Wes Unseld Jr. out as Wizards coach, pushed to advisor role, Brian Keefe takes over in interim
The Washington Wizards have decided to move on from Wes Unseld Jr. as head coach, the team announced. Unseld led the team to a 7-36 record on the season and the team has seemingly been playing worse of late, going 1-9 in their last 10 games with losses to the Spurs and Pistons.
Unseld is being moved to an advisory front office role — he's technically not fired — and top assistant Brian Keefe takes over as the team's interim head coach until the end of the season, when a full head coaching search will occur. However, moving on now does let Washington get a jump if there are people they want to interview.
"After several thoughtful conversations with Wes, we determined together that a change was needed for the benefit of the team," Wizards president Michael Winger said in a statement as the team announced the decision. "Wes embodies the characteristics we value in our organization, and his vast basketball experience will be an asset to the front office as we progress toward our long-term goals. We are thankful that he will continue his contributions to our organization and community."
Washington is rebuilding, has a flawed roster and was not projected to be a playoff team this season, yet they have still fallen short of expectations. The Wizards are 29th in the league on defense, 25th on offense, have a -9 net rating (fifth worst in the league) — and all of that fails to describe how uncompetitive this team is most nights.
Expect Winger and the Wizards to seek a player-development specialist as the team's next coach.
Winger and company deserve some of the blame for where the Wizards are, although it is just the first steps of a proper rebuild (as opposed to the half-measures the team took for years under former president Tommy Sheppard). Last offseason,n the Wizards dove fully into the rebuild,d trading Bradley Beal to Phoenix for draft picks and Chris Paul, then flipped CP3 to Golden State Warriors for Jordan Poole. Poole, however, has been a disappointment — 16.5 points a game on 40.9% shooting — and the undersized backcourt of him and Tyus Jones is part of Washington's defensive issues. Currently, the Wizards are active as sellers on the trade market but are keeping the price high for players such as Kyle Kuzma.
The team needs to nail a few upcoming draft picks and put in a program of player development to lift all boats, and Unseld was not the man for Washington wanted to lean on for that. However, Winger has now played the "fire the coach" card and he needs to nail the hiring of the next coach and start to build a talent base or it is his seat that will get warm.
