Brooks: Focus on Wizards players, not Durant

5:11 PM ET

WASHINGTON — New Wizards coach Scott Brooks was surprised it took so long to get the question. Almost 15 minutes into his introductory news conference he was asked, “Let’s get this out of the way: Are you going to bring Kevin Durant here?”

Brooks was prepared. His preexisting relationship with Durant during their time with the Oklahoma City Thunder generated plenty of questions about the Washington-area native returning home as a free agent, but Brooks didn’t take the bait.

“I’m excited about the team, guys,” Brooks said with a smile. “We have a great group of guys. I understand the question. But I’m excited about the group of guys we have here. When this season ended, when I was looking around, I knew that this is the place I wanted to be.”

Brooks and the Wizards can’t make any promises about landing Durant, who will be one of the highest-profile free agents this offseason. But with oodles of salary-cap space and three-time All-Star John Wall already in place as enticing selling points, adding Brooks and his reputation as a popular coach doesn’t hurt.

Owner Ted Leonsis said Brooks is “a players’ coach in the new NBA.” His hiring is another step in the Wizards’ process.

“We’ve been planning over a five-year arc on building around young players and then having cap space so …

continue reading in source espn.go.com