Today in our team previews, we look at the Washington Wizards; a team mired in an era of terrible basketball that doesn't feel like it will improve anytime soon
When it comes to basketball ineptitude in the 2023-24 season, bad teams owe a lot to the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons lost 27 games in a row and were in contention for the worst team by winning percentage in NBA history (they ended up 11th all-time). This ineptitude helped to mask the awful basketball that some other teams were playing. Perhaps no team was spared the negative headlines more than the Washington Wizards, who only won one more game than the Pistons did when it was all said and done.
The Wizards were the league's fastest paced team, but were also in the bottom five in both offensive and defensive rating. They fired head coach Wes Unseld midway through the season, and have now hired interim coach Brian Keffe as his replacement. In many ways, the Wizards have become the island of misfit toys, a wasteland of middling talent sprinkled in with young players that they are looking to develop.
On one hand, they have some veterans that have had moments in the NBA. Jordan Poole returns after a wildly inefficient debut season where he simply seemed like he would rather be anywhere else but the Capital One Arena. Kyle Kuzma is also back to provide scoring on the wing, and presumably to be another rumored candidate at the trade deadline for a team that actually has a chance to make the playoffs. In free agency and the trade market the team has also brought on Jonas Valanciunas, Saddiq Bey, and Malcolm Brogdon. These are all decent NBA players that can contribute, but questions will naturally remain if as a group if they can be effective.
On the other hand, the Wizards also seem dedicated to a sort of youth movement. In this year's draft, the Wizards ended up with three first round picks: Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, and Kyshawn George. In typical Wizards fashion, they end up with a top 2 pick in Sarr and two other first round picks in a draft that is noted to be weaker than others in the last two decades. The team still has last year’s lottery pick Bilal Coulibaly and other young developing players like Johnny Davis and Jared Butler. The team moved on from former 2020 lottery pick Deni Avdija as well, indicating that they are trusting in their next generation of draft picks.
The question that remains with the Wizards is if they are going to rely on their veterans to try and win games to get into the play-in or continue to be terrible at basketball and get their young players some experience. Or maybe a better way to position it is how long the team will go before they realize that they are going nowhere with a “dynamic” duo of Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma. A lot of the future of the Wizards is in the hands of their latest draft pick Alex Sarr, a rangy big man from France.
Sarr is 7’1” big man with range and a 7’5” wingspan that should translate to good defensive traits. However, he has bounced around different leagues in his leadup to the NBA, leading many to question his effort level. However, the pairing of him and fellow Frenchman Bilal Coulibaly is nonetheless appealing. Furthermore, the addition of Valanciunas from New Orleans (while a strange signing on the surface) should provide a great mentorship opportunity for Sarr. The prime objective for the Wizards this season should be the development of both Sarr and Coulibaly (which could explain the shipping of Avdija to Portland).
The big roadblock however remains the combo of Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma. Will these players be willing participants of the development of two players that are under 21 years old? I personally have my doubts and am fully expecting both players to be traded elsewhere at the deadline. For far too long this Wizards franchise has been listless, uninspired, and mediocre. It feels like it is time for a true reset button, as opposed to the half-hearted efforts that marked the end of the Bradley Beal era. The Wizards should be bad this year once again, but if it is not in the spirit of actually developing their young talent then it will be yet another wasted season in Washington.
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