Source: Washington Post

The Washington Wizards are set to conclude the worst four-year stretch in franchise history — a period that has seen Gilbert Arenas bring guns to locker room, the team mistakenly build around a core of Andray Blatche,JaVale McGee and Nick Young, and continuous turnover for players and coaches. The shortcomings led to speculation among fans, agents, executives and scouts that the one constant through all of it — Ernie Grunfeld — wouldn't return after his contract expired after this season.

But on the day that Wizards owner Ted Leonsis formally announced that his embattled team president was staying to lead the franchise's efforts to rebuild, Grunfeld responded to a question asking whether he deserved another shot by smiling and saying, "The important thing is, Ted felt that."

Leonsis's opinion was the only one that mattered as it related to Grunfeld, who celebrated his 57th birthday on Tuesday by signing a contract that will keep him with the team for more than one year and with the organization through at least the end of the 2013-14 season, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. And for the two years Leonsis has owned the team, Grunfeld has followed through on orders to build through the draft, acquire young talent and keep the team financially flexible going forward.

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