Washington Wizards, which finished bottom of the Eastern Conference in the regular season, named Flip Saunders to be the new head coach on Wednesday.

No detail was released but the reports said Saunders' four-year contract worth 18 million U.S. dollars.

"There were many factors that led to this being the right situation for me, but the most intriguing was the commitment of (Wizards chairman) Mr. Pollin and (president) Ernie (Grunfeld) to win a championship," Saunders said on the Wizards website.

Saunders guided the Detroit Pistons to three consecutive Eastern Conference finals before being sacked last year, while the Wizards finished with a record of 19-63, matching their worst ever for an 82-game season.

(Xinhua News Agency April 23, 2009)