Advertisement

Randy Wittman to get two-year contract to become Wizards coach

The Washington Wizards are finalizing details on a two-year contract for interim coach Randy Wittman to become head coach, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

An announcement is planned for next week, sources said.

The Washington Post recently reported Wittman’s likely promotion.

The Wizards won’t make a significant financial commitment to Wittman, sources said, and that’s a trend that more franchises are expected to continue. After the NBA lockout, many owners are determined to pay front-office and coaching staffs less money. The Wizards are a big-market team that could’ve successfully competed for higher-profile head coaches available, including Mike D’Antoni, Nate McMillan and Stan Van Gundy, but chose to keep Wittman on a shorter, less expensive contract.

[Also: Hornets leapfrog three teams to win NBA lottery]

The organization ultimately never went outside to conduct interviews with potential candidates.

Wittman has a career record of 118-236 as head coach with Washington, Minnesota and Cleveland. After a 2-15 start to the lockout-shortened season cost Flip Saunders his job as coach, Washington showed improvement under Wittman the rest of the way. The Wizards finished 18-31 under Wittman. Several key returning players expressed support of Wittman’s candidacy to returning owner Ted Leonsis.

Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:
Pat Forde: Forty things every fan should know about the 2012 college football schedule
Kevin Iole: Floyd Mayweather's jail time has come, but will any lessons come of it?
Terrell Owens reportedly got only $50 in severance from the Indoor Football League