As their search for a new general manager continues, the Washington Wizards have begun making changes to Coach Wes Unseld Jr.’s staff. Alex McLean, the director of player development, and Dean Oliver, an assistant coach who specializes in analytics, will not be returning to the team, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation.
The moves indicate that Unseld will have greater power in shaping his coaching staff under the Wizards’ new regime.
When he was hired in 2021, Unseld’s assistants were mostly either inherited or hired without much of his input, which is not entirely unusual, especially for a first-time head coach. Former general manager Tommy Sheppard hired Oliver to coach Scott Brooks’s staff ahead of the 2019-20 season and McLean joined the Wizards in 2017.
Oliver is a pioneer of basketball’s analytics movement whose book, “Basketball on Paper,” introduced the importance of the “four factors” of effective field goal percentage, offensive rebound percentage, free throw rate and turnover rate, which are now so commonly known that they exist as a category on the NBA’s public-facing stats page. He had previously worked in the front offices of the Seattle SuperSonics, Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings.
McLean, who was promoted to assistant coach in 2021, was heavily involved with player development for six years and had become especially close with franchise cornerstone Bradley Beal.
Meanwhile, Wizards Owner Ted Leonsis remains in the early stages of a general manager search, according to people in rival front offices and close to the organization.
Leonsis and a small group of decision-makers have had initial conversations with Milwaukee Bucks assistant general manager Milt Newton and New Orleans Pelicans General Manager Trajan Langdon, but many close to the organization describe Leonsis as still in the information-gathering stage.