Bullets GM Ernie Grunfeld held his end-o’-the season press conference yesterday and had a few things to say about the coaching staff, free agency, and the roster in general. When asked about Gilbert Arenas’ assertion that he will not return to Washington unless Captawn Jamison does, too, Grunfeld said:
“It’s good because we’re on the same page, because we want to sign Antawn and we want to sign Gilbert,” I kind of like that he’s supportive of his teammate, he’s supportive of Antawn and that’s been our plan all along. So, I’m glad to see everybody in the organization on the same page.”
When asked about whether or not the team needed to make a coaching change, the GM responded with an emphatic “No!”
“The coaches did a very good job for us under tough situations and kept us afloat. I think that if you would have said that our leading scorer was going to be out for as long as he was, I don’t think most people would have said that our record would be what it was and we’d have the fifth seed, so I think our coaches did a very nice job for us.”
Grunfeld said he plans to retain both Jamison and Arenas and thinks the team will be potent if it can keep those two and Caron Butler healthy for the better part of a full season and the playoffs. He cited the improvement of Brendan Haywood as a good sign and said he saw progress in younger players like Andray Blatche and Nick Young. In other words, he does not think the team needs to be blown up.
“From my standpoint, no. This team has shown that it can be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference when we have all of our pieces together. I think the team has grown. I think our young players have improved. Brendan Haywood had an outstanding year, the bench is much deeper and better than it has been in the past and I would like to see how we can do with all three players [Arenas, Jamison and Butler] playing for a significant amount of time. Very few teams in the league can put three legitimate all-stars out there.”
Grunfeld also said he looks forward to the return of Etan Thomas, who should be healthy for training camp in the fall. In addition, Grunfeld made it clear he would be open to trading Washington’s first round pick [18th overall] for a veteran player if the opportunity arose.
Grunfeld also asserted, improbably, that he has no mandate from owner Abe Pollin not to put the team’s payroll over the luxury tax threshold. Nothing should be made of that. Grunfeld is simply protecting his employer from simple-minded fans who think [despite Dan Snyder's repeated examples to the contrary] that a willingness to spend enormous sums of money is a sign of a superior franchise owner. There is no evidence that paying the luxury tax in the NBA produces winning. [Just ask NY Knick fans.] Pollin doesn’t want to pay the luxury tax and he shouldn’t have to. There is enough talent on the Bullets to make a serious run at the Eastern Conference championship. The team needs to get healthy and see improvement from players like Blatche [who plans to play in the Summer League], Young, Oleksiy Pecherov and Dominic McGuire. Getting a veteran big man like Joe Smith wouldn’t hurt either.
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