Grunfeld: Wizards not ‘that far off’

The Washington Wizards will close out their sixth-consecutive losing season tonight against the New Orleans Hornets at MCI Center.

As Washington concludes the 43rd season in franchise history, Wizards president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld, Michael Jordan’s replacement, is the latest man to be entrusted with developing a strategy for the draft, free-agency and ultimately putting together a team that next year could yield a winning record, something that has happened just twice in the last 17 years.

As Grunfeld approaches the offseason, here’s a look at some of the things — positive and negative — he saw in his first year with the Wizards, and a glimpse at what he believes must be done in the immediate future for Washington to achieve respectability in the NBA.

TWT: What type of assessment were you able to make of your personnel during the course of the season?

EG: Obviously we would have been able to assess our personnel a lot better if we didn’t have the injury situation that we had. We were never able to get a set rotation or have the players do what we expected them to do in the preseason. But we did see some substantial development from many of our young players, and that’s exciting for the future. We had four or five players that had never had any significant playing time play a load of minutes. And as the season progressed their individual games also progressed with the added playing time for us down the road.

TWT: Which players are you talking about?

EG: Kwame [Brown], Etan [Thomas], Stevie [Blake], Jared [Jeffries], Jarvis [Hayes].

TWT: How much of a role did the injuries play in the team’s overall performance?

EG: You never want to use injuries as an excuse. But we had significant injuries to some of our leading scorers. It made it much more difficult for some of our younger players because we probably have too many of them at this early stage in their development. They had too much responsibility, especially during that period when Gilbert [Arenas] and Jerry [Stackhouse] were out. Together they missed close to 30 games at the same time. That was a pretty tough stretch for us. Earlier in the year, even though we didn’t have Stack, we had a healthy Gilbert and everybody else was healthy. We got off to a very good start. There was a lot of excitement and there were a lot of positive things going on. Then they both got hurt and having them out was just too tough for our younger guys to overcome. But having said that, they battled every game. And I think as the season progressed we saw improvement in those young players.

TWT: Looking at the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference, was this team, if healthy, a legitimate playoff contender?

EG: It’s hard to say, but I think if we had a totally healthy lineup or just a normal amount of NBA injuries, we would have been in a competitive situation for one of those last playoff spots.

TWT: Do you feel comfortable commenting on the job coach Eddie Jordan did this season?

EG: Yeah, I do. I think under the circumstances Eddie did an outstanding job. Nobody could have imagined the injures that we had. He had to juggle lineups every single day. Still, he kept the team competing and he kept the team competing hard. He never threw in the towel. I thought he did an outstanding job for us considering the circumstances.

TWT: How much tinkering has to happen with this roster for it to be a playoff team? Is there a time frame?

EG: There is no time frame. I think we’re going to sit down and evaluate, but I don’t think we’re that far off. Obviously our players need to improve in the offseason and we have to get everybody healthy. We also have to add a couple more pieces. But I don’t think we’re that far off from being a legitimate playoff contender.

TWT: Does this team need to go in a drastically different direction for it to be successful?

EG: I don’t think we need to go in a drastically different direction. Now, having said that, we’re going to explore all opportunities and all options to improve the team throughout the summer. We are going to see what opportunities present themselves. At the same time we want to make sure that players continue to work hard and improve on their games so if we have this core back again next year we’ll have something more to build with. I’m a big believer in continuity and having a group together for a period of time. After one year you can’t always blow the situation up and go with a whole group of new players. When you have young players you have to understand that you are not always going to have the consistency that the veteran teams give you. We are going to be looking for more consistency and more growth.

TWT: From a personnel standpoint, what is this team’s most glaring need?

EG: We’re going to sit down and reflect on everything we have and we’ll determine that internally.

TWT: You have talked about wanting to see improvements in various areas. Did you see any?

EG: I don’t want to get into evaluating every player before we’ve had the chance to assess everything internally. But I think it was obvious to many people, people around the league and people in this community, that our young players improved and our young players got valuable playing time. I think they improved in their professionalism. Some of our young guys improved from the previous year. Kwame is one example. Jared and Brendan, too. Steve Blake and Jarvis Hayes were in college last year. I consider Jared a rookie because he only played [20 games] in his rookie year.

TWT: How confident are you that Jerry Stackhouse can, and will, return to the level he played at before his injury?

EG: Jerry is only 29 years old. He should be in his prime. Obviously any time you miss half of the season it’s going to take you awhile to get back. Obviously there was some frustration there for him this year. But with a diligent rehab and strengthening program in the offseason we’re very hopeful that he’ll get back to where he was before the injury.

TWT: In this era of the luxury tax and salary caps, what is the best way to build a team? The draft? Trades? Free agents?

EG: I really don’t think there is a set formula in the NBA. I think you probably have to combine everything. The draft is one way to go; free agency is another. You have to be able to combine those things as well. And you have to make trades. You have to take all of those things at your disposal and try to throw the best team together. But it takes time and patience.

TWT: Can what happened to a team like Denver this season — making the playoffs — happen here next year?

EG: I don’t want to compare us to Denver. They got an outstanding rookie [Carmelo Anthony] in the draft who was really the key to the situation. They also signed a good free agent [Andre Miller]. I don’t want to compare us to other teams. I just want us to be a better team next year than we were this year. I want to put us in a situation where the city can be proud of what they see on the floor. And I want to put us in a situation where we are fighting for the playoffs and making the playoffs.

TWT: Is there any chance the Wizards might consider selecting a high school player in the draft?

EG: We don’t even know in what position we’re going to be drafting yet. But we’re going to explore all of our options with that pick. If the player who we think is there can help us we’ll take him. If not we might even explore trade opportunities with that pick if we can get something of significant value for us.

TWT: With a year under your belt, what do you know about the organization that you didn’t know before you got here?

EG: I think people in this organization want to win, and they are committed to bringing a winner to this city. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with everybody here.