Matty Writes Sports

The Washington Wizards had long been stuck in a deep NBA Purgatory, before finally pulling the plug on the roster last summer. Out went star player Bradley Beal, one of the highest paid players in the league, and a part of the Wizards since he was drafted 3rd overall in the 2012 NBA Draft.

For a while, the Wizards were a competitive team in the Eastern Conference, led by Beal and his co star, John Wall, whose career was derailed by a number of injuries, leading to his departure from DC in 2020, and the fizzling out of his career after 2 years with Houston, and one with the Los Angeles Clippers.

In came Russell Westbrook, who helped the Wizards to return to the playoffs in 2021 as an 8 seed. Westbrook averaged a triple double, with 22.2ppg, 11.5rpg and 11.7apg. However, the Wizards were outmatched by the 1 seeded Philadelphia 76ers and sent home in only 5 games.

Since then, the Wizards have failed to return to the playoffs, and, even with the addition of current Celtics star Kristaps Porzingis at the 2022 Trade Deadline, the Wizards could never get it together. Beal and Porzingis tried their bests, but whiffed draft pick after whiffed draft pick finally caught up to Washington. Johnny Davis, Corey Kispert, Deni Avdija, Rui Hachimura and Troy Brown wasn’t enough to help Washington return to the postseason, and, last summer, the front office realised the gig was up.

Porzingis was traded to the Celtics, Beal was dealt to the Suns and, Chris Paul who they had received in exchange for Beal was re-routed to the Golden State Warriors. The Franchise was ready to tank. And tank they did.

The Wizards had a 15-67 record in a season where their main objective was to tank as many games as possible. Their loss total was only bettered by the Detroit Pistons, who also went on the longest NBA losing streak of all time.

The Wizards are in a rebuild. The very early stages of the rebuild too. Losing games is no problem.

Coaching:

During the 2023-24 NBA Season, the Wizards started off with Wes Unseld Jr. commanding the ship. He had been in charge since the beginning of the 2021-22 NBA Season, however, the front office sought a change of direction. Unseld Jr., the son of Wizard’s legend Wes Unseld was reallocated to a front ofice role, and his lead assistant, Brian Keefe was placed in interi charge of the franchise. In May, he was changed to ‘Head Coach’, becoming Washington’s 26th in Franchise History.

Keefe, who is 48 years old, has been around in NBA Circles for a very long time, and the Wizards’ have clearly chosen him in order to facilitate the development of their young core. Keefe started his career working under Gregg Popovich on the San Antonio Spurs, before moving on to join the Seattle Supersonics, who would be relocated to Oklahoma City only a year after Keefe began working there. He was an assistant coach, with responsibility for developing the fledgling careers of OKC’s young core. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

Since this, Keefe has been tasked with helping various rookie or sophomore players through their development: he joined the New York Knicks to assist with the development of Kristaps Porzingis, then moved to the Lakers to help develop Brandon Ingram, before returning to the Thunder and being charged with developing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

With such a rich history of developing players, the Wizards will no doubt be hoping that Coach Keefe can have the same affect on their assortment of young players. Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George are all in either their rookie or sophomore years, and Washington will hope Keefe can work his magic with these young guns.

The Roster:

The Wizards’ current roster is littered with young prospects, who the Wizards will hope can show what they’re about in the coming season. The team’s main star, Kyle Kuzma however, joined the team in 2021 after a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers, and has remained the team’s most valuable asset, outside of their youngsters. Other veterans on the team include Jonas Valanciunas, signed as a free agent from New Orleans in July, Malcolm Brogdon, acquired in a trade with the Blazers and Jordan Poole, who excelled with the Warriors in 2022, but has yet to return to form following a trade and a highly publicised spat with Warriors lifer Draymond Green.

However, the main attraction for Wizards’ fan are the plethora of young players that Washington will look to build behind. Spearheaded by Alexandre Sarr, the 2nd overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Wizards hope to have found their saviour, the man to help bring them back to the forefront of the Eastern Conference. Sarr, the 2nd French Player taken in the draft had an underwhelming Summer League display but, will look to put that behind him as the regular season begins. Other notable members of the 2024 Draft include Bub Carrington, taken with Portland’s 14th overall pick that they got from trading noted Zionist Deni Avdija. Carrington, who played college ball with the Pitt Panthers, stands at 6’6 and will hope to make an impact at the 2 guard position, whilst Kyshawn George brings solid 3 point shooting from hi lone season with the Miami Hurricanes.

Outside of their rookies, Washington also have two sophomore players: Bilal Coulibaly showed solid flashes during his rookie season, playing 63 games and averaging just under 10 points per contest, the young Frenchman will hope to build on this, and continue growing his game with Washington.

However, the lack of true starpower at the top of their roster will harm the Wizards in their search for wins. Or help them in their search for L’s. Kyle Kuzma, whilst a solid player, is a very uninspiring 1st option, and noted busts such as Marvin Bagley III will not do much to change the Wizards’ fortunes. Saddiq Bey was signed from Atlanta in July, and will look to rebuild his career, following an injury laden campaign with the Hawks.

Season Outlook:

The Washington Wizards are only in their second year of a full rebuild, meaning their roster still has plenty of holes. If the goal is for the Wizards to keep losing and get more top picks in the draft, then they’ve acquired quite the roster for that purpose.

Washington’s main hope for the season will be to assess the growth of their young stars, particularly Sarr, Carrington and Coulibaly, who appear to be the main projects of the Wizards’ developmental campaign. Keeping these 3 healthy and available will be the main thing. The results come after.

My Prediction: 19-63 (15th in the East)