WASHINGTON — Nearly two decades ago, Tommy Sheppard pressed send on a blind email. As of this week, the man on the receiving end is now working for him.



A week and a half after announcing a slew of new hires in its front office and only a few days following the expansion of a new division, a Wizards team that’s thinking differently has added to Scott Brooks’ assistant coaching staff. And amidst the shuffling is another hire signifying a shift in organizational philosophy: a founding father of basketball’s analytics movement, Dean Oliver.



Sheppard emailed Oliver about 15 years ago after reading a piece of his work he particularly enjoyed. The Wizards’ new general manager has always had an appreciation for analytics. Down the road, the two set up a time to meet and did so at MIT’s Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Sheppard budgeted for 10 minutes. They ended up chatting for hours. Today, Oliver is a Wizards assistant...