You are the GM of the WIZARDS...what would you do this offseason?

[Astaluego]

This series is not about what you think the FO will do, but rather what you would do if you were in charge.

Let's continue with the WIZARDS, with the selections 2,21,56 and co around 7 million below the limit (yes, I'm not wrong) what would you do?

[mg]

Draft smart. Develop the young kids. Develop a culture. Hope like hell to win the lottery in either '25 or '26.

[giberish]

Draft smart. Develop the young kids. Develop a culture. Hope like hell to win the lottery in either '25 or '26.

More or less this. You're not really in a position to do anything dramatic. Trade Kuzma if a good deal is available but it's not necessary. Try for some value FA signings around the edges, especially for younger guys.

[nate33]

Yeah, the road map is pretty obvious. Draft well. Be patient. Focus on developing young guys, rather than desperately riding veterans to win meaningless games. (In other words, they should tank.) Do not try to take a short cut by signing or trading for a second-tier vet.

The only nuances to the strategy are to what degree should they play vets and competent players to at least establish a professional mindset and avoid unrelenting losses that break morale. Do they aim for 25 wins and the 4th worst record in the league while playing Kuzma and Tyus Jones? Or do they just go all-in on youngsters, win just 15 games and finish dead last, while getting the youngsters more minutes?

If it were me, I'd trade Kuzma for 2025 pick capital and cut Tyus Jones (or S&T him if I could get value back).

As far as picks go, I'd be thinking more about future upside rather than immediate impact. So guys like Sarr, Ron Holland and Castle over guys like Riscacher, Clingan and Knecht. But there is plenty of room for disagreement in this crapshoot of a draft. It really depends more on evaluating these guys' character and willingness to work.

[Ducklett]

If I was the wizards gm I would fire sale everyone on the roster that isn't named Bilal. There is seemingly some reclamation projects out there so I would aim for some of those. Maybe move down from 2 for more picks in 25 and 26. Deni should be able to get something nice. Kuzma something okay. Maybe con a team into taking Poole even if it cost a bad first. I feel like getting off his salary so you can make some assets through cap might be worth it. I would be afraid of Poole ruining every draft pick you bring in.

[jayjaysee]

Yeah, get what you can for Kuzma. If there’s a sign and trade for Ty, get it done. Hope Poole has a good season to inch to neutral value..

I’d trade Deni as I think he has a lot of value and don’t think Washington has a young core yet. But understand not wanting to completely clear the talent on roster.. He’s also signed so cheap that you’re going to renegotiate him in 3 years and extend his bargain contract through age 30ish..

[louc1970]

My first assumption is I have to eat Poole's contract for 2 more years (might get lucky and find someone to take him in year 3).
Next is to look at who on this team do I really want to build around, who has the attitude I want.
Then I look at my staff. I want a staff with a reputation of developing players. Not concerned about wins/losses yet, just developing the young players.
Then I see what pieces I have that are valuable to other teams. Trade everyone other than those I think I can build around in the next 3 years. Keeping Avdija/Coulibaly/and maybe Davis/Bagley. Everyone else is up for grabs. The return is players on 1 or 2 year contracts and a pick must come to Washington.
I would only bring in older players that understand their role is to make these younger better, season them for when the team turns the corner.
It is not a pretty outlook for the next few years.
Having Avdija and Coulibaly I would need to decide which player is playing where. If one of them can function as a guard, I probably take Risacher with #2. Otherwise, I may offer a trade to SAS for #4/#8 (Flip Jones/#2 to SA for Johnson/#4/#8).
The best pick for Washington is a PG to work with the existing team as I don't think Sarr/Clingan make a big difference.
With #2 Washington would be choosing between Sarr, Risacher, Topic. But with #4 and #8 Washington could realistically get either Castle or Dillingham, and then either Clingan or Knecht. Unless Washington is sold on one of those top 3, the move would be better.

[nate33]

Yeah, get what you can for Kuzma. If there’s a sign and trade for Ty, get it done. Hope Poole has a good season to inch to neutral value..

I’d trade Deni as I think he has a lot of value and don’t think Washington has a young core yet. But understand not wanting to completely clear the talent on roster.. He’s also signed so cheap that you’re going to renegotiate him in 3 years and extend his bargain contract through age 30ish..

I think the "trade Deni" mindset is predicated on the reflexive and perhaps subliminal assumption that, as a young player, he is about to get much more expensive and therefore lose his trade value. But you have to really digest and understand the fact that he is NOT going to get expensive. He is locked into a cheap contract for FOUR MORE YEARS, which is an absolute eternity in the NBA. There is no reason at all to trade him unless someone comes along and offers tremendous value.

No team plans for a rebuild that will take 5 years. It's possible that it will take 5 years, but you plan for just 2 or 3 years of tanking at the most, and the Wizards already completed one of those tanking seasons.

[TGW]

Deni stays. He wants to be apart of this thing, and when it finally turns around, he wants to be in Washington. And the Wizards GM is good. He'll get this ship turned around.

[Astaluego]

I like the idea of ​​forming a nucleus that fits well while waiting to find that 1 option...
Look for some young talent that may be available...
I don't know who should add, and what. but something between Kuzma for Giddey makes sense to me...
Try to get some value in a Tyus ST..

I don't know about the interest of other teams, but as a Dallas fan I would be delighted and would send the Raptors SRP+ Futuro SRP+THJ for Tyus..

In this scenario with the guard and wing positions finalized and given that it is an uncertain Draft at the top,
I like the selection of Clingan, who at least seems like a safe value and has a center for a decade,

Clingan/Vukcevic/Holmes
Avdija /Bagley/Baldwin
Coulibaly/Kispert/THJ
Poole/Shamett/Davis
Giddey/Butler/#26

[penbeast0]

Yeah, the road map is pretty obvious. Draft well. Be patient. Focus on developing young guys, rather than desperately riding veterans to win meaningless games. (In other words, they should tank.) Do not try to take a short cut by signing or trading for a second-tier vet.

The only nuances to the strategy are to what degree should they play vets and competent players to at least establish a professional mindset and avoid unrelenting losses that break morale. Do they aim for 25 wins and the 4th worst record in the league while playing Kuzma and Tyus Jones? Or do they just go all-in on youngsters, win just 15 games and finish dead last, while getting the youngsters more minutes?

If it were me, I'd trade Kuzma for 2025 pick capital and cut Tyus Jones (or S&T him if I could get value back).

As far as picks go, I'd be thinking more about future upside rather than immediate impact. So guys like Sarr, Ron Holland and Castle over guys like Riscacher, Clingan and Knecht. But there is plenty of room for disagreement in this crapshoot of a draft. It really depends more on evaluating these guys' character and willingness to work.

Like everyone else, I agree with the overall idea but one thing . . .

Riscacher is considered a win now guy? He's a 19 year old kid who averaged around 12/3.5/1 in France. He's hardly in the Edey/Clingan/Knecht category.

[OxAndFox]

Trade Kuzma for shorter contract vet(s) and a pick that will be decent in the locker room. Would be difficult to trade Poole, but at least he is still young. Get him on a shorter rope and hope that he matures. Let Jones walk or if you can get something small from a S&T even better.

This draft I would trade down and get Topic. The Spurs @ 4 are the danger, but Detroit or Charlotte might pay up for Risacher and get a '25 1st in the meantime. If the Hawks go with Risacher, draft Sarr.

Deni is the keeper and Bilal needs development minutes.
Only play the guys 24 and younger plus a couple of vets to keep things together.
Topic/Poole/Deni/Collins/Vukcevic
Vet PG (Patty Mills)/Bilal/Kispert/Bagley/Holmes
Shamet/Davis/

[mhd]

Trade Kuzma for shorter contract vet(s) and a pick that will be decent in the locker room. Would be difficult to trade Poole, but at least he is still young. Get him on a shorter rope and hope that he matures. Let Jones walk or if you can get something small from a S&T even better.

This draft I would trade down and get Topic. The Spurs @ 4 are the danger, but Detroit or Charlotte might pay up for Risacher and get a '25 1st in the meantime. If the Hawks go with Risacher, draft Sarr.

Deni is the keeper and Bilal needs development minutes.
Only play the guys 24 and younger plus a couple of vets to keep things together.
Topic/Poole/Deni/Collins/Vukcevic
Vet PG (Patty Mills)/Bilal/Kispert/Bagley/Holmes
Shamet/Davis/

With the 90% CBA requirement, Poole actually makes sense on the roster as a likable (by all accounts he's been super professional and a hard worker the second he came to DC) stopgap salary. He actually played much better when he became the starting PG after Tyus Jones went out for the season. Considering they are not signing anyone for the next 2-3 years and are tanking, the Wizards have no incentive to take on shorter contracts. That's why they traded expiring contracts of Gallo & Muscala for Bagley (who had an extra year) and two future 2nds. Bagley actually was also surprisingly productive after the trade.

Kuzma, by all accounts, has been an actual pro in the locker who likes being in the DC area. Unless we get multiple future 1sts, the Wiz will happily keep his declining contract until an offer improves.

The Wizards (along with Portland) are the only two dumping ground teams in the NBA. Portland has text concerns however. I figure the Wiz will be involved in a ton of trades as they will happily take on unwanted salary in exchange for draft picks.

[Skybox]

Is WAS at the point where they’d add to offload Poole…or, given the team situation, makes more sense to just ride it out? I still gotta believe he’s got something that a good team could use despite the total fail in WAS thus far. I really thought he would blow up as the team leader, but …not.

I’d like him as 3rd guard on ORL …with no real risk or dependence on him, but that contract. $30 x 3 is tough to get around

Trying to imagine a deal that doesn’t diminish ORL core or completely eat ALL cap space…

All I come up with is #5 & Poole for Cole Anthony & #18…which WAS should NOT do.

[giberish]

Is WAS at the point where they’d add to offload Poole…or, given the team situation, makes more sense to just ride it out? I still gotta believe he’s got something that a good team could use despite the total fail in WAS thus far. I really thought he would blow up as the team leader, but …not.

I’d like him as 3rd guard on ORL …with no real risk or dependence on him, but that contract. $30 x 3 is tough to get around

Trying to imagine a deal that doesn’t diminish ORL core or completely eat ALL cap space…

All I come up with is #5 & Poole for Cole Anthony & #18…which WAS should NOT do.

Washington is quite literally the last team in the league that should use draft assets to move long-term contracts.

[Skybox]

Is WAS at the point where they’d add to offload Poole…or, given the team situation, makes more sense to just ride it out? I still gotta believe he’s got something that a good team could use despite the total fail in WAS thus far. I really thought he would blow up as the team leader, but …not.

I’d like him as 3rd guard on ORL …with no real risk or dependence on him, but that contract. $30 x 3 is tough to get around

Trying to imagine a deal that doesn’t diminish ORL core or completely eat ALL cap space…

All I come up with is #5 & Poole for Cole Anthony & #18…which WAS should NOT do.

Washington is quite literally the last team in the league that should use draft assets to move long-term contracts.

Yep….doesn’t work for either side…ORL has too much going on to tie that much up in Poole at this point too…and a high pick isn’t a priority for such a young team that’s doing well and ahead of schedule.

[nate33]

Is WAS at the point where they’d add to offload Poole…or, given the team situation, makes more sense to just ride it out? I still gotta believe he’s got something that a good team could use despite the total fail in WAS thus far. I really thought he would blow up as the team leader, but …not.

I’d like him as 3rd guard on ORL …with no real risk or dependence on him, but that contract. $30 x 3 is tough to get around

Trying to imagine a deal that doesn’t diminish ORL core or completely eat ALL cap space…

All I come up with is #5 & Poole for Cole Anthony & #18…which WAS should NOT do.

Poole actually played much better when they moved him to PG over the last 20 games of the season. The Wizards definitely will not give up value to move off of him. They are going to try and rehabilitate his value. He'll never be a star because he is such a defensive liability, but it's still possible that he can get back to the Tyler Herro/Anfernee Simons tier of heat-check scorer.

Ultimately, they'll probably just ride him as the default #1 option for the next couple of years until they draft a true star to take on that role. Then Poole will be moved.

[Chuck Everett]

Honestly, I would pray. As of right now there's not much to hope for.

Coulibaly, Avdija (and Vukcevic maybe) is my core along with the #2 pick. I like several guys in this draft, but the Wiz have no foundation whatsoever. That is expansion Vancouver Grizzlies level bad. I expect them to be bad for a minimum of 3 more seasons.

Stephon Castle could be a future star, but not in Washington. If they take Risacher, then it would appear to me that they are going to see if the Deni, Bilal, Zaccharie triumvirate could be difficult to play against as they would be very long at the 2-3-4 positions.

I don't know though, I think the trades they made to give up legit NBA players for far flung picks just puts them in a long road to purgatory. They're lucky to be in the East doing something like this, because if they were in the West, they might miss the playoffs for a decade plus like Phoenix, Minnesota and Sacramento.

Until this team lucks up in the draft and gets their hands on an SGA, Luka, Embiid, Jokic, Lebron or Giannis, they are going to continue to be bad.

So I guess my real answer would be to accumulate as many draft picks as possible to hopefully find one star player I can build around. The DMV is too basketball rich an area for the Washington team to be this garbo.