Yes, Brian Keefe is the favorite. But the Wizards should look at a wide range of candidates before making their final decision.
The Washington Wizards are looking for their next head coach. There hasn’t been reports of who they are interviewing from the outside. So for now, let’s look at a wide range of candidates whom Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger and Wizards General Manager Will Dawkins may bring in based on various levels of experience.
The Incumbent: Brian Keefe
With the Wizards reportedly keeping Keefe and assistant David Vanterpool in some capacity, I think that Keefe is on the short track to stay as the next head coach.
Coaches without a coaching job
These coaches aren’t employed in such a role. It’s not necessarily their fault. But they at least will be quicker to pick up the phone, in theory.
- Mike Budenholzer, former Bucks/Hawks HC — Budenholzer won the 2021 NBA championship with Milwaukee and led Atlanta in their superstar-less but high flying season in 2014-15. Unlikely he takes this job.
- Mike D’Antoni, former Suns/Knicks/Lakers/Rockets HC — D’Antoni was the head coach of the NBA’s most high powered offenses before the Warriors. He’d be an intriguing candidate, but again, he’s unlikely.
- Steve Nash, former Nets HC — Nash was the floor general of D’Antoni’s offense with the Suns and led the Nets from 2020-22 soon after his playing career ended. He may get another chance to be a head coach, but he doesn’t strike as someone who would want the Wizards job.
- Randy Wittman, former Wizards HC — Wittman hasn’t coached in the NBA since 2016, when he was the Wizards head coach. Wittman was the most successful Wizards head coach all things considered for most for the last 40 years. That said, he seems to be happy in retirement.
- Mark Jackson, former Warriors HC — Jackson is a broadcaster-turned coach-turned broadcaster again. He led the Golden State Warriors from lottery team to playoff contender during his time, right before Steve Kerr came in and made history. While he may deserve a look because of Xs and Os, he had a reputation for being hard to work with, at least part of it coming from his religious practices. So there’s a reason why Jackson never coached again since he was fired by the Warriors in 2014.
- Juwan Howard, former Michigan men’s basketball HC — Howard’s Wizards ties run deep because he played for the Bullets/Wizards from 1994-2001. He became the Wolverines’ head coach after serving as a long-time assistant for the Miami Heat. After leading Michigan to the Elite Eight in 2021, Howard’s Michigan teams got progressively worse over his five years in Ann Arbor, leading to his termination after this past season.
- Jerry Stackhouse, former Vanderbilt men’s basketball HC — Stackhouse came to Nashville in 2019 after being an NBA assistant coach with the Raptors. His tenure with Vandy was forgettable, even if he has previous ties with the Wizards as a player from 2002-04.
- Patrick Ewing, former Georgetown men’s basketball HC — After his Hall of Fame playing career, Ewing was a long-time NBA assistant coach, starting his coaching career with the Wizards before leading the Hoyas from 2017-23. However, Ewing didn’t get the Hoyas to the NCAA tournament more than once. Ewing also has ties with the Wizards. He began his coaching career with them in the 2002-03 season.
Current NBA Assistant Coaches without equivalent head coaching experience
NBA assistant coaches are generally one of the best pipelines for future head coaches. Let’s look at them here.
- Sam Cassell, Boston Celtics — The long-time NBA player hails from Baltimore and is often among the first assistant coaches Wizards fans would like to see as the next head coach when the vacancy comes about. Cassell was a Wizards assistant from 2009-14 after finishing his playing career but has never been a head coach.
- Kevin Ollie, formerly with the Brooklyn Nets — Ollie is a long-time NBA player who was the Nets’ interim head coach at the end of last season. The biggest part of his resume was being the UConn Huskies’ men’s basketball head coach from 2012-18 where he led them to the 2014 national championship. I’ll say he intrigues me.
- Caron Butler, Miami Heat — Butler is best known to the Wizards as a player from 2005-10, but he has been on the Heat’s coaching staff for the last couple years. This could be a good landing spot for Butler, who remains popular with the fans.
- Popeye Jones, Denver Nuggets — Jones is on the NBA’s defending champions’ staff. He is also a former Wizards player. Not sure if he is on the short list for me though.
Current NBA Assistant Coaches with head coaching experience
- Scott Brooks, Portland Trail Blazers — Brooks led the Wizards to their first division championship in 2017, but had four increasingly frustrating seasons after that. I doubt the Wizards interview him again, at least in part because many fans don’t want him back.
- Luke Walton, Cleveland Cavaliers — Walton was the Warriors interim head coach and also was the head coach of the Lakers and Kings, before they returned to the playoffs. I do think Walton never had a chance to develop as a coach for the longer term, so I wouldn’t mind seeing him here.
- Dave Joerger, Milwaukee Bucks — Joerger was the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies (2013-16) and Sacramento Kings (2016-19). He was on Milwaukee’s 2021 championship team, but I’m skeptical as to whether he would want to be in Washington.
- Ryan Saunders, Denver Nuggets — Saunders was the Minnesota Timberwolves’ head coach from 2019-21. He was also previously an assistant for the Wizards from 2009-14. Since he is still very young as a coach, I wouldn’t mind seeing him here again, this time as the head coach.
- Brett Brown, San Antonio Spurs — Brown was the Philadelphia 76ers head coach from 2013-20 where he led a rebuilding Philly team from a period of tanking to period of contention AND got to see things through. Of the coaches in this category, I like him the most.
College Head Coaches
- Dan Hurley, Connecticut men’s basketball — Any head coach who wins the NCAA Division I men’s basketball national championship is a potential candidate for an NBA job. The Huskies have won consecutive titles in men’s basketball for the first time in school history and are making inroads against their even-more well respected women’s basketball program. While some Wizards fans may want Hurley to move from Storrs, I’m thinking that Hurley is best where he’s at.
- Kara Lawson, Duke women’s basketball — Lawson has been retooling the Blue Devils for the last four seasons, where she led them to the Sweet 16 this past season. She is from the DMV where she went to West Springfield High School in Fairfax County, a long-time WNBA player including with the Mystics, AND she is a former Wizards color analyst whom most of the fans still like. But when Lawson talks about “doing hard better,” I think she wants to see her vision come through at Duke, like seeing the Blue Devils win their first national championship, before reconsidering a return to the NBA, where she was an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics from 2019-20.
- Hubert Davis, North Carolina men’s basketball — Davis is from the DMV where he attended Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke of Fairfax County, which is very close to Lawson’s alma mater! (Side note: Northern Virginia has more basketball talent, even boys talent than some of the Maryland-based haters want to think!) Davis also is a former Wizards player, donning the teal and gold from 2001-02. That said, I think Davis has the best coaching job in the state of North Carolina as the head coach of the Tar Heels men’s basketball program. As long as UNC is regularly contending for the national championship and beating Duke (not Lawson’s team of course), then his job is safe.
- Mike Woodson, Indiana men’s basketball — Woodson was the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks, leading both teams to the NBA playoffs before various stints as an NBA assistant coach. He has led the Hoosiers since 2021, where they made two NCAA tournament appearances. I’m thinking that Woodson wants to see one deep run out of IU before reconsidering his future.
- Dawn Staley, South Carolina women’s basketball — Staley rebuilt two programs, Temple and South Carolina into a consistent NCAA tournament and a national championship contender, respectively. Perhaps she may want another challenge, this time, in the pros. That said, she has the top job in women’s college basketball right now after winning the championship this year, and she is relishing being in that spot.
Coaches who have head coaching experience in the WNBA
As women’s basketball has continued to gain respect across average joes and janes, coaches who led WNBA teams will be considered for NBA positions. Here are the two coaches with WNBA head coaching experience that could attract Winger’s eye.
- Becky Hammon, Las Vegas Aces — Hammon has led the Aces since 2022, where she led them to two straight WNBA championships. Before Hammon became a head coach, she was a long time assistant for the Spurs from 2014-22. She was also Spurs HC Gregg Popovich’s lead assistant when she left. I feel that Hammon will return to the NBA as a head coach sooner rather than later. However, she has the chance to lead the Aces to a threepeat, so I don’t see her being interested in taking an NBA head coaching position for a rebuilding team.
- James Wade, Toronto Raptors — While Wade is currently an assistant for the Raptors, he received his first head coaching experience with the Chicago Sky from 2019-23, leading them to the 2021 WNBA championship. In addition, Wade was able to attract numerous players to the Sky, including signing Emma Meesseman in 2022. If the Wizards interview and hire him, maybe he could do the Mystics a favor?
Others
- Lindsey Harding, Stockton Kings/Sacramento Kings — Harding was the 2023-24 NBA G League Coach of the Year and interviewed for the Charlotte Hornets vacancy. She also spent part of her playing career with the Mystics from 2009-10. However, she left the Mystics on less than ideal terms after they fired their front office at the time. Remember, the Wizards and Mystics have had the same ownership since 2010.
- JJ Redick, ESPN analyst — Redick is from Virginia, though he’s from Southwest Virginia as opposed to the DMV, or the Northern Virginia suburbs. After a storied college career at Duke and a successful 15-year NBA career, he has become one of the most respected analysts on ESPN. Like fellow Duke graduate Harding, Redick interviewed for the Hornets vacancy. While Redick could be a good or even a great head coach, the D.C. area is home to former ACC team Maryland, where their fans were rougher on Redick than North Carolina. And perhaps some Wizards fans may stop renewing their season tickets if Redick took a position with the Wizards. That said, I don’t think Redick has (that much) bad blood for the DMV.
- David Vanterpool, Washington Wizards — Well … Winger and Dawkins must’ve told him that he’s still on payroll, right? In the off chance that Vanterpool is the head coach while Keefe remains an assistant, well, that can create some office politics, to say the least.
Any other people you would like to consider as the next Wizards head coach? Let us know in the comments below!