Tommy Sheppard was Ernie Grunfeld’s right hand man for almost two decades. He spent the last nine years working for the Washington Wizards under Ted Leonsis’ direction. He’s been in the same building — every day, evaluating the same talent that Grunfeld assessed. He was second in command for a team that largely disappointed, failed to locate talent in the draft and gave albatross contracts to players that could have — with a bit of logic and rationality — easily been avoided.
Yet Sheppard is still a breath of fresh air.
Sheppard is charismatic, charming, and has already done more media appearances on behalf of the organization than Grunfeld had in years (this obviously isn’t verified, but I bet it’s pretty darn close).