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"This is a case where we have to pay the banks first for that building, and then whatever's left we can use it to improve the building and pay for the team," Leonsis continued. "And that $8-to-$10 million [cost] is a lot of money for a team that spends $50 million a year in payroll." Washington Examiner

Washington Wizards, Ted Leonsis, Owners 

Ted Leonsis: We will now have the opportunity to surround the young players with five to six seasoned vets. We added Nene last season, and now we have added Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza. All three will play in our rotation next season and are experienced, tough and talented. They are “team first” in attitude kinds of players that have had championship successes – one in college (UConn) and one in the pro ranks (Lakers). Ted Leonsis

Washington Wizards, Trade, Emeka Okafor, Trevor Ariza, Ted Leonsis 

Michael Lee: Ernie Grunfeld was asked about Ted Leonsis' comment that #wizards won't trade No. 3 pick: "We do what our owner says." Twitter

Washington Wizards, Draft, Trade, Ernie Grunfeld, Ted Leonsis 

At first glance, with all of the available alternatives out there, the Wizards' decision to keep Wittman, who has a career coaching record of 111-238, and whose previous coaching stints in Cleveland and Minnesota never came close to producing playoff teams, seems odd. And league sources say that new owner Ted Leonsis is reluctant to throw out big money while the Wizards are rebuilding. John Wall's development at the point and his overall happiness are the Wizards' top priority, and no one has been better with point guards over the last few years than D'Antoni, whose system helped Steve Nash procure back-to-back MVP awards in Phoenix, and who got the most out of Ray Felton in New York. The Knicks may have signed Jeremy Lin as an afterthought, but it was under D'Antoni' that Linsanity took hold. NBA.com

Washington Wizards, John Wall, Coaching, Mike D'Antoni, Ted Leonsis, Randy Wittman 

Ted Leonsis On Randy Wittman’s future: Randy is under contract. And right now, he’s our coach. And I was very impressed with the job that Randy did. But more importantly, I was impressed during the exit interviews. To a man, the players all felt that the way that we played after the trade wasn’t fool’s gold. It wasn’t the end of the season and other teams weren’t trying. That this was a serious team. A team that was playing for one another. A team that’s coachable and working really, really had and it started to see the lights turning on, that if they played the right way they would get results. So we started to take that into consideration, but the players really liked the coach and the staff. That speaks volumes on what decision we’ll have to make. Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Coaching, Ted Leonsis, Randy Wittman 

More on Wittman: Randy is under contract. The entire staff is under contract. The most important signals to me, was in all the exit interviews, to a man, everyone thought that Randy did a fantastic job. So that gave me confidence that I should interview and I had a quality day with Randy. And we still talking through some things and I feel very, very comfortable that when Nene has been around and a John Wall, both say thiswas a coach that treated us the right way, respected the game and we listened to him. When a Kevin Seraphin comes in and says: ‘He trusted me. He’s making me a better player and I wanted him to yell at me. The more he yelled at me, the more I know he really cares.’ We have good data points. Ernie’s got some decisions to make. But I was very, very comfortable with the exit interviews and the input on the coach. Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Coaching, Ted Leonsis, Randy Wittman 

Ted Leonsis: I don’t think we know who we’ll take with that pick. I think the workouts are really, really important and doing all of the interviews. And I want to spend a lot of time, making sure that the young men that we bring in fit culturally. We now have a really, really serious team. A team that wants to get better, wants to work really hard and that chemistry and that basketball IQ and that character level is really important to us as a team. Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Ted Leonsis, Owners 

“I don’t want to be in the lottery anymore. It’s not a lot of fun,” Leonsis said, before adding, “Without pain, there is no gain.” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Ted Leonsis, Owners 

Ted Leonsis: Randy (Wittman) is under contract. The entire staff is under contract. The most important signals to me, was in all the exit interviews, to a man, everyone thought that Randy did a fantastic job. So that gave me confidence that I should interview and I had a quality day with Randy Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Coaching, Ted Leonsis, Randy Wittman 

Ted Leonsis confirmed that he met with Wittman recently after hearing overwhelming support from players such as John Wall and Nene during the exit interviews. “Everyone thought that Randy did a fantastic job,” Leonsis said, adding that he felt “very, very comfortable” with Wittman. Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Coaching, Ted Leonsis, Randy Wittman 

According to multiple league sources, Wittman was in Washington last week and recently had a face-to-face meeting with owner Ted Leonsis. A source that confirmed the meeting was unsure if it was a perfunctory get-to-know-you session or a formal interview. Leonsis often sat near the Wizards’ bench during games, but never had the chance to sit down with Wittman after he replaced Flip Saunders on Jan. 24. Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Coaching, Ted Leonsis, Owners, Flip Saunders 

The Washington Wizards announced today that they have agreed to a new contract with President Ernie Grunfeld. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released. “Ernie has led the charge to rebuild and change the direction of the Wizards and I’m pleased that we will continue to work together to improve upon what we’ve accomplished,” said Monumental Sports & Entertainment Majority Owner, Chairman and CEO Ted Leonsis. “In the process of almost completely turning over the team’s roster in the last two years, we have accumulated and developed young players and added veteran players while maintaining cap flexibility, all of which will help us build a competitive team going forward.” NBA.com

Washington Wizards, Ernie Grunfeld, Ted Leonsis 

According to the two league officials, Leonsis in recent weeks has refused to correspond with agents representing prospective Wizasds’ general managers interested in replacing Grunfeld. The team’s owner since the spring of 2010, Leonsis negotiated only with Grunfeld. Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Ernie Grunfeld, Ted Leonsis 

Sam Amick: Wizards owner Ted Leonsis believed to be behind most of the moves made since he took over in '10, so maybe that's why Grunfeld was absolved. Twitter

Washington Wizards, Ernie Grunfeld, Ted Leonsis 

Ted Leonsis: This blog post has no truth in it - it is a joke and an April Fool’s day prank. I wanted to go on record to say my quotes were fabricated. I did NOT respond nor was I contacted in any way about this story. I did not participate in any way in this blog post and prank. Further, there is no Wizards jersey designed with this sponsor on it. This is all photoshoped. The blog was done I am sure in fun and without malice – but it is important for me and for us to distance ourselves from its content .And to set the record straight. Thank you. Ted Leonsis

Washington Wizards, Ted Leonsis 

Sources within the Wizards organization have denied a published report that President Ernie Grunfeld recently rejected owner Ted Leonsis’s three-year, $4.5 million proposal to stay with the franchise. Grunfeld’s contract is set to expire after this season, but team sources said he has not been offered an extension and another person with knowledge of the situation said the New York Post report was “made up.” Washington Post

Ernie Grunfeld, Ted Leonsis, New Washington Wizards 

When asked about his contract situation at the end of last season, Grunfeld said, “I’m under contract. I’m not really even thinking about that at all ... All I’m thinking about is making this team as good as possible and continue to do the plan that we have in place.” Grunfeld has been one of the league’s highest-paid general managers for the past five years, with league sources contending that he earns a salary between $3.5 million and $4.5 million. The salaries for general managers and coaches have dipped considerably in recent years, with teams seeking different ways to cut down costs. Washington Post

Ernie Grunfeld, Ted Leonsis, New Washington Wizards 

Dan Steinberg: Ted Leonsis refers to us as "the local pixel maker," says The Post is "harboring criminals now." http://www.tedstake.com/2012/0… Twitter

Washington Wizards, Media, Ted Leonsis 

Ted Leonsis: I was one of the co-founders of Aol’s Digital City – Bob Smith and Paul DeBenedictus helped to create it – we opened a city operation in Boston – and Bill Simmons wrote a clever little column about Boston sports. He was a talent; very ambitious and quite a good writer. He got his start as did many other bloggers at Aol; back in the day. That is the history – Bill was discovered by Aol. Bet you didn’t know that? Ted Leonsis

Washington Wizards, Ted Leonsis, Bill Simmons 

Right now – everything is under a microscope – we know we have to make more investment in additional player development and we shall. We know we have to implement a system that complements the talent we have – you heard yesterday talk about “tempo and pace”; and “length, and depth and athleticism”. Ted Leonsis

Washington Wizards, Free Agency, Trade, Ted Leonsis