27. Brian Keefe, Washington Wizards
As the Washington Wizards continued to struggle this past season, they decided to fire head coach Wes Unseld Jr. In his place, the Wizards named Brian Keefe as the interim head coach. Shortly after the end of the season, the Wizards officially announced that Keefe would take the reins as the team's official head coach. During the 39 games he coached, the Wizards went just 8-31. However, there was some promise that the team clearly saw with Keefe that led them to hire him on a full-time basis.
Plus, let's not make it seem as if Keefe is inheriting a playoff-ready roster. The Wizards are in the very early stages of a complete retooling of their roster and nothing is going to be easy early on. Now that the Wizards are beginning to establish some key foundational pieces, we will finally begin to see if Keefe could emerge as the answer for the future.
Keefe has paid his dues as an assistant coach. We're going to find out this season if he has what it takes to be a head coach in the league.