The Washington Wizards saddled head coach Brian Keefe with a roster designed to lose games for the last three seasons. They’re rewarding him for sticking with the program.
General manager Will Dawkins told reporters that he expects Keefe to return to the Wizards sidelines after a season where Washington finished with the NBA’s worst record. However, Keefe achieved the team’s primary goal — keeping their top-eight-protected first-round pick.
Washington Wizards aren’t making a playoff push yet
It’s hard to tell what kind of an NBA coach Keefe is, even after coaching 203 games with the Wizards. His team has spent that time taking on salary dumps and acquiring draft picks and young talent. Seven Wizards rotation players are 22 or younger. While the Wizards traded for Trae Young and Anthony Davis during the season, Young played only five games and AD didn’t play at all.
Next year they expect to have both players healthy — or at least as healthy as Davis gets. 2024 No. 2 pick Alex Sarr averaged 16.3 points and two blocks last season, while second-year forward Kyshawn George shot 38.1 percent from three-point range and scored 14.8 points per game. There’s a lot of reason for optimism, especially with a 52.1 percent chance a top-four pick in June’s draft.
Still, the Wizards are resisting temptation to hire a more acclaimed coach for next season. That could be a sign of loyalty to Keefe for enduring two-plus seasons of losing basketball, or a sign that the organization sees the Wizards as well short of competing next season.
Brian Keefe could turn out to be a good coach
While Keefe hasn’t won many games with the Wizards, he has the background to be a strong coach. Keefe started his NBA coaching career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, primarily working as one of Scott Brooks’ assistants. He then spent a year working for Phil Jackson with the New York Knicks, three years with the Los Angeles Lakers, another stint with the Thunder and two years with the Brooklyn Nets.
That’s a lot of time coaching superstars, specifically Kevin Durant, though Keefe has also coached LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Carmelo Anthony. He’s been focused on development in Washington, but most of his coaching experience has been with teams competing for titles.
The Wizards didn’t want to win this year because of the top-eight protection on their 2026 pick, originally traded in 2020 for John Wall. By finishing dead last, they guaranteed they’d pick no later than No. 7, giving them at least one more shot at an elite player for the rebuild.
Keefe may end up coaching for his job next season as the Wizards switch gears. At least he’ll be allowed to try to win.
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