Photo: @moderatelymoco
By Noah Ploff
It’s about that time when the basketball fairy comes around and grants our wish of another NBA season. Teams are gearing up and beginning their training camps, open practices have started, and rookies are going through the tradition of singing and dancing. Along with the other 29 teams, the Washington Wizards are getting ready to attempt a title run.
Recent Woes and Rebuild
For the past several years, the Wizards have been considered one of the worst teams in the league. The last time the team had a winning record was in the 2017-18 season, when they went 43-39 and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Toronto Raptors.
Washington has had high draft picks the last few years, getting key pieces for this team, including Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson, and now AJ Dybantsa. Some people, including some of the players, would say that they have been forced to hold back a bit in order to acquire this talent from the draft. Now, however, they finally have all their pieces and can go all out in trying to be a successful team.
Blockbuster Trades Reshape Roster
Last season, Washington traded CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young. Later in the season, the Wizards made headlines yet again, trading for Anthony Davis from the Dallas Mavericks. The Wizards also received Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell, and Dante Exum, while they traded away Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Marvin Bagley III, and three future second-round picks. The Wizards ended up acquiring Middleton back from the Mavericks and picked up DeAndre Ayton from the Lakers as well.
Projected Starting Five
With all of these pieces on the team now, the depth has greatly increased. The assumed starting five to begin the season will be Trae Young, Kyshawn George, AJ Dybantsa, Alex Sarr, and Anthony Davis.
Young will be the main ball handler, as he’s a great playmaker who’s able to dish the ball around. Over his career, Young has averaged 9.8 assists per game, which is phenomenal and ranks among the best in the league. He also has the ability to splash in long-range three-pointers.
Kyshawn George is a player who really broke out last season, averaging 15-4-5, making teams aware of his presence and forcing them to pay attention to him. George also became a dominant three-point threat, knocking down over 38% from behind the arc. He will look to continue to be a deep threat, as well as improve in other aspects, such as passing, where he can hope to find his teammates in good positions.
Now we get to talk about AJ Dybantsa, the first overall pick in this past NBA draft. Dybantsa is a 6'9", 217-pound forward who attended BYU for one year, where he was outstanding before declaring for the draft. He played almost every single minute last season for the Cougars, averaging 34.8 out of 40 minutes per game. Dybantsa also boasted the highest scoring average in all of the NCAA at 25.5 points per game. He will most likely fit into the small forward position on the Wizards, with Alex Sarr and Anthony Davis being taller than him. The expectations are sky-high for this 19-year-old, and the entire Wizards fanbase hopes that he can help bring their team back to glory.
Most likely playing the power forward position is Anthony Davis, a veteran about to play in his 15th season in the NBA. The Wizards are Davis’s fourth team, after the New Orleans Pelicans, where he was drafted; the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won his one and only championship; and the Dallas Mavericks, where he was sent after a blockbuster trade that shipped off Luka Doncic to the Lakers. With all those years of experience comes wisdom and advice. Davis will mentor the many young players on the team, as well as learn even more from them and continue to improve as a player.
To round off this impressive starting lineup for the Wizards is Alex Sarr, who was born in Bordeaux, France. Sarr was taken with the second overall pick in the draft just two years ago. Over his first two seasons, he has been predominantly a defensive player, averaging two blocks a game last season. Sarr has definitely improved in certain areas, such as his ability to work in the paint and his ability to rebound, given that he is a 7-footer. He will be able to learn a lot from veteran big men such as Anthony Davis and DeAndre Ayton, and he has the chance to take great strides this year as a player.
Improved Bench Depth
The starting five aren’t the only weapons this Wizards team has, as they have drastically increased and improved their depth. Due to the new signings and trades, some of the starters from last year are going to be coming off the bench. These players include Bilal Coulibaly, Tre Johnson, and Bub Carrington, as well as other players who weren’t starters last year. Depth and a strong bench are always essential for any team that wants to go deep into the playoffs, as unexpected things can always happen, such as injuries or breakout performances.
Head coach Brian Keefe, alongside his coaching staff, will do his best to utilize all the weapons he now has on his team and turn this franchise from a team at the bottom of the league into one of the premier competitors in the whole NBA. The Wizards were big spenders this offseason; let’s see if it pays off or if it blows up in their face.
