Wizards Head Coach a Work in Progress

The 2024-2025 season is a wrap for the Washington Wizards. It was a long, hard, yet encouraging season. You saw progression, but not just with the players. This was also Head Coach Brian Keefe's first full season as head coach. He showed the Wizards' Front Office and fan base why they should be excited. There are still skeptics and critics, and he'd admit that he's a work in progress, but like any other job, it takes a resume to get it, and Keefe has a lengthy one in two major areas.

Development

When you look at the list of players Brian Keefe had a hand in developing, you'll see All-Stars and Hall of Famers alike. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kristaps Porzingis, Brandon Ingram, and many others owe their development to then Assistant Coach Brian Keefe. He has a way of connecting with his players and yet holds them to a standard. The standard in Washington is to play hard, play to win the game. Developing the mind and the body is key.

Defense

Many people would point out the irony of Keefe being a defensive-minded coach when you look at the fact that the Wizards had one of the worst NBA defenses this season. That's not all on Keefe, though. You have to have the players to implement into your system, and after having to showcase and trade veterans like Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Kuzma, they're headed in the right direction. All five draft picks under GM Will Dawkins are defensive-minded prospects, and they also acquired veteran defenders in Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart. Smart, by the way, is a former Defensive Player of the Year award winner. When you add culture and mentality to defense, the defense will get better.

Is Brian Keefe raw as a head coach? Absolutely. It's one thing to be an assistant, but it's a different situation when you're running your own staff. Like all of his young prospects, he just needs time, and who knows, he could be another diamond in a hill of diamonds that this team has uncovered.