The Washington Wizards suffered through another disappointing season despite having some top end talent in Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma. They finished with a record 35-47 and in 12th place in the Eastern Conference standings. They finished the season 3-10 in their final 13 games. The Wizards had enough talent to at least grab one of the play-in spots and they couldn’t even do that. As a result, there were sure to be some changes once the season ended and sure enough the Wizards fired general manager Tommy Sheppard as per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Washington has dismissed GM Tommy Sheppard, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 19, 2023
“Failure to make the playoffs the last two seasons was very disappointing to our organization and our fans,” owner Ted Leonsis said in a statement.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 19, 2023
Tommy Sheppard was originally hired by the Wizards in 2003 as vice president of basketball operations. He was appointed as interim general manager in 2019 after the Wizards fired Ernie Grunfeld. He was moved into the position full-time during the 2019 offseason and in 2021 he was given a contract extension. Sheppard helped oversee the rebuild following the Gilbert Arenas years.
The Wizards roster might look radically different next season. While Bradley Beal is locked in to a major contract extension. Both Porzingis and Kuzma have player options to become unrestricted free agents. Kuzma is the most likely to exercise his option and draw major interest on the free agent market.
A true rebuild, which is what the Wizards need, is a difficult task without trading Beal. Beal is in the prime of his career and wants to win now. Free agents aren’t exactly lining up to play for the Wizards so unless they move Beal, the trade market is likely their only avenue for improving the roster. And they don’t exactly have many trade quality pieces.
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