The NBA world expects the Wizards, who open their season in Milwaukee against the Bucks on Wednesday night, to weather another woeful season. The team’s coaches and executives don’t mind that.
They’re still looking to the future as they carry on with a years-long rebuild.
Last year was a teardown, general manager Will Dawkins said at the time. The franchise was still working to trade away players like Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma, who didn’t align with a forward-looking timeline.
This year is about laying the foundation to compete in the future.
“We do know that we’re rebuilding. … We have a very clear vision for where we’re going and we’ve developed a plan to get there,” Dawkins said in an address to fans last month. “Know that. We also know that rebuilding isn’t easy, nor is it linear.”
His words amounted to a warning: this season might not be pretty.
“We know it’s not just hard on the players going through it; it’s hard on you guys as the fans, too,” he said. “Trust that we are laying a foundation here that will make us more sustainable, more flexible and more consistent over time.”
The Wizards open the season as the second-youngest team in the league, though their average is skewed by veterans C.J. McCollum and Khris Middleton. There are only three players, McCollum, Middleton and depth piece Anthony Gill, older than 30 on Washington’s opening-night roster.
They have a role to play, shepherding the rest of the squad forward.
“C.J. has been a great addition for all of us,” coach Brian Keefe said of McCollum, who the Wizards added through an offseason trade with the New Orleans Pelicans. “Total pro, on and off the court. This guy’s a pretty accomplished, amazing person. All our guys are soaking up what they can from him.”
The season isn’t about those veterans, though — it’s about the youngsters.
Dawkins and Keefe will continue to emphasize the development of the young core. Center Alex Sarr, 20, may have the brightest potential among the group. The second pick in the 2024 draft has the size to be a defensive menace and is slowly finding the shooting stroke that made him a highly touted prospect.
Fellow Frenchman Bilal Coulibaly, another former first-round pick with two-way potential, is expected to join him in the starting lineup after recovering from offseason thumb surgery.
Other young contributors include 20-year-old guard Bub Carrington and 21-year-old forward Kyshawn George. First-round rookies Tre Johnson and Will Riley round out the group of up-and-comers.
“You get better by playing. Our guys got an opportunity last year to get some substantial minutes and you saw the improvement throughout the year,” Keefe said this week. “They took that stuff that they learned during the season and put in more work during the offseason.”
The coach’s optimism hasn’t inspired confidence with fans or sportsbooks, though. Tickets for the Wizards’ home opener against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday are available for as little as $21 on TickPick.
In Las Vegas, oddsmakers at most sportsbooks have set the Wizards’ over/under at 20.5 wins, the third-lowest total in the NBA. Fans are used to it. Washington has recorded seven consecutive losing seasons, including back-to-back campaigns with fewer than 20 wins.
“Our fans — they’re loyal; they’re passionate; they are knowledgeable, and they’re fully committed. Their support matters,” Dawkins said last month. “Keep standing in there with us. … We’re definitely realists. We know that we have a lot more work to do; we have a lot of ground to cover, but I feel like we’re heading in the right direction as an organization.”
This season, moving in the right direction will likely include landing a top pick in next year’s draft. Due to the 2020 trade that sent John Wall to the Houston Rockets and Russell Westbrook to the District, the Wizards may not have their own first-round pick next year.
If the selection lands outside of the top eight, it would be rerouted to the New York Knicks instead. In order to guarantee that they would keep their pick — and, in turn, keep the rebuild on track — the Wizards will need to finish as one of the four worst teams in the league.
They’ll have competition on that front.
The Hornets, Jazz and Nets all find themselves in similar positions. Those similarly woeful franchises are expected to punt on the season as they build for the future. But only one team can land the first overall pick.
These tanking teams — though their leadership may prefer “rebuilding” — are following a blueprint established by the Philadelphia 76ers more than 10 years ago. The strategy involves fielding uncompetitive squads and trading away any valuable assets in exchange for draft capital.
The plan never panned out in Philadelphia, but the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder perfected it.
With Dawkins serving as vice president of basketball operations, the Thunder accumulated dozens of draft picks as they weathered three consecutive losing seasons from 2020 through 2023. But their young players grew into All-Star caliber contributors, leading to a postseason appearance in 2024 and a dominant championship campaign last year.
Even if Washington isn’t winning, dismayed Wizards fans can look to the Thunder and hope to see their future represented in Oklahoma City’s present.
• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.
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