Ernie Grunfeld
Ernie Grunfeld
Ernest "Ernie" Grunfeldis the General Manager of the Washington Wizards. He was also once a professional basketball player. He served as general manager of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association from 1989 to 1999, and as the Bucks' general manager from 1999–2003, at which time he became the President of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards...
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth24 April 1955
absolutely agency believed commitment couple create crucial culture develop free guys hard improve last player premium seen trades tried work
I've always believed that player development is absolutely crucial to a franchise, ... You can do some things with trades and free agency but you have to develop your own players. I think you've seen some of our young guys really improve the last couple of seasons. What we've tried to create is a culture of hard work and commitment and we've put a premium on working with our young players.
came close deal pick
When you only have the 49th pick to deal with, you don't have much leverage, ... We had some conversations, but nothing really came close to getting into the first round.
attention case effort
Every case is a different case, ... We'll give him all the attention that we can. At the same time, he's going to have to put the effort in on his own.
opportunity preferred since situation
Since we upgraded our backcourt situation the way we have, he didn't think he has an opportunity here. He preferred being in another situation.
opportunity preferred since situation
Since we upgraded our backcourt situation the way we have, he didn't think he had an opportunity here. He preferred being in another situation.
agents deal free larry number priority situation
Our number one priority is to keep our own players, ... Larry Hughes's situation we want to deal with first, and then we have some other free agents we also want to deal with.
continue excited helping nice shown versatile
I think the thing we're most excited about is that Andray has shown that he has a nice feel for the game. He's versatile and he's coachable so we're excited about working with him and helping him continue to improve.
action best course decided expect full healed injury reviewing team
Jarvis is a big part of our team and it is unfortunate that this injury hasn't healed properly. After reviewing Jarvis' progress, it was decided that the best course of action was to have the injury surgically repaired. We expect Jarvis to make a full recovery.
beginning good liked number pick players solid wish work
Kwame was the number one pick here and it probably didn't work out the way he would've liked or we would've liked, but we wish him the best, ... Sometimes a new beginning is good for everyone and we feel we have two very solid players for him.
add agent arenas ball continue fair final goals including informed larry offer perennial players playoff regarded rejected remain returning team
Larry Hughes's agent informed us that Larry is not returning to Washington, ... He rejected our final offer which we regarded as very fair and very meaningful. We have a lot of outstanding players on this team including All-Stars Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison, and we will add players that will continue to make us a very competitive ball club. Our goals remain the same which is to be a perennial playoff contender.
added elected excited forward larry moving players sign wish
We made Larry a significant offer, but he elected to sign with another team. We wish him the best. We're moving forward and we're excited about the players we added to our team.
learn wrong
He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He'll learn from it.
determine quickly rehab start training
He won't be a participant in training camp. He'll start doing his rehab and we'll see how all that goes, and that will determine how quickly we can have him back in action.
encouraged
He is doing very well, and we are very encouraged by his progress,