It’s been four weeks since the Washington Wizards dismissed Ernie Grunfeld from his post of team president. Now, the list of candidates set to interview to be his replacement has been revealed.
The list of candidates includes DeMatha High School alum Danny Ferry, Houston Rockets vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, Denver Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, and current Wizards’ interim president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard, according to Candace Buckner of the Washington Post.
Buckner added that Ferry interviewed for the position Tuesday. Meanwhile, Fred Katz of the Athletic reports Rosas is currently in Washington for his interview.
Katz added that Connelly may not be interviewed until after the Nuggets are done with the playoffs — they are currently lead their Western Conference Semifinals series 1-0 against the Portland Trailblazers.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Wizards candidate list also includes Oklahoma City Thunder’s vice president of basketball operations Troy Weaver.
Ferry recently was the interim GM for the Pelicans after Dell Demps was fired in February. However, the team has since hired David Griffin as his replacement.
He most notably was the GM of the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005-10. During that time, led by LeBron James the franchise reached its first-ever NBA Finals in 2007. Ferry also was the team president and GM of the Hawks from 2012 until 2014.
Rosas has been the understudy of Rockets’ president Darryl Morey, working with Houston for much of the past 15 years. During his time, the Rockets have transformed the team’s roster adding James Harden and Chris Paul. In the past three seasons, Houston has become a perennial contender and rival to the Golden State Warriors.
Much like Ferry, Connelly has ties to the Greater Washington Area. He grew up in Baltimore, Md., and attended Catholic University in northeast DC. He started his NBA executive career with the Wizards as an intern in 1996. He ultimately became a video coordinator and full-time scout by 2000 and was promoted to director of player personnel.
He went on to be an assistant GM with the Hornets before becoming the Denver Nuggets’ president of basketball operations.
Weaver, a DC native, has been with the Thunder franchise since 2008 working under president Sam Presti. He has ties to DC as well. He coached AAU team DC Assault in the 1990s before leaving to coach in college and eventually the NBA. He also spent time with the Utah Jazz front office.
Sheppard has worked with the Wizards for 16 years under the helm of the fired Grunfeld. His duties have included player evaluation, contract negotiations and salary cap management.
Sheppard was on the list of candidates along with Ferry for the Pelicans GM position. He has a great reputation around the league even though to Wizards fans he may be associated with the unpopular Grunfeld era.
Whoever is hired will be tasked with possibly a full scale rebuild while trying to please and convince two-time All-Star Bradley Beal to stay during his prime years. That’s while six-time All-Star John Wall recovers from a torn Achilles that may keep him out for all of the 2019-20 season. That is while his super max extension kicks in at a whopping $37.8 million.
