Brooks went 338-207 in seven years with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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A number of players, including Durant and Westbrook, were initially upset to see him leave even though many people felt that the Thunder had stagnated and needed a new sideline general to better lead their star-studded roster. When asked directly whether he’s given any thought to playing in D.C. prior to the Thunder’s lone visit to Washington in 2014, Durant downplayed the possibility.
Regardless of the results of KD’s impending decision, Brooks will undoubtedly have the tools for success in Washington.
National Basketball Association rumors are swirling around Kevin Durant.
Brooks was the 2010 Coach of the Year after guiding the Thunder to a 50-32 record – a 27-game improvement over their previous season.
In fact, CSN was told earlier in the day, that face-to-face meetings with the Wizards and other coaching candidates haven’t happened because they’ve locked in on Brooks from the outset. By signing with the Wizards, he’d be back home and playing for a coach he liked and respected in Brooks.
I won’t give Brooks much credit for the development of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant – two superstar athletes who would have been great regardless of the coach – but he did help players like Serge Ibaka, Reggie Jackson and Thabo Sefolosha become effective.
Knowing all this, the Washington Wizards will still pursue Kevin Durant. But it now seems like the odds of him joining the Wizards are slim.
The Washington Wizards missed the playoffs this year despite qualifying for the postseason last year and sweeping the formidable Toronto Raptors in their first-round series, resulting in the firing of Randy Wittman, who’d been calling the shots sine 2012. Every team in the league wants Durant, of course, but the Wizards feel they have an inside edge because they’re Durant’s hometown team. Would a team comprising of John Wall, Bradley Beal, Durant and another marquee free agent make the Wizards championship contenders next season? The summer of Durant is going to be a lot of fun.
Even if taking a flyer on an unproven guy with enormous upside isn’t the preferred route with only three more years to convince Wall to be a Wizards Lifer, there are other options worth looking into.
When they regressed this season, it was time.
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They scored a season-low 36 points in the first half, flirted with a season-low shooting percentage most of the game and came perilously close to enduring their second-worst playoff loss ever at Bankers Life Fieldhouse – until a late push cut into Toronto’s 23-point lead.
