St. Pius alum rewarded for Wizards’ success
Sheppard signs new deal, gets promotion
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Amid the Washington Wizards’ best start to a season since 1974-75, the franchise announced Wednesday that GM Tommy Sheppard and Chief Planning and Operations Officer Sashi Brown have signed multiyear extensions and received promotions. Terms of their deals have not been disclosed.
Sheppard, a St. Pius and New Mexico State alumnus who was named the organization’s top basketball executive in July 2019, received a new title of president and general manager and will continue to oversee all basketball decisions related to the Wizards, the Capital City Go-Go and the franchise’s esports team.
Brown, also hired in July 2019, is now the president of Monumental Basketball and special adviser to Monumental CEO Ted Leonsis. In addition to leading various operations for the franchise, Brown will oversee chief of athlete care and performance Daniel Medina as well as Washington Mystics head coach and GM Mike Thibault. Brown now represents Monumental Basketball at WNBA owners’ meetings along with owner Sheila Johnson.
Thibault, who will remain responsible for all basketball decisions relating to the Mystics, also signed a multiyear deal that keeps the WNBA’s winningest coach at the helm as Washington looks to rebound from a season that fell far below expectations. Medina also signed a multiyear extension.
For the Wizards, extending Sheppard and Brown provides the team broad stability in the wake of a tumultuous year as it stares down what could be a busy summer. Both executives’ contracts were set to expire at the end of the season, while head coach Wes Unseld Jr. is in the first year of a four-year deal.
“I believe in continuity,” Leonsis said in an interview this week. “And we hired a new coach, and now we’re promoting and extending Tommy and Sashi, and we essentially want there to be comfort that they are here, and they
get the chance to work together and develop the Wizards as a nextgeneration team.”
Leonsis stressed that Sheppard’s promotion, in particular, is not a reaction to the Wizards’ hot start but a reflection of his body of work since taking over as general manager.
It was less than a year ago that the Wizards embarked on something of a soft reset when they traded former franchise player John Wall to the Houston Rockets in return for Russell Westbrook. The move firmly ensconced Bradley Beal as the organization’s cornerstone and set off a shift in culture for the team — players and coaches spent the year raving about Westbrook’s famously intense work ethic and the effect it had on the locker room.
Sheppard also nabbed starting center Daniel Gafford from the Chicago Bulls at the trade deadline, made the decision to part ways with head coach Scott Brooks and led a lengthy, thorough coaching search before hiring Unseld.
This was before Sheppard helped orchestrate a deal that sent Westbrook — and the $90 million left on his contract — to the Lakers in exchange for Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and a first-round pick.
“He’s doing everything in his power to change ship here,” Beal said in an interview earlier this month when asked for his general thoughts on Sheppard’s maneuvers.
“He’s getting great character guys, like just the day-to-day things in our facility he wants to be better. And more first class . ... I definitely tip my cap to him for what he’s done.”
Leonsis praised Sheppard’s patience during this summer’s coaching search as well as his involvement in helping to craft Unseld’s coaching staff.
“Wes is building a team, and Tommy is building a team, and they’re in sync,” Leonsis said. “... That’s something that I have seen in my 22 years now of owning the Caps and more than 10 years owning the Wizards, that if the GM and the coach and the organization are not in sync on what the goals are and what the system and strategy is, you can’t have long-term success.”