BREAKING NEWS: WES UNSELD JR. OUT AS WIZARDS HEAD COACH

The Washington Wizards are moving on from coach Wes Unseld Jr. after roughly three years with him on the job. Per the team, Unseld will move into a front-office advisory role as the team seeks to replace him. An interim coach is expected to be named soon and the team says it will “undertake a comprehensive search in the offseason.”

Unseld Jr. was named coach of the team on July 17, 2021 and went 77-130 in his 2 1/2 seasons with the team. In what was his final game as coach, the Wizards lost 118-107 to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, marking the team’s fifth straight loss and 10th loss in 11 games.

This season, the Wizards are 7-36, which is the second-worst mark in the Eastern Conference, as they are rebuilding around a young core led by Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole, Marvin Bagley III, Deni Avdija, Daniel Gafford and others.

What’s next for Wizards: Washington has been somewhat stable over the past 10 years in terms of coaching as only three people — Randy Wittman, Scott Brooks and Unseld — have held the position in that time. The Wizards have made the playoffs three times in the last 10 seasons, but haven’t been in the postseason since 2020-21 when they lost in the first round. Washington has not finished about .500 since the 2017-18 season.

The Wizards are essentially out of the playoff and Play-In Tournament chase this season, so this season’s focus is on developing the team’s young players and assessing the roster for the future. Washington essentially began its rebuild last summer when it traded All-Star guard Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns.

(From NBA.COM-FULL STORY)