The Washington Wizards fired Ernie Grunfeld from his post as president on Tuesday, ending Grunfeld's 16-year run with the organization.

The timing may have seemed a bit odd, as the Wizards decided to dismiss Grunfeld with just four games left in the regular season. However, Washington owner Ted Leonsis said that he fired Grunfeld for “competitive” reasons and essentially wants to get started searching for a new general manager as soon as possible:

“It was a very binary decision,” said Leonsis, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic. “We set what our goals were. We didn't meet our goals.”

The Wizards currently own a record of 32-46 on the season and will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and only the second time since 2013.

Two seasons ago, Washington won 49 games and made it to the second round of the postseason. Many felt it represented a turning point for the Wizards and that, with John Wall and Bradley Beal, they would become a contender in the Eastern Conference for years to come.

However, last season, Washington was one of the most disappointing teams in the league, finishing with a record of 43-39 and just sneaking into the playoffs as a No. 8 seed before falling to the Toronto Raptors in the first round.

The Wizards then tried to bolster their frontcourt by signing Dwight Howard over the summer, but Howard was lost for the year with an injury and Wall later suffered his own season-ending injury (and possibly next season as well), resulting in a lost season in Washington.