The Washington Wizards need to understand something — the Kevin Durant ship has sailed. There is no way he is still considering signing with his hometown team, because they didn’t even make the playoffs this season. Why would he leave a situation where he is in the postseason almost every year for one full of uncertainty? He wouldn’t.
The Wizards are apparently going after Scott Brooks as their next head coach, and this is a thinly veiled move. Brooks was Durant’s second NBA coach, and Washington is hoping that the superstar would desire a reunion.
The Wizards did the right thing by firing Randy Wittman, but hiring Brooks as the replacement would be a huge mistake. Wittman went 41-41 this season, but the expectations were a lot higher than that. The Wizards were close to the Eastern Conference Finals in the postseason before this one, and the results this year were simply unacceptable.
Brooks is the wrong solution, though. The Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t pass the ball very well when he was their head coach, and the Wizards would suffer from the same problems with Brooks. He was 338-207 in seven seasons with the Thunder, and he even made it to the NBA Finals once. It was assumed at the time that Oklahoma City would be a fixture there with such a young team, but they stupidly traded James Harden instead of paying him which has pretty much doomed the Thunder ever since.
The Wizards will also pursue Jeff Hornacek and Mike D’Antoni, and Brooks is getting courted by some of the other teams with openings. That might be best for both sides. Washington should give Tom Thibodeau some more consideration, however, it seems as though they aren’t even speaking with him on the phone. Unfortunately for the Wizards, going after Brooks instead is the wrong move.
