Scott

Brooks

The Lakers have surrounded JJ Redick with two former head coaches that have plenty of experience, which should hopefully help things go smoothly. Brooks has been an assistant in Portland the last few seasons, while McMillan’s last job was as the head coach of Atlanta up until he was fired in February of 2023. This is a strong coaching staff, and now it is on Redick to make it all work together.

Brooks enters protocols the same day that Billups leaves. The Trail Blazers went 0-3 with Brooks at the helm.

Brooks was the head coach in Washington for five seasons, but he and the Wizards couldn’t agree on a new deal this summer and agreed to part ways. Brooks brings much-valued experience to Billups staff in Portland.

Brooks coached the Wizards to a 34-38 record this season, good for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, where they were beaten in five games by the Sixers. Brooks likely wants the opportunity to be a head coach again in the NBA, and with that goal in mind, there is no better place to be an assistant than with LeBron James and the Lakers. Jason Kidd, who was previously an assistant on the Lakers staff, recently accepted a position to become the Mavericks head coach. Vogel then added former Grizzlies and Knicks head coach David Fizdale to his staff. If things continue to progress, another former head coach could be joining the staff in Los Angeles soon.

Brooks has been the head coach in Washington since 2016 and made the postseason three times in five years. Brooks made it past the first round just once, which was the 2016-2017 season, Brooks’ first at the helm, when the Wizards lost in seven games to the Boston Celtics in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. This past season Brooks led the Wizards to a 34-38 record and the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, where they were eliminated in five games by the Sixers. Brooks’ contract expired after that opening-round loss, and the two sides were able to reach an agreement on a new deal in the passing weeks.

Brooks just finished up his final season under contract with the Wizards and he was never offered an extension. Brooks has been vocal about wanting to stay in Washington and the Wizards have even been surprisingly high on him stating that everyone in the organization likes working for/with him and even said that he " did a hell of a job keeping this team together.” With that being said, the Wizards finished 34-38 and lost in five games in the opening round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Brooks has made three playoff appearances in five seasons, making it to the second round just once in 2017, losing in Game 7 to the Boston Celtics.

Four Wizards players were also cleared during the break, meaning the Wizards should have their expected cast on Wednesday to kick off the second half of the season.

Russell Westbrook has been out since Jan. 9 with a quad issue, but due to all these postponed games, he’s only missed two games while the other seven have been postponed. That doesn’t matter much in H2H settings, but it’s great news for those in roto leagues. It’ll be interesting to see if Washington can cobble together enough players to be able to play on Friday vs. Milwaukee.

Washington already had its Friday night contest against the Pistons postponed. But now it doesn’t have the minimum eight required players to participate in the next couple games against the Cavs games on Sunday and Monday after more positive tests. This marks the fourth straight postponed contest for the Wiz.

We don’t know which players tested positive, but Rui Hachimura and Moritz Wagner were recently sidelined due to health and safety protocols. Washington’s game vs. the Pistons on Friday was already postponed and it’s possible that Sunday’s game vs. the Cavaliers could be delayed as well.