Pierce said. “If they don’t get to the conference finals, I do believe that a major change has to happen. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out and you have to move on and maybe start all over or see what you can get for your talent.”
His partner on the show, Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady, agreed that changes need to be made. “I think changes have to happen,” McGrady said. “You look at how these guys responded when John was out of the lineup. You look at the things that were said in the media when John was out. I just think you have to move either John or Bradley Beal to get some assets back.”
Well, that’s not happening. And even if it did, does anyone really trust Grunfeld to get the most for an asset like Bradley Beal or John Wall?
No, these are your Washington Wizards now and for the future — 41, 45, maybe 49 wins a season, sometimes fun to watch, often frustrating and uninspiring, and finished by May.
Washington and these Wizards fans don’t deserve that.
I kept that tweet from Ted Leonsis after the Wizards opening night win because I could trust that that man who wrote it would look foolish by the end of the season. Friday night his team verified it.
