Washington Wizards Brian Keefe recaps his second full season as head coach, talks lessons learned and his future.
The offseason has officially arrived for the Washington Wizards, giving the players and front office a much needed rest after a long season filled with pain and growth.
Yet for head coach Brian Keefe, he pointed to the positive outlook after wrapping up a season that had signs of individual development along the way. The immediate jump by Alex Sarr in his sophomore season was evident after elevating his stats in every statistical category despite the year being cut short due to injury. Kyshawn George did the same after showcasing his inside out scoring touch. Will Riley's emergence in 2026 was maybe the biggest storyline through the second half of the season with optimism into the former first round pick becoming an integral piece of the Wizards success in 2026-27.
The season also provided a short glimpse into what life with Trae Young will look like after suiting up in five games before re-aggravating his injury first suffered while with the Atlanta Hawks, limiting him to just 15 total games played in 2025-26.
The Wizards will look to drastically change that in 2026-27 with the offseason plan of interest to many, including star forward Anthony Davis. Yet after failing to eclipse 20 wins for the third consecutive season, Keefe knew that this would "be a season of development and opportunity."
"I think I remember my opening press conference, we had a roster of, I believe, eight or nine guys under the age of 21 years of age. And that was going to naturally lead to some opportunity and development and I think we had four guys playing the Rising Stars game, seven over the last two years," Keefe said in his end of season press conference on Monday.
Washington will add more youth to its roster with another top-five pick in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft already secured with the highest-possible odds at landing the top overall pick, a feat the franchise hasn't seen since John Wall became the pick in 2010.
Still, the offseason will need more than just acquisitions after the Wizards ranked among the worst teams statistically, including 25th in scoring offense though the defense was the bigger issue. The Wizards ranked among the worst five teams in points allowed, field goal percentage, offensive, defensive, and total rebounds.
Yet in the third and final year of the rebuild, Keefe reiterated the season marked a year when the Wizards were "laying the foundation."
"This was what this year is about, laying the foundation for how we work every day in everything that we do. And we've always said that we think that is the most important thing that's going to lead us to be [a] consistent winner, and that I'm really grateful for our players and the commitment that they had for that this year."
Still, Keefe also enters the offseason with two full seasons under his belt as the permanent head coach though he's amassed a 43-160 record since being named interim. His 21.2% win rate ranks the worst in franchise history among coaches who have spent at least one full season with the organization, exactly seven percentage points fewer than Flip Saunders's 28.2% win rate, which ranked second lowest.
Hoops Rumors reported on Monday that Keefe "still has strong support from his front office" though his future remains undecided, per the report, as Keefe looks to remain "focused on the task at hand."
"I have great conversations with Michael, Will every day. I mean, that's how he's always operated. We're going to continue to focus on how to improve our team, and those conversations will always just happen organic. But I'm focused on how we're going to get better. Obviously, the season just ended, but I'm ready to attack that. So that's how I look at things, and I know that will work itself,” Keefe said.