In a surprising move, the Washington Wizards announced they have dismissed general manager Tommy Sheppard.
"Tommy Sheppard was relieved from his duties as General Manager and President of the Washington Wizards. Failure to make the playoffs the last two seasons was very disappointing to our organization and our fans," Wizards owner Ted Leoniss said in a statement.
Sheppard became the Wizards' general manager in July 2019 after briefly holding the interim title following the dismissal of longtime GM Ernie Grunfeld in April 2019. The Wizards failed to break .500 in any of Sheppard's four seasons in charge, and he has been dismissed after a disappointing 35-47 season.
"A search for new leadership will begin immediately for an executive from outside the organization," Leonsis' statement said. "I would like to thank Tommy for his dedication to the Wizards organization and wish him the best in his future endeavors."
The move comes just two weeks after Sheppard said Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. would be returning for a third season. “He is our coach moving forward," Sheppard said at the time.
Unseld Jr.'s status as head coach remained uncharged with Sheppard's firing, according to ESPN's Adrain Wojnarowski, who tweeted that the head coach "continues to have a strong advocate" in Leonsis.
During his time as GM, Sheppard drafted Rui Hachumura with the 9th overall pick in 2019 and Deni Avdija with the 9th pick in 2020. Before the 2020 season traded John Wall and a (lottery-protected) first-round pick for Russell Westbrook. Drafted Corey Kispert with the 15th overall pick in 2021 and then traded Westbrook to the Lakers for Kyle Kuzma and other assets. Executed a midseason trade for Kirstaps Porzingis selected Johnny Davis with the 10th pick in the 2022 draft, signed Bradley Beal to a max contract extension which included a full no-trade caluse, and then dealt Hachimura to the Lakers at the deadline.
After the deadline did not see the Wizards deal Kuzma or Porzingis, Sheppard asked for patience and said the pair and Beal represented a potential future core for a team that could compete. Reports indicated both Porzingis and Kuzma were targets for extensions, with the team entering into serious discussions about a new long-term deal with Porzingis.
"We like the picture of those guys playing together," Sheppard told The Team 980 in February. "I think Kyle's on an upswing and continues to get better. The numbers that we value, he's shown he's got a lot more layers to his game, a lot more to go. I think he, Bradley and Kristpas are able to be out there on the floor without really getting into each other's space, their shots work well off of each other. I like the balance of that."
Sheppard in February argued there was enough potential to keep this Wizards core together.
"I would tell you this, the patience factor certainly, and it starts with you have to find out how good they really truly are, and I don't think there has been enough time with those guys together to say they're just not gonna work," Sheppard told Team 980's Craig Hoffman when asked if he believed this could be a title-contending core.
Amid a fast start to the 2021-22 season, Sheppard signed a multiyear extension. The Wizards would finish 35-47 and miss the playoffs.
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