Grunfeld Says New-Look Wizards Expect to 'Win Big' This Season

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld's pre-training camp news conference had to be moved to accommodate a gospel choir at Verizon Center on Thursday. The sounds of musicians rehearsing nearby provided an interesting soundtrack as Grunfeld offered his own testimony about his busy offseason and the team's desire to return to the playoffs after what he called a "fluke" 19-win season. All that was lacking was the call and response.

"This is one of the longest summers I've had," said Grunfeld, who missed the postseason for just the second time in nearly 20 years as a front-office executive in New York, Milwaukee and Washington.

Grunfeld made the most of his time. He hired his first coach for the organization, Flip Saunders. He traded the fifth overall pick and some undesirable contracts for veterans Mike Miller and Randy Foye, and he signed free agent Fabricio Oberto. Those moves, combined with the healthy returns of Gilbert Arenas, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson, the development of young players JaVale McGee, Nick Young and Andray Blatche and the presence of Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, have Grunfeld optimistic about the upcoming season.

"I haven't been this excited in a very long time because of the change that we've had," Grunfeld said. "There is a different sense around here. There is a different sense around the team. The players feel it. There is a new kind of enthusiasm. There is a new kind of professionalism. There is a new way of doing things that's exciting for us.

"We know we have a lot to prove, the motivation is there. We want to get back to where we belong, and that's the playoffs. And when we get there we want to do some damage there. In New York [my] teams always had a certain attitude, and we went into the season expecting to win -- and win big. That's what we're doing now. We're expecting to win."

Grunfeld wouldn't make a prediction about how far he expects the team to go this season. He said it will take time for pieces to come together, but added that Saunders -- who has seven 50-win seasons and the seventh-best winning percentage among coaches with at least 900 games (.597) -- has raised the bar for the organization.

"He's been there. He's done it. There is no question about that," Grunfeld said. "The last four teams he's coached have been to the conference finals. He's the leader of this team now. He has very high goals for us and our players are buying into it. We can compete with anybody in our league. We've shown that in the past. When we had a healthy team, we played at a high level and we played with the elite teams. Now we have to do it. We can't talk about it. We have to do it out there on the court. Our players are committed to it and excited about the challenge."

Grunfeld is about to enter his seventh season with the Wizards, but for the first time since becoming general manager in June 2003, he can claim responsibility for every player and coach on the team. Haywood is the only player to arrive prior to Grunfeld, but Grunfeld signed Haywood to an extension in the summer of 2004.

Arenas is the only other player to be with Grunfeld for his entire tenure. Arenas has missed all but 15 games the past two seasons after having three surgical procedures on his left knee. After working with renowned trainer Tim Grover over the summer, Arenas has regained his speed and explosiveness, Grunfeld said.

When asked about Arenas's comments to the Washington Times that the organization failed to protect him from himself as he rehabbed his left knee the past two seasons, Grunfeld said: "You know, look, that's in the past. We've learned some things from it probably and he's learned some things from it probably. I talked to Gilbert about the situation, and obviously you get frustrated when things aren't going well. But the bottom line is, he's healthy now. He's back, he's feeling good and this is his life. This is what he loves to do."

The Wizards will have a payroll that exceeds $78 million this season, which will place them in luxury tax territory. The salary cap is expected to decline again next summer, when the Wizards will have to make decisions on retaining unrestricted free agents Haywood and Miller and restricted free agents Foye and Dominic McGuire.

"That's next summer and we'll deal with those issues," Grunfeld said. "Obviously, we'd like to keep those players, and we'll see how they perform this year and how the team comes together."