Aside from Brooks decision, here’s the offseason to-do list

As the NBA dusted off its coaching carousel and the Boston Celtics, Portland Trail Blazers, Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers made changes — Nate Bjorkgren, we hardly knew ye — the Washington Wizards trundle on without an answer to the biggest question hanging over their offseason.

General manager Tommy Sheppard said during an end-of-season news conference June 3 that a decision about coach Scott

Brooks, whose five-year contract is expiring, will not be rushed.

In the meantime, Sheppard, majority owner Ted Leonsis and the other members of the Wizards’ front office won’t be flitting away their days on sandy beaches. Brooks is far from the only offseason task on the to-do list for an organization that now considers making the playoffs a baseline accomplishment.

After a gutsy Wizards season and early playoff exit, does Scott Brooks deserve another chance?

“When you find something that works, you want to build on it,”

Sheppard said. “Never say, ‘Hey, let’s just run this back.’ This is not a run-it-back team. We have to get better, so to do that, you have to run it better. You have to build; you have to improve. And we’re going to do everything possible, look at every option that we can to make that happen. … I think [making the playoffs] was one significant step. Well, now that becomes the expected next year. Now we have to build on it.”

Washington has its road map to improvement sketched out. After finishing 34-38 in the regular season, clinching the Eastern

Conference’s eighth seed via the play-in tournament and falling to the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in a five-game first-round series that felt more like a sweep, the Wizards know they need to add length and athleticism on the wing, get vastly better 3-point shooting and finally address the issue that has nagged them most for the past three seasons.

“Our defense. That’s pretty obvious,” All-Star guard Bradley Beal said last week when asked about the team’s biggest needs. “We need to defend better. We have to shoot better; we have definitely got to shoot the ball better.”

Depth, too, is a priority for Sheppard. Washington struggled with injuries to starters and significant rotation players this season.

The plan remains to build around Beal, who is entering the final year of his deal.

Point guard Russell Westbrook also is under contract through the 2021-22 season (with a player option for 2022-23), meaning Washington is planning to have its core backcourt in place — at least for a year — as it heads into free agency and decides how to use its No. 15 pick in the draft July 29.