The Washington Wizards will have a new addition to the coaching staff next offseason with general manager Will Dawkins and head coach Brian Keefe turning to the Capital City Go-Go
General manager Will Dawkins addressed the first major question for the Washington Wizards to answer this offseason after revealing that Brian Keefe is expected to return for a third season as head coach in 2026-27 earlier in April. Now, the Wizards will have a new assistant coach on the bench who is plenty familiar with the organization.
Cody Toppert is expected to be promoted to Brian Keefe's staff in 2026-27. Toppert has served as the head coach of the Capital City Go-Go, the Wizards G League affiliate, since the start of the 2023-24 season where he has guided the team to a playoff appearance in each of his three seasons. Toppert also led the Go-Go to the G League Showcase, becoming the only team in the G League to make both that and the playoffs.
Toppert also led the Go-Go to 20 wins in his first season as head coach to tie the franchise record for wins in a season, leading to a fourth place finish in the conference.
During three seasons as head coach, Toppert amassed a 80-58 record while both general manager Will Dawkins and head coach Brian Keefe pointed to the synergy between the two teams throughout the course of the 2025-26 season. It makes sense given the Wizards routinely turned to its G League roster to round out the actively roster throughout the regular season with players like Leaky Black and Sharife Cooper called up, along with veteran Skal Labissiere inking a ten day contract before returning to the G League. Yet Toppert adds to the development pedigree of the Wizards staff after the former shooting guard has developed a strong reputation as a coach for nearly 20 years, along with getting the chance to work with rookies like Will Riley early in their careers.
After serving as an assistant coach at Scottsdale Christian Academy, Topert made his first jump into the G League as an assistant coach with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers back in October 2015 where he served two seasons. His first head coaching opportunity materialized during the 2017-18 season when he took over Northern Arizona, the Phoenix Suns G League affiliate, where he led the team to a 23-27 finish before missing out on the playoffs. Yet it proved to show just enough after getting his first stint as an assistant coach in the NBA the following season after serving on the Suns staff in 2018-19.
The Suns then cleaned house after Toppert's lone season on the bench, prompting him to accept a position as an assistant at the University of Memphis under former NBA guard Penny Hardaway where he served three seasons. Toppert then transitioned to LSU under then head coach Matt McMahon where he spent one season before joining the Capital City Go-Go.