As the number of coaching vacancies around the NBA dwindles, Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld traveled to California on Wednesday to meet with former Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks about Washington's coaching position, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
The Vertical reported that Grunfeld also offered Brooks the job with a contract that would pay Brooks "in the range of $7 million" per season. That salary would make Brooks one of the six highest-paid coaches in the league.
Brooks has been the front-runner for the Wizards job since it opened when Randy Wittman, whose salary was just north of $3 million per year, was fired April 13 after four-plus seasons.
Brooks, 50, was out of the NBA this season after coaching the Thunder for six-plus seasons. He amassed a 338-207 record and five playoff appearances as coach after taking over for P.J. Carlesimo in November 2008 and never won fewer than 45 games in any of his six full seasons. Brooks led the Thunder to the 2012 NBA Finals, but the team never returned, partly because of untimely injuries for the remainder of his stint in Oklahoma City.
He is a defense-first coach with a track record in developing young talent and previous success as a head man, but he was regularly chided for his substitution patterns and unimaginative offense during his tenure in Oklahoma City.
Perhaps the most alluring line on Brooks' resume is that he coached Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City, supervising Durant's vault to superstar status over their time together, and the two are said to have had a good relationship. Durant will become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Wizards are expected to pursue the Montrose Christian alumnus.
Grunfeld is attempting to secure Brooks before other teams, particularly the Houston Rockets, can make a move on him. Brooks is reportedly at the top of Houston's list of candidates along with former New York Knicks and Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy.
If the Wizards land Brooks, it wouldn't be the first time Grunfeld hired him: In 1996, Grunfeld signed Brooks, a 5-foot-11 point guard, when Grunfeld was the Knicks' general manager. A year later, Grunfeld traded Brooks to the Boston Celtics.
-- Jorge Castillo, The Washington Post
Ravens
All charges against Damien Berry dropped
The state dropped all charges Wednesday against former Raven Damien Jamaar Berry in Howard County Circuit Court. Berry, 27, faced felony charges of theft of more than $100,000, passing a bad check of more than $100,000 and vehicle theft, as well as a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized removal of property. The reserve running back did not appear in court. Berry's attorney, Robert Keehner and prosecutors agreed to abandon charges after a March 22 trial was postponed.
For more on the story from Baltimore Sun Media Group's Fatimah Waseem and The Baltimore Sun's Pamela Wood, go to baltimoresun.com/ravens.
Ring: Another Ravens Super Bowl XLVII ring is up for auction. Bidding is open on former practice squad linebacker D.J. Bryant's ring through Goldin Auctions. There were five bids, with the highest being $20,000. The auction closes May 7. Bryant, a Baltimore native who starred at Randallstown before playing at James Madison, was signed to the Ravens practice squad in December 2012 after stints with the Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets. He has never played in an NFL regular-season game. He's the fifth known Ravens player to auction off his ring.
—Jeff Zrebiec
Et cetera
Hoops stars Colclough, DeWees, Latimer honored
Arundel's Kennedi Colclough, Manchester Valley's Mackenzie DeWees and Patterson Mill's Chyna Latimer were named to Maryland Basketball Coaches Association public school All-State Girls first teams. Colclough made the Class3A/4A team while DeWees and Latimer made the Class 1A/2A team. Catonsville's Jasmine Dickey, Severna Park's Erin Carroll, Centennial's Kelly Simmons and Long Reach's Kiana Williams were named to the 3A/4A second team. Howard's Taylor Addison and Sam Lewis, Old Mill's Kaneshia Afi, Glenelg's Jess Foster and River Hill's Sydney Poindexter were named to the third team. Oakland Mills' Ny'Jayah Lockwood made the Class 1A/2A second team while Liberty's Maddie Farley and Manchester Valley's Jayce Klingenberg made the third team. Largo's Chance Graham was named Ms. Maryland Basketball.
—Katherine Dunn
College football: Towson safety Monty Fenner was awarded the inaugural Wardell Turner Scholarship at the Tiger Football Banquet last weekend. The scholarship honors Sgt. Maj. Wardell B. Turner who was killed in action Nov.24, 2014, in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Men's college lacrosse: Salisbury junior goalie Colin Reymann (Mount Saint Joseph) was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference's Division III South Defensive Player of the Week. Stevenson senior midfielder Matt Tompkins was named Offensive Player of the Week.
Laurel Park: After concluding an undefeated 4-year-old campaign in October, 2015 Maryland-Bred Turf Champion Phlash Phelps is set to begin his 5-year-old season in Saturday's $75,000 Henry S. Clark Stakes at Laurel Park. Trained by Rodney Jenkins for Ellen Charles' Hillwood Stable, Phlash Phelps will be going after his third straight stakes victory and first in open company. His two previous stakes victories came at Laurel in the 11/8-mile Find on Aug. 22 and the mile Maryland Million Turf on Oct. 17.
Major League Soccer: The league's disciplinary committee suspended D.C. United coach Ben Olsen one match — Saturday's against the New England Revolution — for stepping onto the field last weekend to retrieve a stray, second ball.
—Steven Goff, The Washington Post
Latest NBA
WNBA: Washington Mystics guard Ivory Latta is expected to miss four to six weeks after arthroscopic surgery to repair a lateral meniscus tear in her right knee.
