Success is a word that has been hard for the Washington Wizards to come by in recent years. They have made just one playoff appearance over the last six seasons, and the Wizards currently find themselves in the midst of a rebuilding period with Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole, and Tyus Jones highlighting their roster. In the middle of what turned out to be their worst season in franchise history, Washington decided to make a change by moving Wes Unseld Jr. into their front office and elevating assistant coach Brian Keefe to be the team's interim head coach.
As the offseason begins for the Wizards, so does a complete overhaul of their organization. Washington let go of several staff members on Thursday, but Keefe and assistant coach David Vanterpool have remained with the team, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe. Wizards president Michael Winger and general manager Will Dawkins now begin their formal head coaching search, which will include Keefe as a candidate for the full-time role.
This was a terrible season for the Wizards. Their 15 wins were the fewest in team history, and there seemed to be a disconnect all year long between the players and coaching staff. Before the All-Star break, the organization decided it would be in their best interest to make a change on the sidelines, so Keefe replaced Unseld as the head coach. Ultimately, this move did not translate to much success regarding wins, as Keefe finished the regular season with an 8-31 record.
Whether or not Keefe will become the Wizards' next full-time coach depends on how their search goes over the next several weeks leading up to what will be an important 2024 NBA Draft.
Brian Keefe's time as Wizards head coach
An 8-31 record is nothing to gush over. Then again, Keefe took over what was a broken team with very little room for immediate growth at a point in the season where many of the players had given up hope. Down the stretch run of the year, the Wizards were better than they had been previously. Washington won four of their final 13 games, and only one of their nine losses in this span was by double digits.
Deni Avdija was one of the league's most improved players. Corey Kispert seemed to thrive in his increased role under Keefe's leadership, and the Wizards do have some intriguing talent on their roster moving forward. If the players are comfortable and confident in him, there is no reason to believe that Keefe won't be the Wizards coach come time for the start of the 2024-25 season.
There is a sense that the Wizards are very confident in Keefe's abilities to lead this franchise into the future, which is one of the main reasons why they selected him to be their interim head coach this season. The Wizards really bought into what the 48-year-old coach was teaching them, leading to the belief around the league that the organization doesn't want to let him go.
The NBA coaching market as a whole is not going to be as active as it was a year ago, when Monty Williams, Nick Nurse, Ime Udoka, Frank Vogel, Adrian Griffin, and Darko Rajakovic all joined their respective organizations. In Griffin's case, he was already replaced by Doc Rivers without even getting to the All-Star break in his first season with the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Brooklyn Nets recently hired Jordi Fernandez to take over for interim head coach Kevin Ollie, who replaced Jacque Vaughn in the middle of the year. The Charlotte Hornets are also in the market for a new head coach after it was announced that Steve Clifford would be transitioning into a new role with the franchise. Whether or not other coaches end up on the hot seat will be influenced by what happens during the NBA Playoffs.
The Wizards' future is going to be built through the draft. This organization owns various draft assets over the next few years, and the Wizards have a ton of youthful players on their roster that they will spend a lot of time developing in the offseason. Keefe, who is already familiar with what this roster looks like, would be the obvious choice to remain on the sidelines for Washington.
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