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Washington Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. will remain with the team for a third season, the Washington Post's Ava Wallace reported on Thursday.
The news comes just a day after president and general manager Tommy Sheppard was fired in the wake of the team missing the postseason for a second straight season.
“Tommy Sheppard was fired as the Wizards' GM, Wes Unseld Jr. is returning for his third year,” Wallace tweeted on Thursday. “Lots of changes at Monumental Sports these days.”
Ted Leonsis, the CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, was the one who let Sheppard go on Wednesday.
“Failure to make the playoffs the last two seasons was very disappointing to our organization and our fans,” Leonsis said in a statement. He confirmed that the search for new leadership would begin immediately and will “focus on an executive from outside the organization.”
Wallace reports that Leonsis is still a strong supporter of Unseld Jr. as he attempts to bring the team back into the playoffs next season in his third year with the club.
The Wizards had another disappointing campaign in 2022-23, finishing 35-47 and missing the postseason for the fourth time in five tries. Sheppard left with a winning percentage of just .419 after a cumulative 129-179 record. He took over in Jul. 2019 from longtime GM Ernie Grunfeld.
“The rosters Sheppard constructed never seemed to coalesce, and this year's group fell far below its lofty expectations, given the talent levels of headliners [Bradley] Beal, [Kristaps] Porzingis and [Kyle] Kuzma,” wrote Wallace on Thursday.
“The Wizards' front office, coaches and players cited long-term injuries to core players as reasons the roster never jelled. Beal, Porzingis and Kuzma played just 35 games together; the team went 16-19 in those matchups.”
The Wizards will have a 6.7 percent change of winning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft after losing a tiebreaker to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday.
