Washington Wizards: David Aldridge breaks down Ernie Grunfeld’s Tenure

Aldridge details Grunfeld’s tenure

At the end of last season, I wrote that the Wizards needed a better center. It was just my opinion. However, money was tied up, or as coach Scott Brooks said during the preseason, there’s no one out there.

Unclear what position or free agents they were looking at during that time.

Nonetheless, anytime one researches a topic to get a better understanding, one should always go to the best source for your material.  Just so happens that Hall-of-Fame writer David Aldridge has poached the subject in his Monday’s Morning Tip.

After a reader asked Mr. Aldridge:

"“Hopefully you can answer the burning questions all Wizards fans have … Why is Ernie Grunfeld untouchable? Why was it done in secret? And why did Wizards owner Ted Leonsis pen a letter to fans saying that changes were going to be made?…. “But in all honesty, it would be great to have your thoughts on his tenure in Washington and what it will take for him to be replaced.”"

One thing Mr. Aldridge does very well is take a piece of history and break it down as if we’re all students in a classroom.

Aldridge’s timeline of the mystery begins in 2002 when Grunfeld was first hired. He notes that from 2002-2010, “the first half of Grunfeld’s reign” were rather good years for the kingdom of Washington.

The signing of Gilbert Arenas in 2003, and the players assembled around Arenas—Caron Butler-Antwan Jamison. They made the “playoffs four years in a row, but came apart when Arenas got hurt in ’07”.

Which led to a “rebuild the same time Leonsis assumed control of the franchise in 2010.”