Wizards Sign Grunfeld To Contract Extension

RICHMOND, Oct. 4 -- The Washington Wizards maintained their emphasis on continuity Wednesday by signing President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld to a multiyear contract extension.

Grunfeld has two seasons remaining on the five-year contract he signed on June 30, 2003. The terms of the extension were not made available.

Owner Abe Pollin, who will attend Thursday morning's practice at Virginia Commonwealth University, has repeatedly expressed happiness with the state of his franchise while crediting Grunfeld with steadily building a strong foundation.

"Ernie has done an outstanding job in his tenure with the Wizards and is most deserving of this extension," Pollin said in a statement. "From his first day, Ernie has worked tirelessly to improve our team, and everything he has done has been with an eye toward our long-term success."

Pollin signed Coach Eddie Jordan to a three-year, $12 million extension earlier this summer and the team's marquee players, Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, are all under contract at least through the 2007-08 season.

"Mr. Pollin called me in last week and we talked about an extension," Grunfeld said. "It was very flattering and I'm very appreciative because this is a sign of faith, a sign that he believes we have this franchise heading in the right direction. It's special because he didn't have to do anything. I'm very thankful."

The Wizards are coming off consecutive playoff appearances for the first time since the late 1980s and tweaked the roster over the summer by adding forward Darius Songaila and guard DeShawn Stevenson to a core that includes Arenas, Butler, Jamison, Antonio Daniels, Brendan Haywood and second-year forward Andray Blatche.

If the franchise was known for making splashy signings and questionable trades in the past (such as sending Chris Webber to Sacramento for Mitch Richmond and Otis Thorpe), it has become known for making sound decisions under Grunfeld.

Grunfeld got things rolling by signing Arenas to a six-year, $64 million free agent contract in the summer of 2003. Arenas has emerged as one the league's most dangerous scorers and is coming off consecutive all-star game appearances.

Prior to the 2004-05 season, Grunfeld traded disgruntled swingman Jerry Stackhouse along with Christian Laettner and the fifth overall pick in the 2004 draft (guard Devin Harris) to Dallas for Jamison.

Grunfeld may have miscalculated when he matched Milwaukee's six-year, $36 million offer sheet to center Etan Thomas, then an unrestricted free agent, in the summer of 2004, and the team took a hit when then free agent shooting guard Larry Hughes signed a five-year contract worth about $60 million with Cleveland last summer.

Grunfeld responded to losing Hughes by trading disappointing forward Kwame Brown to the Lakers for Butler, who was then signed to a long-term contract by the Wizards.

This summer, Grunfeld elected to keep the team's core together. He added Songaila and Stevenson while declining to match the New York Knicks' five-year, $30 million to restricted free agent guard-forward Jared Jeffries.

Only two players, centers Haywood and Thomas, remain from the Michael Jordan-led team that went 37-45 in the 2002-03 season and preceded Grunfeld.

When the team introduced Songaila at a news conference at Verizon Center this summer, Pollin said he liked Grunfeld's philosophy of maintaining the chemistry that was established last season when the Wizards overcame a rough start to finish 42-40 before losing a tough first-round playoff series to Cleveland.

"You don't get better by going out and ripping apart your team every year," Pollin said. "It's impossible to develop any kind of continuity that way. No, you build a championship-caliber team piece by piece and that's what we're trying to do here. And we will."

Grunfeld previously ran the front office operations of the New York Knicks (1991-99) and the Milwaukee Bucks (1999-2003). In 16 seasons as a lead executive, Grunfeld has put together teams that reached playoffs 14 times.

"This gives us a chance to have continuity," Grunfeld said of the extension. "We have a young nucleus of up-and-coming players and we are going to continue building on the success we've had. I love Washington, my family loves Washington and I'm excited about the future of this franchise."