Grunfeld returned to Washington on a red-eye flight early Thursday morning without an agreement in place, but Sheppard stayed in California and met with Brooks again on Thursday. Brooks is the only person the Wizards met with about the position, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

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The $7 million annual salary is more than double what the Wizards paid their previous coach, Randy Wittman, the past two seasons and hints at the importance the franchise is placing on the position as they enter a pivotal phase.

The salary would make Brooks one of the six highest-paid coaches in the NBA and would equal Dallas Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle as the highest-paid NBA coach among those who don’t double as president of basketball operations for their respective organizations. The four coach-presidents that currently make $7 million or more per season are Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs), Doc Rivers (Los Angeles Clippers), Thibodeau and Stan Van Gundy (Detroit Pistons).

Brooks would take over just as the Wizards begin one of the most important offseasons in franchise history with a connection that is impossible to ignore: He coached Thunder superstar Kevin Durant for seven seasons and the two are said to have a good relationship. Durant will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Wizards, who have meticulously created the salary cap space to sign him, are going to throw themselves at the Washington area native when the clock strikes midnight on July 1.

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(The Wizards also have had David Adkins as their player development assistant the last two seasons. Adkins was an assistant coach at Montrose Christian when Durant attended the school. Whether any assistants will be retained will be up to the next coach, Grunfeld said last week.)

If Brooks can improve Washington’s chances of landing Durant, that’s a bonus on top of his other credentials from the Thunder. He went 338-207 with Oklahoma City after taking over 13 games into the 2008-09 campaign, winning NBA coach of the year in 2009-10. Brooks led the team to five playoff appearances in six full seasons, advancing to the Western Conference finals three times and reaching the NBA Finals in 2012. He helped develop Durant and Russell Westbrook — part of the Thunder’s rich haul of first-round picks between 2007 and 2009 that also included James Harden and Serge Ibaka — into all-stars and was the architect of one of the league’s top defenses.

Those qualities – proven experience, player development and a defense-first approach – are priorities of the Wizards, who are seeking to remake their roster around a nucleus of 25-year-old John Wall and 22-year-old Bradley Beal.

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There are drawbacks, of course. The consensus around the league is that Durant isn’t coming to Washington; Brooks didn’t win a title with one of the league’s most talented rosters (though debilitating injuries at inopportune times with the Thunder didn’t help); and, much like Wittman in Washington, his playing rotations and offenses drew frequent criticism.