The next coach also needs to instill accountability. People within the Wizards organization have insisted that should be the top priority after players grew irritated with Wittman’s selective accountability and Wittman lost the locker room as a leadership void impeded Washington’s season. Someone who could help lure free agents would also be ideal. The front office will seek player opinions but won’t have any play a significant role in determining the ultimate selection.

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There are plenty of candidates. Ideally, the Wizards would have their pick of the bunch. But Washington will be far from the only club in search of a new coach. As many 10 jobs could become open in the coming weeks. The Wizards’ gig is attractive – the team went to the playoffs the previous two seasons, boasts a solid core, has cap space this summer, and is in a prime location – but the Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, and Houston Rockets – should they all have vacancies — are all considered more enticing situations for different reasons. Price could also become a factor. Is Ted Leonsis willing to spend top dollar for a top coach?

Below is a list of potential candidates based on talks with team officials, people around the league, and a dose of educated guesswork. Of the candidates listed, the Wizards “definitely” plan on meeting with Scott Brooks and Tom Thibodeau, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Scott Brooks

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Age: 50

NBA head coaching experience: Seven seasons; Oklahoma City Thunder (2008-2015)

Record: 338-207 (.620), five playoff appearances

The most intriguing part of Brooks’s resume is his relationship with Kevin Durant. Brooks coached the impending free agent for seven seasons in Oklahoma City, supervising Durant’s ascension to superstar status. The Wizards’ looming pursuit of Durant isn’t a secret. Could Brooks help lure Durant back home to Washington? There are two schools of thought on the notion in NBA circles.

The first is that Brooks and Durant were close, and Brooks’s issue was corralling Russell Westbrook. Coincidentally, Durant defended Brooks’s time in Oklahoma City on Thursday, citing that injuries annually hampered the Thunder and were the reason they didn’t repeat a trip to the NBA Finals after their earlier than expected visit in 2012 (trading James Harden to the Houston Rockets also didn’t help). The contrary belief is that if Durant and Brooks were close then why did the Thunder fire Brooks to hire Billy Donovan? And even if Brooks and Durant are close, is that enough for Durant to come to the District? The overwhelming opinion is no. It is all but unanimous.

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Regardless of Durant’s decision, Brooks would have a fan in Washington: John Wall has said he would want the Wizards to hire Brooks if the position was vacated, according to a person with knowledge of the situation,

As for his coaching ability, Brooks perpetually took heat for implementing an offense that rarely ventured beyond isolation plays for Durant and Westbrook. Ball movement was often stagnant. Defenses knew what was coming late in games and were prepared for it in the playoffs.

But Brooks still coached the Thunder to a standout record over six-plus seasons and led the franchise to the NBA Finals, beating a dominant San Antonio Spurs team in the Western Conference finals along the way. Oklahoma City annually ranked in the top three in defense and, as previously noted, players, for the most part, loved in Oklahoma City loved playing for him.

Brooks also has a connection with Grunfeld: When Grunfeld was the New York Knicks’ General Manager. he signed Brooks, a 5-foot-11 point guard, in 1996. Grunfeld traded Brooks to the Boston Celtics a year later.

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Tom Thibodeau

Age: 58

NBA head coaching experience: Five seasons; Chicago Bulls (2010-2015)

Record: 255-139 (.647), five playoff appearances

Thibodeau will be the most sought-after coaching candidate on the market this summer. He also will likely be the most expensive, which could test how much Leonsis is willing to spend on a head coach after paying Wittman a little more than $3 million over the past two seasons.

Thibodeau is considered one of the sport’s defensive masterminds. Before he took over in Chicago, he was a longtime assistant across the league and Doc Rivers’s defensive coordinator with the Celtics for three seasons, helping lead the team to a championship in 2008.

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During his tenure in Chicago, the Bulls ranked first in the league in points allowed per game (92.6) and defensive field goal percentage (43.2). That defensive expertise is attractive to the Wizards. He’s hard-nosed, held players accountable, and created a consistent, hard-working culture in Chicago. He also oversaw Jimmy Butler’s development from the 30th overall pick in 2011 to an all-star. Perhaps Thibodeau could have a similar effect on Bradley Beal.

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But Thibodeau’s time in Chicago ended with a messy divorce. He and team management clashed. Players reportedly came to resent Thibodeau’s intense practice regimen and workload distribution. A Wizards player raised concerns about that reputation when asked about Thibodeau’s candidacy.

Thibodeau was fired last spring despite making the playoffs in each of his five seasons, often with rosters ravaged by injuries. He advanced to the Eastern Conference finals once and never to the finals, going 23-28 in the postseason. But the disastrous season the Bulls just experienced – a 42-40 campaign without a playoff berth under Fred Hoiberg – only boosts Thibodeau’s reputation.

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Thibodeau and Grunfeld also have a history: Thibodeau was a Knicks assistant for eight seasons, including three when Grunfeld was the franchise’s chief front office executive. Then in July 2007, Grunfeld hired Thibodeau as an assistant on Eddie Jordan’s staff, but Thibodeau changed his mind a week later after a few staff meetings and left the team before signing a contract.

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Jeff Hornacek

Age: 52

NBA head coaching experience: Three seasons; Phoenix Suns (2013-2016)

Record: 101-112 (.474), zero playoff appearances

Hornacek and Markieff Morris together again? At first blush, it would appear to be a disastrous idea after Morris’s ugly conclusion in Phoenix, which Hornacek was a part of until he was fired in early February. But Morris has insisted he only had an issue with Suns management and ownership because he believes he and his twin brother Marcus were betrayed when Marucs was unexpectedly traded a year after the two took a discount to play together. And Hornacek, according to Morris and the Wizards, vouched for Morris before Washington acquired him at the trade deadline.

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Hornacek’s Suns teams were better offensively than defensively and his stint began with a 48-win 2012-2013 season when most expected them to be one of the worst teams in the league. The Suns still failed to make the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference but the franchise’s plans shifted with the unforeseen success.

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Then a slew of disastrous roster decisions were made and the momentum instantly evaporated. Phoenix fell to 39 wins last season and were 14-35 when Hornacek was dismissed a month after two of his assistants were fired.

Mike D’Antoni

Age: 64

NBA head coaching experience: 12 seasons; Denver Nuggets (1998-99), Phoenix Suns (2003-2008), New York Knicks (2008-2012), Los Angeles Lakers (2012-2014)

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Record: 455-426 (.516), six playoff appearances

Currently the Philadelphia 76ers’ associate head coach, D’Antoni is an innovative offensive mind. He is credited with successfully re-introducing up-tempo basketball to the NBA during his time with the “seven seconds or less offense” sytstem he installed in Phoenix and has proven to maximize his point guards’ talents.

Steve Nash (back-to-back MVPs in Phoenix), Jeremy Lin (Linsanity in New York), Ish Smith (this past season in Philadelphia), and Kendall Marshall (put up big assists numbers in Los Angeles) all experienced their best stretches under D’Antoni. Further, players at all positions have liked playing in his pace-and-space system because it inflates offensive numbers.

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But while D’Antoni would boost Wall’s play and be a vast offensive upgrade over Wittman, uncertainty remains about his ability to oversee a competent defense. The Wizards would need to be convinced that he has the defensive acumen – or would hire the proper assistants – to instill a more balanced approach. Additionally, D’Antoni’s last two head coaching stints – with the Knicks and Lakers — produced two winning records and two playoff appearances in six seasons, one with each team. Both times his team was swept in four games.

Sam Cassell

Age: 46

NBA head coaching experience: None

Record: N/A

Cassell is a longshot to say the least but he’s worth mentioning given his recent history in Washington.

The former point guard was an assistant coach with the Wizards for five seasons before leaving to go to the Los Angeles Clippers for an assistant job under Doc Rivers and a significant pay raise in 2014. He is credited as a significant factor in Wall and Beal’s development and was liked by the players. He could be a leader the team needs and bring the accountability the Wizards sorely lacked this past season. But he doesn’t have any head coaching experience and people in the league question if he is ready for a head coaching job.