Couldn’t the Wizards have officially hired Tommy Sheppard earlier?

On Friday evening, the Wizards finally decided that it was time to remove the interim label off Tommy Sheppard’s role as the team’s general manager. Since he has taken over for Ernie Grunfeld in April, Sheppard has done a good job. He has steered clear from signing players who found themselves getting into trouble off the court and made multiple trades to give Washington some second round picks.

It also leaves me wondering whether Sheppard could have done more if he was given the President of Basketball Operations role outright. Sheppard made decisions during key moments in the NBA calendar, most notably the NBA Draft last June.

Though he was the favorite to replace Grunfeld, it was always possible that another candidate could have got the job instead. And because of that Sheppard may have taken less risks than he otherwise may have done.

Personally, I think Sheppard should have been named the General Manager in June before the NBA Draft. Making a decision by then would have been a vote of confidence just like not making a decision was a vote of wavering or no confidence.

But I want to see what you all think this Saturday. Do you feel that it was appropriate for Sheppard to become the next Wizards GM after running an NBA Draft and free agency period in an interim capacity? Let us know in the comments below.