Ted Leonsis says Randy Wittman 'deserves the opportunity' to return as coach

It looks inevitable that Randy Wittman will be the Wizards' coach in the future. This was clear even before Yahoo! Sports' report that he was closing in on a three-year extension.

Ted Leonsis basically implied as much in an interview with NBC's Dianna Russini following today's press conference to introduce the new Capitals' coach and general manager. Here's the video:

"The players respected the coach and they played hard for him, so I think he deserves the opportunity to come back and lead us even deeper in the playoffs next year," Leonsis said.

Leonsis based his comments off exit interviews. He also said that the Wizards were "sitting down and talking to Randy and his people." That suggests that a new extension is a matter of when, not if.

Wittman himself also seemed very confident when asked about his status a week ago. Via Michael Lee of the Washington Post:

"I always anticipate I'll be back until somebody tells me I'm not," Wittman said.

Wittman also made it sounds like he was being consulted on future personnel decisions. Via CSN Washington's J Michael:

"Until they stop asking me for my opinion on players, free agents, (the) draft, I'm not worried about it," Wittman said recently.

More details will surely come out, but it seems safe to assume the Yahoo! report is true.