Wizards promote, extend Tommy Sheppard

The Washington Wizards have promoted executive Tommy Sheppard to president and general manager, the team announced Wednesday.

Sheppard, who also signed a multi-year extension, only held the GM title previously. The 52-year-old played a pivotal role in building a Washington team that is 10-3 so far this season, marking the franchise's best start since 1974-75.

Chief planning and operations officer Sashi Brown was also extended and promoted to president of Monumental Basketball, which includes the Wizards, the WNBA's Washington Mystics, and the G League's Capital City Go-Go.

"Tommy has effectively improved our team each year of his tenure by following the plan he laid out to us as his vision when we hired him as general manager," Wizards owner Ted Leonsis said in a statement. "And Sashi has been instrumental in making us a leader in analytics, research, and player engagement while efficiently streamlining operations across all of our basketball teams and venues.

"Their combined efforts have put us in a position to compete now with an exciting and hard-working team while also having the flexibility to execute our long-term strategy of building a championship program that is a leader in the community."

Sheppard's work this past offseason has positioned him as an early front-runner for Executive of the Year. He traded Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers for Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and the 22nd overall pick, Isaiah Jackson, who was later flipped to the Indiana Pacers in return for Aaron Holiday.

Harrell has re-established himself as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, while Kuzma and Caldwell-Pope are playing key roles in the starting lineup. Sheppard also acquired guard Spencer Dinwiddie as part of a five-team sign-and-trade.

Bradley Beal and Thomas Bryant are the only Wizards still on the roster from when Sheppard was hired as the team's full-time general manager in July 2019. Sheppard is also responsible for signing both Beal and Bryant to contract extensions during his tenure.