By CJ Carlson
The Washington Wizards are looking to make a change, and the first domino to fall was the head coach. It was just announced that the team will be moving on from Wes Unseld Jr and choosing to move him into an advisory role instead. Moving him into an advisory role certainly seemed like the respectful way to make such a decision, as they were clearly looking to get a new voice into that locker room.
Unseld was the head coach for around three years, and Washington hadn’t really been competitive under him at all. Granted, they are still right in the middle of a “rebuild”. When he took over in 2021, he directed them to a record of 77-130 in his two and a half seasons with them. The final game that he coached with them was a nine-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. That loss was their fifth in a row and their 10th out of their last 11. That was the breaking point.
Washington Wizards Haven’t Had Success In Some Time
The Wizards do have a young core with some promising players such as Jordan Poole, Kyle Kuzma, Deni Avdija, and Daniel Gafford. The problem is that they’re just not putting it together at the same time. They are currently holding onto a record of 7-36 and have only made the postseason three times in the last 10 years. Those three appearances can be attributed to players such as John Wall and Bradley Beal as well, with neither on the roster anymore.
Since the 2017-18 season, Washington hasn’t been able to end a regular season with a record above .500. It doesn’t matter what team in what league you’re in, this type of consistent failure to produce will cause frustration. I mean, Washington is practically eliminated from playoff contention again this season just nearing the halfway point of the year. It’s also unbelievably likely that they will finish below .500 again.
New Head Coaching Search Underway
According to the organization, they will be naming an interim coach to replace Unseld “soon”, though they didn’t announce when that will be. What they did say was that they will be doing extensive research on a new head coach this offseason, in the hopes that they can finally change the direction that they’ve been going in. The quote from them stated that they will “undertake a comprehensive search in the offseason”.
We’re too early on to really determine what names might be on the market for the Wizards to try and interview, so that’s something we’re going to have to wait and see. For now, the interim head coach will make his/her own case for the job.
