John Thompson III Rumors

Wizards Hire Will Dawkins As No. 2 Basketball Executive

June 8th, 2023 at 9:09am CST by Rory Maher

JUNE 8: The Wizards have announced the hirings of Dawkins and Schlenk, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

In addition, former Providence and Georgetown coach John Thompson III was promoted to senior VP of Monumental Basketball and will “be focused on exploring and implementing best practices for the Wizards, Mystics and Go-Go while ensuring accountability for excellence across the organization.” (Twitter link).

JUNE 5: New Wizards president Michael Winger plans to hire Will Dawkins to be his second in command of the basketball operations department, report Josh Robbins and David Aldridge of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Ava Wallace of The Washington Post confirms the news (via Twitter). Marc Stein was first to report that Dawkins was a “strong candidate” to join the Wizards’ new-look front office.

Dawkins is currently the Thunder‘s vice president of basketball operations and has been with Oklahoma City since 2008. He initially got his start as an intern and steadily worked his way up to be a high-level executive.

Winger and Dawkins worked together from 2010-17 while with the Thunder. Winger was the Clippers’ GM from 2017 until May, when he was hired away to run Washington’s front office. Dawkins will report directly to Winger and will be tasked with overseeing the Wizards’ roster in a general manager-type role.

Dawkins is the second major hire Winger has made in the past week, joining senior vice president of player personnel Travis Schlenk. Schlenk, who was formerly the Hawks’ president of basketball operations, will oversee Washington’s player evaluation work at all levels (amateur, international, and professional).

Winger’s previous work has focused less on player evaluation and more on bigger-picture roster construction and strategy, as well as navigating the CBA and salary cap, so he reportedly wants to ensure he’s surrounded by strong player evaluators. Now he has two experienced executives to work alongside.

Southeast Notes: Young, Murray, Washington, Wizards

April 26th, 2023 at 8:57am CST by Arthur Hill

Trae Young saved the Hawks‘ season with a game-winning shot Tuesday night, and their series with the Celtics no longer seems like a mismatch as they head back to Atlanta, writes Jeff Schultz of The Athletic. Young drilled a 30-footer with 2.8 seconds left to cap off an improbable victory in Game 5. He scored the team’s final 14 points on a night where he played 44 minutes and didn’t check out of the game in the second half.

“I’ve been owning the moment my whole life. That’s what I do,” he said.

The heroic performance was gratifying for Young, who got off to a miserable start in the series, making 14 of 40 shots and committing 10 turnovers in the first two games in Boston. He has scored 35 and 38 points in the last two contests and has the Hawks believing they can pull off an upset.

“You look at his eyes and there was a calm,” coach Quin Snyder said. “Sometimes that happens in the middle of a storm.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Hawks won Game 5 without Dejounte Murray, who was serving a one-game suspension for making contact with an official following Sunday’s contest. At Tuesday’s shootaround, Murray indicated that his issues with referee Gediminas Petraitis date back to his time in San Antonio, but added that he takes responsibility for the incident (video link from Coley Harvey of ESPN).
Re-signing restricted free agent P.J. Washington will likely be an offseason priority for the Hornets, according to Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez of The Charlotte Observer. After not receiving a rookie scale extension last fall, Washington responded with his best NBA season, averaging a career-high 15.7 PPG and ranking fourth in the league in clutch field goal percentage. Charlotte’s front office considers Washington part of the team’s young core and he has expressed a desire to stay there, Melvin-Rodriguez adds. She examines the entire roster, stating that Dennis Smith Jr. will likely get a new contract this summer, Kelly Oubre‘s fate will depend on what offers he gets in free agency and Gordon Hayward may not be moveable right away but could be more attractive at the trade deadline due to his expiring contract.
As the Wizards search for a replacement for dismissed general manager Tommy Sheppard, the NBA issued a memo stating that VP of player programs John Thompson III and assistant GM Brett Greenberg are currently running the basketball operations department, tweets Fred Katz of The Athletic.

Wizards Officially Announce Front Office Changes

July 22nd, 2019 at 8:39am CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have officially named Tommy Sheppard their general manager, confirming the decision today in a press release. A Friday report had indicated that Sheppard – who held the position on an interim basis since April – would get the job on a permanent basis.

Washington’s press release includes announcements on other changes to the team’s front office. Most notably, Sashi Brown will serve as the chief planning and operations officer for Monumental Basketball, according to the franchise. Brown is a former NFL executive who worked in the Cleveland Browns’ front office for two years from 2016-17.

The Wizards also announced that Daniel Medina – previously the VP of athlete care for the Sixers – will be the organization’s chief of athlete care and performance, while former Georgetown and Princeton head coach John Thompson III will lead a new athlete development and engagement department.

“We have formed a new leadership team with a forward-thinking structure to adapt to the ‘new NBA’ that requires every possible strategic advantage to compete and win,” Wizards team owner Ted Leonsis said in a statement. “We are building a leadership brain trust with deep Wizards/NBA experience and with sports professionals from inside and outside the NBA to challenge our thinking and adapt to an ever-increasing competitive environment.”

While Brown and Medina will play major roles in overseeing programs and services for all Monumental Basketball franchises – including the Washington Mystics (WNBA) and Capital City Go-Go (G League), it will be Sheppard who remains in charge of the basketball operations department for the Wizards.

According to the team’s release, Sheppard will lead strategy, analytics, player personnel, scouting, and coaching for the Wizards and Go-Go.