Former team president Ernie Grunfeld is gone, but the mess he created will linger. Interim president Tommy Sheppard and the holdover front office has been maneuvering around a payroll long on salaries and short on talent, and the dearth of draft assets because of the Grunfeldian practice of mortgaging the future for short-term goals.
The front office’s tactical shift has been apparent. Sheppard has ended the practice of giving away second round picks and has orchestrated a series of moves to accumulate assets and generate marginal value. The overall approach to the offseason suggests a team planning to be in the lottery next season and reloading in hopes of being in the 2021 playoffs when injured point guard John Wall is healthy.