Washington Wizards beat Charlotte Bobcats, Ernie Grunfeld remains as president

Fans at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. witnessed a 101-73 win on Monday night as the Washington Wizards beat the Charlotte Bobcats. As the proud home game of the season unfolded, the man responsible for bringing all of those players to Washington rested comfortably with the knowledge that he would be given the chance to continue building the team. According to two officials who spoke on Monday anonymously, Ernie Grunfeld will return to the Wizards as the president.

Wizards’ owner Ted Leonsis and Grunfeld have tentatively agreed to a deal the is reportedly more than one year and keeps the team’s architect in Washington on contract at least until the end of the 2013-2014 season. Financial terms were unknown, but Grunfeld’s present deal was set to expire at the end of this season. In recent weeks, Leonsis has refused to engage in or correspond with agents representing prospective Wizards general managers interested in replacing Grunfeld, according to multiple league officials. Leonsis, the Wizard’s owner since 2010, only negotiated with Grunfeld. Since the men have taken over, the team has been progressing, slowly, but surely. After scoring 16 points and getting 14 assists, John Wall, a No. 1 overall pick, said, “I think we are buying into it, realizing what we need to do. Trying to see things change around here. Beginning of the season, middle of the season, we was playing different ways and being selfish, but we cleared some things up, got different guys in, added some pieces and now we’re playing as a team. The best we’ve been all season.”