Wes Unseld Jr. is the new head coach of the Washington Wizards, the team announced Saturday.

Unseld previously served as an assistant for Washington from 2005 to 2011. He joined Michael Malone’s staff in 2015. 

While the move means an open spot next to Michael Malone on the Nuggets bench, Denver’s front office believed Unseld was due for a promotion for some time.

“It’s beyond me that Wes isn’t already a head coach. I don’t know what more he has to do to be in that head seat,” Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said in the days after the team’s postseason run ended.

“Hopefully, this is the offseason where we finally lose him.”

Unseld is the son of late Wizards legend Wes Unseld, who won a Most Valuable Player award with the then-Baltimore Bullets. He then won an NBA Championship and Finals MVP after they became the Washington Bullets. 

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