Brian Keefe Viewed As Wizards’ Top Coaching Candidate

May 10, 2024

The Washington Wizards are still looking for their next head coach and it may mean just moving interim man Brian Keefe to the job on a full-time basis, per NBA insider Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

Keefe, 48, went 8-31 after taking over for Wes Unseld Jr., who was moved to the front office at midseason. Multiple sources view Keefe as the frontrunner for the vacancy, per Robbins.

Keefe and assistant David Vanterpool were the only coaches left standing after the front office’s reported changes to the rest of the staff last week.

Other potential candidates for the head-coaching vacancy may be Miami Heat assistant Chris Quinn, Houston Rockets assistant Royal Ivey, and Dallas Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, per Robbins.

The Wizards, of course, are getting ready for another stab at the NBA Draft lottery, which takes place Sunday.

They haven’t reached 50 wins since 1979, their last appearance in the NBA Finals.

On the downside, this isn’t viewed as much of a draft — though Wizards GM Will Dawkins said he doesn’t necessarily agree with those draft hot takes.

“I think people hold their cards tight to their vests strategically, so I definitely don’t agree with the narrative,” Dawkins told Robbins. “I think people realize how good this draft is, and in any draft, I’d rather have the power of choice to make the decision than be left with other players on the board that I might not feel as good about.

“So for me and the Wizards, we’re ones that would always want the highest pick possible if you have an option to choose a player. As we’ve shown in last year’s draft, we don’t draft necessarily off mock drafts. We find the right person first, and if they connect with everything that we have going on in the long term, we’re going to do our best to go get that person.”