Washington Wizards Head Coach Scott Brooks will return for the 2020-2021 season
Despite the Washington Wizards winning just one game in the NBA 2019-2020 reboot, head coach Scott Brooks will return to the team for the 2020-2021 according to general manager Tommy Sheppard. Brooks will be on the last year of his 5-year contract, which he signed in April of 2016.
As the head coach of the Wizards, Scott Brooks has a record of 149-169 with two playoff appearances in the four seasons he has coached so far. The first playoff appearance came in the 2016-2017 season, as the Wizards advanced to the Conference semifinals but lost to the Boston Celtics. Scott Brooks' first season was a good season, both in terms of the performance of the team and Brooks' personal record. After that season, things have not looked good for Brooks and the organization. In the 2017-2018 season, the Wizards were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round and have not been to the playoffs ever since.
Many fans are not happy with th decision to retain Scott Brooks and with good reason. While the Wizards seemed like an underdog in the beginning of the 2019-2020 season, ranking 2nd in total offense but last in defense, the team experienced a dip in form mid-season before the league was suspended due to COVID-19 concerns. The team manged to achieve the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference before the NBA reboot, but with All-Star Bradley Beal, Davis Bertans, and others sitting out the reboot, the team was only able to win 1 of 8 games.
In Brooks' defense, he has had to deal with an injury-plagued team on several occasions, but even with a healthy team he has not always been able to execute his gameplan properly. The offense of the team seems to be set, especially once All-Star John Wall returns to the team in the upcoming season. However if the Wiazards aren't able to improve their defense and win some meaningful games, we could see Scott Brooks being fired midseason.