Brown will be tasked in part with organizing and developing the Wizards' resourcesWIZARDS
New Wizards Chief Planning & Operations Dir Sashi Brown said that it will "take some time for him to acclimate to working in a new league, but he is confident his experience as a sports executive, in business and as a lawyer will help the Wizards right away," according to Chase Hughes of NBCSPORTSWASHINGTON.com. Brown was known as a "forward-thinking NFL executive when it came to analytics," but advanced stats and their utilization are "very different in basketball." He said that basketball decisions will "ultimately be made" by new GM Tommy Sheppard. Brown's role will be "making those decisions more comprehensive and informed by organizing and developing the team's resources." Between Brown and Sheppard, "no one is working for the other." Rather, "their boss" is Monumental Sports & Entertainment Chair & CEO Ted Leonsis, and they are "expected to work in tandem." The Wizards feel they need "new, outside voices," and Brown's "fresh perspective will be very valuable to resetting their direction and culture" (NBCSPORTSWASHINGTON.com, 7/24).
ANALYZE THIS: In DC, Adam Kilgore notes as Brown joins the Wizards, his "dizzying tenure leading the Browns is still being litigated." To some, he is a football "martyr who collected assets through calculated failure before the owner fired him and allowed someone else to come along and profit from the winnings he collected." However, accruing assets in the NBA is a "far greater challenge" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/24). ESPN’s Bomani Jones said Brown’s “quantitative approach got him hired and fired” with the Browns, but the team he started building "looks pretty damn good now.” Jones: “This is worth a try. The demerit going against him is the Washington Wizards think this is a good idea, and if they think it’s a good idea, how good an idea is it?” (“High Noon,” ESPN, 7/23).
TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE: In DC, Thom Loverro writes Leonsis' "new-age management plan" for the Wizards was in fact "Plan C, or maybe Plan D." Plan A "was to hire" Nuggets GM Tim Connelly, while Plan B was to "bring in" Raptors President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri. At some point, the Wizards will "have to convince elite players to come and take their money, something they have failed to do to date." Sheppard and his team "need to restore respect for this organization" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 7/24). Also in DC, Barry Svrluga writes Leonsis this week is asking his fan base to "put aside the salary cap quandary presented by the fact" that with John Wall, the Wizards "have a player on a supermax contract who probably won’t play" in '19-20. Leonsis also is asking fans to "buy into a holistic view of what the modern NBA player wants." Svrluga: "Not just the money. But the resources" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/24).
