If there’s any way to be convinced that the Wizards will be better this year than they have been in the last three, just have a read of what owner Ted Leonsis said to the media today. Here are the highlights, with some of the best sound bites in bold:
Opening statement: “I was watching a documentary the other day about the founder of the Ferrari race car company. He was the first race car owner and driver to get rid of the rearview mirror on the car. When they asked him why he said, ‘I don’t want anyone looking back. I want my drivers only looking forward.’ And I think that’s an appropriate way to kick off the season. We just came off a couple of months where there was lots of angst and drama and discussions and pixels being generated. I don’t care about any of that. I care that tomorrow’s the first preseason game and the 26th is the kickoff of a new season. I’m very excited and very positive about what we’re building here.”
On expectations for the season: “I want to see upside. I want to see improvement. I want to see chemistry being developed, and I want to see how the young kids play. The only way we’re going to know whether we drafted and we developed well is if they get the minutes and so I’m more concerned with process right now than output, although we’re here to win. And so I want to see us winning more games. And who knows what’s going to happen this year. That’s what I think the excitement is around the league. This is a tough schedule. I wouldn’t be surprised if we carry 15 players on the roster. Teams with depth are going to be well-positioned. I’m hopeful that teams with young legs can fight through these back-to-backs.
“If you get out to a fast start this year, you’re well-positioned. You suffer an injury at the wrong time, someone’s going to miss a lot of games. So there’s going to be a randomness around the season just because it’s going to be so compressed. Around us I sense a real sense of optimism because the group is strong. I addressed the team before lunch today, before their practice, and I thanked them for being in shape. They took advantage of this extended time and they look great and that’s half the battle. … They’re not using camp to get in shape. They’re using camp to learn each other and learn the new system, some more defensive sets they’re putting in because we think having a lot of players that are big and athletic and can run will work to our advantage. I think it’ll be an exciting style of play. You’ll see a lot of the young players getting lots of minutes.”
On John Wall: “I love John Wall, and I’m very grateful for his athletic gifts but he’s really a very, very high quality individual. And a part of his development is from going and being a very gracious young person to being a person who’s not afraid to take over, and I’m seeing that in the practices. He understands that it’s his team. He’s won the hard hat a bunch during practice. And it’s been great to see him not be shy, to understand that if he leads the pack in terms of running suicide drills that gives him permission to yell at somebody if he thinks they’re not working as hard as he is. Culturally, you want your best player – the player you’re relying on to be your most coachable player and your hardest-working player – and I think we have that in John.
“I’ve spent time with John, like I’ve done with Alex Ovechkin with the Caps early on. I tried to prepare him for what we were going to go through together. And made commitments to him, which was: We’re going to work really, really hard together to turn the team around. And that this was the plan and strategy. That if we built a great team together you would have an enormous amount of fun, you could get an enormous amount of respect around the league. The NBA is a league where great players get paid. But what was most important was winning. and that if we kept that front and center – doing the right thing the right way and building a winning organization – that he would be able to meet all of his aspirations. And he’s embraced that. He’s a leader. And he’s very, very gifted athletically. And he’s healthy. And you can see that. The other day there were some first-step explosions down the middle for left-handed dunks that you don’t see from all players in the NBA. The league is made up of unbelievably talented, gifted players. And then there’s a group of players that have that increment, that extra step, that longevity, and their ability to work very hard because of their physiognomy or because of their court awareness. And John appears to be a unique blend of court awareness and leadership and he knows that it’s up to him to take that next step and I think he worked with the appropriate diligence during the elongated offseason to position himself to be one of the best players in the league.”
On rookies Jan Vesely and Chris Singleton: “Our two first-round picks this year are going to help differentiate the team. Jan is 7 feet tall, and he doesn’t run like a 7 foot player. He has a natural gait that you can’t teach. He’s really, really fast, he has good hands, and he’s good fundamentally. Obviously, he has so much to learn, but he’s one of those players that’s going to be really, really hard to match up against because if you’re small and agile, he’s bigger than you, and if you’re big, he’s faster than you, We have to develop him, but he’s one of those players that has X-factor if we can get him to adapt to the game here, he could really provide us a with a spark.
“Singleton is a player that I just love watching because all teams, all organizations need the people that are willing to sacrifice and do the things that are necessary to win, and that’s what he strikes me, and my conversation with him was I won’t not see that. I think what happens sometimes to players that can contribute through rebounding and playing defense and getting the loose ball, providing energy – because maybe sometimes they don’t build the stats, they get concerned that they don’t get appreciated, and I wanted to establish early on that I will appreciate players that help us win and we need, all teams need the kinds of things he brings…
“I’m happy with what we’ve done. I know we can manage our cap well in out years. I know what the new rules are. We wanted to build a core around our young players. I think we have enough young players, and I think our fans can expect we’ll improve as they improve, but that we’ll have enough assets to make trades and have cap space at some point to bring in difference makers.
“I hope to have our team to being considered a destination where players want to play, and that will come from filling the building. Everyone knows that this is a fantastic city. If we can get the place rocking with lots of energy and we have an environment where they’re not just talented players, they’re welcoming, they’re embracing of people that join the team, word gets out and people will want to play here.“
On Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee: “I like both players. When you have players that are 7 feet, 6-foot-11 that have the skills and athleticism that they both have that as they mature, that you could be set. It’s intimdating to look at our team and 7 feet, 6-11, 6-11, bringing in guys who are 7 feet, 6-11, off the bench are 6-9, 6-8 players, play with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. It is a big person’s league, and Andray looks like he’s in great shape.
“I talked to Andray and he understands that the fan base, media are all looking to take cues on can his focus and dedication match his skills. I and the front office expect really, really good things from Andray. He’s a young man, and he understands that these are defining moments for him.
“I think the same with JaVale. I think JaVale is erudite. He is a very, very interesting, next generation player. He’s a great person, and his challenge is playing within himself, and so far it looks like he can do that in practice. Now it’s can he translate that to games? But he has X-factor kind of skills, too, both defensively and the way he can move on the court. It’s up to us to bring out the best in these players. It’s not just up to them, it’s up to us to develop them and counsel them and create an environment where they can excel and meet their aspirations.”
On collective bargaining, thoughts on the agreed deal: “It’s a 50/50 deal. It’s a partnership with the players, we’re in it together. As I said to the players at lunch, I only know of two relationships that I have 50-50 implications: one is with my wife, the second is with the basketball team and so I’m going to love them like their family, but I expect that same amount of love back. We all laughed and know we’re in it together so I’m happy. I want to move on.
“My biggest issue in all of the discussions and negotiations was about competitiveness. I want to be able to build a team and keep it together, and I think that’s what the fans, before the fans can fall in love with your team, they need to know that ownership’s committed, and that if you have and develop great players, and the team is great, you can keep it together. It’s a lot of work. It’s not just rules. It’s do the players trust you, do they like the city, do they like the fan base, do they like the coach, do they like the front office, do they like everything? I get that, but I wanted to make sure that if we’re building around young players because I anticipated a new system when I bought the team, that we could keep that team together, and I think we made some progress on that front.”
On the Chris Paul deal: “When you build through the draft, you have a little bit more luxury of time and some control because the rookie contracts and then the rookies that you want to keep, you can pay them more. And so I, don’t want to say that I anticipated that that would be the case, but that was my belief, and so remember, we were moving players to get picks an prospects. So we need to manage our cap so that we can keep the players as they develop excellence. That’s at the first and foremost in my mindset.
“I also think that’s a good signal to players that I want to be more loyal to the players I know, that we draft, that we go through tough times together, we grow together, than you are to strangers so when I look around the league at all the drama, I’m happy that we’re not involved with it. I’m happy that we could just focus on day one opening camp and players know who’s going to be here for the most part and know what the system is going to be and we can move forward because tomorrow’s our first preseason game. It’s like everyone was in this leisurely ‘we don’t know when the lockout will end’ to slamming on the accelerator and the first preseason game is tomorrow and the opener is in like a week. I’m glad we’ve had less distractions than other teams.”
On Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld: “Ernie and I are in lock step. Ernie has bought into what we want to do, and I respect Ernie for that. It’s tough for a GM and a coach like Flip [Saunders] to go from making the playoffs and coaching a veteran team to sitting down with new ownership and having to talk philosophy and strategy and belief system. My belief was that our team was on a downward trend during the offseason before I bought the team, and that I didn’t see hope. I didn’t see a way to salvage upside from that team, and so Ernie did the right thing. He traded away a lot of our players, and we got lucky, we won the lottery, were able to bring in John Wall, and we kept making trades to get more young players. We’ll wake up in a couple of years with a whole class of players going into their prime, and we’ll have cap space. That plan you have to stick to because I’ve seen too many organizations when things get tough change the plan, change the system, and I don’t know of organizations that are successful lurching from strategy to strategy. I’ve been unabashed on what we’re doing. I hope I’ve been honest and transparent, that we were rebuilding the team.
“I know sometimes the media, some fans don’t like it, it means the team is going to go through hard times together because you’re young, you’re unknown, but the payoff is a good one, and it’s more in your control than, ‘Let’s trade our players, let’s get cap space,’ in hopes that we’ll bring in the right free agent that a lot of other teams want to bring in. It was what we discussed, and Ernie’s embraced it, and we’re ahead of schedule. We’ve brought in more young, gifted players more high draft picks in a faster amount of time and got our payroll and salary tab in a really, really good space. My expectations long-term are really strong. We’re going to go through tough times. We have one of the youngest teams in the NBA, but there’s already a buzz building that if our draft this year yields good results and our cap space in the out years is manageable, we could end up being 2-3 years with a really, really great team. Not just a good team, a great team that we can keep together for a long time. That’s what I want to try to craft and deliver for the fans, and it’s not easy. You guys have all the answers. We don’t have all the answers, but at least I’m telling you what we’re trying to do, and I’m not going to deviate from the plan and both Ernie and Flip have embraced it, and are executing it very well.”
