As Steve Buckhantz himself would say, "Dagger!"
"I think the writing was on the wall when they decided not to renew his third-year option back in March," Allen told
Grant Paulsen and
Pete Medhurst Wednesday. "Just from talking to him ... you really got the sense that it was gonna be someone other than him."
The broadcast will also see some new faces in the analyst chair this season following the departure of Kara Lawson, who left to become
an assistant coach with the Celtics. Per Allen, former Wizards Drew Gooden and Caron Butler are expected to split time next to Kutcher, Gooden calling the majority of games.
Kutcher has 17 years of play-by-play experience, having called games for networks such as ESPN, CBS Sports Network, Big Ten Network, and most recently Fox Sports, where he covered a variety of sports including MLB, college basketball, and college football.
"Justin Kutcher, who I expect to be named sometime this week, it was a little bit of a surprise to me," said Allen. "He's been around, done this for 17 years, but no D.C. ties and maybe not the big splash you'd think they'd be looking for to replace a legend like Buckhantz."
Buckhantz
told 106.7 The Fan Wednesday afternoon that Wizards owner Ted Leonsis could have saved his job, but chose not to. "And that's the most hurtful thing," he said. "And I have not heard from Ted or Zach at all since this has happened, or since the whole process even began, and that's also hurtful."
Kutcher faces a daunting task replacing Buckhantz, a D.C. staple beloved by Wizards fans. 106.7 The Fan's
Chris Lingebach called the decision to replace Buckhantz a "laughably misplaced change of direction."
The most unforced error, if I’ve ever seen one. Buck is an institution, the only person who’s kept many watching all these years. Part of me held out hope they’d come around — like hoping NBC would carry on with Craig and Joe B. for once, only this one isn’t fixable next season.
— Chris Lingebach (@ChrisLingebach)
July 17, 2019 Wish I didn’t have to go here: This stinks of when the Redskins replaced Frank Herzog. I grew up with Frank making pancakes on my television, and calling touchdowns, to him just vanishing. Listening to the Redskins has never felt the same. Ever.
— Chris Lingebach (@ChrisLingebach)
July 17, 2019 "The Wiz have been awful through much of Buckhantz's 22 seasons with the team," The Fan columnist Rick Snider wrote in March after NBC Sports Washington declined to pick up Buckhantz's option. "But, he made the game bearable through his insight."
"'Buck' is a quality person and that always shines through. He's funny and genuine. When the team has its too often really bad nights, Buckhantz isn't a phony and tells the truth, but not in a way that you just turn on Seinfeld reruns instead of watching the rest of a loss."
