Grunfeld, who along with Head Coach Eddie Jordan, met with the media on Tuesday, stated that "for now he's staying in (Europe)".

"At this time we felt it was very important for him to play and get very significant playing time," said Grunfeld. "The best option was to leave him in Europe for now to get the experience, and to get a little bit bigger and stronger."

"We are very high on him and we think he has real potential down the road. Let’s not forget that he is only 20-years-old. He is a big kid, has good size, he can step out and make the 20-foot jumper. He has good toughness. He has real good instincts as far as rebounding is concerned. We feel in a couple of years that he is the kind of player that can be in our rotation."

"The games they play over there are in front of a lot of people," Grunfeld added. "They're pressure-packed type of games where you have big plays and big shots. The players are physical and every game means something. That's much more important than just working on fundamentals every single day, without the banging and real game type of experience."

"I don't feel it's good for any young player, if it can be avoided, to just sit on the bench without playing. The only way young players get better is by being out on the court, playing in real game type situations."

Grunfeld added that the team's depth in the front court with veteran players contributed to the decision.

"We're pretty loaded at that position right now. It would be hard for a twenty year-old to break into the line-up."

The Wizards selected Pecherov with the 18th overall pick in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft. The 6’11” forward played on the team's Summer League Team in Las Vegas and averaged 12.6 points and 7.6 boards in five contests.

Grunfeld's meeting with the media will be posted here this evening.