Wizards GM says he expects coach Brian Keefe to return next season

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wizards general manager Will Dawkins said he's expecting coach Brian Keefe to return next season after Washington finished with the NBA's worst record.

“Yeah, I anticipate Brian Keefe to be here,” Dawkins said Thursday at his end-of-season news conference.

Keefe took over in the middle of the 2023-24 campaign, replacing Wes Unseld Jr. That was Washington’s first season under its new front office led by Michael Winger and Dawkins. The team eventually took off Keefe’s interim tag.

But the Wizards haven’t been built to win right away under Keefe. He went 8-31 in that first season, then 18-64 in 2024-25. This season Washington lost 26 of its last 27 games to go 17-65, ending any danger of the Wizards losing their first-round draft pick if it wasn’t in the top eight. It’s the first time since 1967 — when the franchise was the Baltimore Bullets — that the team finished with the league’s worst record.

“We put him in a situation this season which was a little difficult," Dawkins said. "We led the NBA in starts for players under 21. I think we had 50-plus different starting lineups. So we threw a lot at him.”

But soon, Washington hopes to turn the focus away from collecting picks and lottery odds and improve its performance on the court. There were certainly some steps in that direction this season, when the Wizards traded for both Trae Young and Anthony Davis, although Young played only five games for them and Davis didn’t play any. If both are healthy next season, Washington could be improved.

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