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Washington Wizards: Why I’m Thankful The Wizards Aren’t The Sacramento Kings

By Ben Mehic

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The Washington Wizards aren’t the greatest organization in basketball. Heck, they’re not even close.

From botched draft picks to failed trades, Ernie Grunfeld deserves a lot of the hate he receives from fans. Like any general manager, Grunfeld has done a lot of wacky things throughout the course of his career.

Even though he’s done some awful things in the past, Grunfeld’s tenure as the Wizards’ president isn’t even close to being the worst among his peers.

Whenever you feel bad about the Wizards taking Jan Vesely ahead of Kawhi Leonard or Klay Thompson, just think of the Sacramento Kings.

I know it seems weird to compare the Wizards — a competent organization — to the worst run team in sports (the Kings), but it’s important to reflect and appreciate what you have, even if it’s not the best in the league.

Over the past several seasons, the Kings have been the worst team in the NBA. While they haven’t tanked like the Philadelphia 76ers, they’re undoubtedly a worse run organization.

Recently, the team essentially fired their general manager, Pete D’Alessandro — a well-respected basketball mind — and hired Vlade Divac, who helped lead the Kings to some of the most successful seasons in their history.

There’s also been talk about the team adding Peja Stojakovic to their front office as well. At this point, they should probably hire Jason Williams, Mike Bibby and Chris Webber too.

Prior to that, new owner Vivek Ranadive fired coach Mike Malone and hired George Karl.

Before DeMarcus Cousins became ill and missed weeks of basketball as a result last year, the Kings were on the verge of becoming a playoff team in the Western Conference.

Instead of letting Malone finish out the season and developing the confidence of DeMarcus Cousins, the owner fired the coach, despite knowing his franchise player would become discontent with the decision.

We could go even further back and talk about the team drafting Nik Stauskas (who they traded a year later) ahead of Elfrid Payton, only to acquire a worse point guard in Rajon Rondo through free agency, but I digress.

Now, the team is hoping a Rondo-Cousins-Rudy Gay core led by a stubborn head coach will become a playoff team.

This is after their basketball decision maker made it clear that he hates advanced analytics — a tool that all of the top teams, including the Washington Wizards, have invested a lot of money in.

Needless to say, they won’t make the playoffs and will continue to epically fail next season.

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Similar to the Kings, the Washington Wizards were once the laughing stock of the league.

Grunfeld believed that a team led by John Wall, Nick Young, Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee would develop and prosper in the East.

Obviously, that didn’t happen.

Unlike the Kings, though, Grunfeld has known when to pull the plug on the experiment, even if the experiment was doomed to fail from the start.

When it became obviously clear that three of the aforementioned players weren’t going anywhere, Grunfeld and owner Ted Leonsis cut their losses.

Leonsis took the loss and amnestied Blatche and agreed to trade Young and McGee for an aging Nene.

The Kings haven’t pulled the plug.

Instead, they’re sticking with the experiment that clearly isn’t going anywhere. They’ve surrounded their dominant big man with players that are way past their prime. Cousins has been through more coaches and point guards than any player in the league.

When the Kings found the right mix — Isaiah Thomas and coach Malone — they scrapped it for a point guard who’s no longer starting caliber and a coach who willingly throws his players under the bus. Because that will certainly work, right?

Now, the Washington Wizards are one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

Have they become a top team overnight? No, they haven’t. It’s taken some time and they’ve gotten some bruises along the way. Wall and Bradley Beal fell into their lap as top picks, which certainly hasn’t hurt their chances of becoming good either.

But, the Wizards have also earned the respect of other teams around the league for making a turnaround when it seemed virtually impossible.

Grunfeld and Leonsis aren’t the greatest GM-owner duo in the league, but they’ve always done things the right way — meaning they’ve never made headlines for front office dysfunction.

Aside from the Kings, Washington’s southeast division rival — the Charlotte Hornets — were featured in an article on Grantland that outlined their front office dysfunction. Here’s a key tidbit that stood out for me:

"Agents have at times sidestepped Cho to chat directly with Jordan, according to league sources. The team has turned over almost its entire scouting and analytics departments in the past year."

Washington is a team that, while somewhat behind the curve, is still looking to follow the winning trend.

Coach Randy Wittman, who’s arguably one of the most stubborn coaches in the league, has accepted the fact that he needs to adapt.

That’s why the team has added versatile players this off-season. That’s why Wittman has made it clear they’re moving forward with the small-ball movement.

The Washington Wizards aren’t perfect and still have a long way to go before becoming a championship contender, but whenever things look ugly, just remember — at least they’re not the Sacramento Kings.

The Wizards are moving in the right direction and could easily be in the same boat as the Kings. Luckily, the owner and general manager are on the same page. Even if you disagree with their direction, it’s still important that the team seems to be following a plan.

Leonsis, an imperfect owner, has never wanted to interrupt the jobs of others. Unlike Ranadive and Jordan, Leonsis has allowed his front office to do what they’ve been hired to do — run the basketball team.

He’s invested his time and money in analytics and he’s hoping to build a practice facility that will attract future free agents (*coughKevinDurantcough*).

The Kings, however, don’t have a plan and seem to be going backwards while everyone else is focused on improving and adapting. They could’ve rebuilt the team properly, but everyone on top has different opinions and motives.

It seems like they’ve shifted the direction of the team at least five times since Ranadive bought the team from the Maloofs just a few years ago. Unfortunately, the team doesn’t seem to have more direction than it did under that awful ownership group.

The Wizards are a competent organization that’s run by well-respected individuals, and for that, I’m thankful. /rant over

Next: Why Oubre Won't Crack The Rotation Next Season

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