Am I the only non DC fan excited about Washington and their future ?

[doogie_hauser]

I think they will struggle (I prefer that term than the more harsh/negative stink) for another season, but The DC front office is quietly building a very talented (if raw) roster with plenty of upside and also tradeable contracts and flexibility for improvement (if they so chose to go down that path, which I think they will, eventually, but not next season)

Bub Carrington, Alex Sarr, Justin Champaigne, Tre Johnson and Bilal Coulibaly is a solid core to build around, plus Will Riley looks a certainty to play a lot of games next season I assume, plus they have a few handy vets in Smart, Bey, Middleton etc

They are a team that will be capable of causing big upsets next season as well as getting blown out occasionally, but I think they will be nothing but entertaining to watch, at the very least.

I make this thread cause I get the impression that rightly or wrongly, The Wizards seem to be the forgotten/least discussed team/franchise on this forum, but yet I feel like they potentially could very well be a top 3 team in the NBA (least in The East) within the next 5 years or so, especially if their front office holds their nerve and doesn't do any previous foolish moves or short cuts in their rebuild.

They are somewhat flying under the radar in the media, at any rate

[Godymas]

Nah, as a DC resident, I hear a lot of people outside of here hyping them up

It's truthfully a turning point for DC sports. We have the Commanders now ofc, and the Wizards seems to have found leadership that actually has a clue about making good moves

However, I am NOT excited to watch the team at all next year. Maybe I'll change my mind when I got to the games in person, but the thought of watching CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton for 30+mpg does not sound like a good time at all. I am way more excited for the young core. Namely, seeing if Sarr can take a leap, AJ Johnson, Tre Johnson, Bilal, Bub, Kyshawn, etc.

[SlimShady83]

How can you be a Boston fan and DC fan? Am I missing something?.

I'm a Kobe/Laker fan but no other team excites me more then the Lakers. Use to be a player follower back in the day, but now all around NBA fan, maybe that's you? But calling yourself a DC fan while being a Boston fan oof?? Just curious lol (maybe missreading this?)

[ORLMagicGirl15]

What direction are they going towards next season? If they are going to tank than next season will be a lot of growing pains and the vets might tune out.

[pepe1991]

Have to suck it up to keep top 8 protected pick for 25-26.

[sca]

How can you be a Boston fan and DC fan? Am I missing something?.

Reading comprehension

[hugepatsfan]

I think people who follow the NBA more closely look at them and think they're doing a good job. While they have some nice pieces though, they look to lack top of the roster talent. Lots of second and third tier young players, or so they appear to be right now. I think Sarr or Tre Johnson would really need to break out in a huge way for people to really start taking notice on a more casual/mass appeal level.

But they can't control their lottery luck. From a team management standpoint, they look to be doing absolutely all the right things. It's not like they're squandering their chances at top of the roster talent, none has really been available to them. So they either need to keep making the right moves to facilitate being in position for that or they need their player development to spring that out of someone there.

[Rafael122]

What direction are they going towards next season? If they are going to tank than next season will be a lot of growing pains and the vets might tune out.

The biggest issue with us has been that our old idiot GM in 2020 traded Wall and a future first round pick that still has restrictions through next year's draft. We needed to strip it down and rebuild anyway but its probably taken a year or two longer than it needed to just because you almost have to be bad so the pick doesn't convey.

My guess is the jumping off point will be 2026-2027. As of now $100 million in cap space, another pick in a good draft. I think the shift towards contending for a playoff spot will start then.

[doogie_hauser]

How can you be a Boston fan and DC fan? Am I missing something?.

I'm a Kobe/Laker fan but no other team excites me more then the Lakers. Use to be a player follower back in the day, but now all around NBA fan, maybe that's you? But calling yourself a DC fan while being a Boston fan oof?? Just curious lol (maybe missreading this?)

Didn't read the title of my thread ?
Said only non DC fan ?

Washington seem to be the ugly duckling/forgotten franchise of the NBA and I think they have a future that is well worth discussing/talking up, especially as I don't see a lot of pro Wizards media articles or buzz (least here in Australia)

Alex Sarr was projected to be a bust by many (for example) especially on this forum, but he put together a more promising rookie season than most thought ans he still has so much improvement and growth too.

As for Godymas's rightful concerns, the vets like Middleton and Smart added a lot of leadership and competitive edge to the Wizards after you guys traded for them before the deadline, obviously you don't want them to start (unless injuries dictate it) but they are very good for the education of your young players and building a more professional culture at the ball club.

At the very least, the worst/most painful years of the Wizards years of mid/tanking or bog ordinary purgatory are behind them, I hate to toot my own horn, but I tipped the Pistons to be the big improvers in the East before last season started, I do think the Wizards are still one year/season away at least from at least contending for the play in/play offs, but they are not as far away as most folks think.

Having 100 million or so in free cap space at the end of next season is also going to be a massive advantage for The Wiz.

Definitely much more optimistic about The Wizards and their future than say The Bulls or Nets, whom frankly I am confused what their ultimate agenda is.

[hauntedcomputer]

As a basketball fan who doesn't root for any team, I am always interested in every team's development, especially younger teams or ones trying a new path forward. The least interesting teams are ones that over "stars" that are really #3s or #4s and then have to pretend like those guys are stars while they go nowhere.

Then again I live for Schadenfreude and there's always a loser.

[machu46]

I'm in a weird position as a DC resident/sort of fan because I think the front office is basically doing all the right things but I also don't think any of their prospects right now are like "Wow this guy has future star written all over him". It's a lot of smart draft choices that look like they could become solid players in the future and maybe one or two of them become more than that but we'll see.

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[ORLMagicGirl15]

What direction are they going towards next season? If they are going to tank than next season will be a lot of growing pains and the vets might tune out.

The biggest issue with us has been that our old idiot GM in 2020 traded Wall and a future first round pick that still has restrictions through next year's draft. We needed to strip it down and rebuild anyway but its probably taken a year or two longer than it needed to just because you almost have to be bad so the pick doesn't convey.

My guess is the jumping off point will be 2026-2027. As of now $100 million in cap space, another pick in a good draft. I think the shift towards contending for a playoff spot will start then.

$100 million in cap space, how? Isn’t there a cap floor you have to meet. Did you guys give anyone a contract this off season?

[kobyz]

Yeah, solid young core, I'm high on the Carrington guy, i think he could become a Billups type pg, Sarr is like a poor man Rasheed Wallace while Johnson and Culibaly great wing prospects that compliment each other

[WuTang_OG]

ya some decent moves
they need to land in the top 3 next season

[-Luke-]

No, they are a fun team. A bad team, but fun. They'll be bad next season again and with a little more luck they could get a high level talent.

I could see them going in a similar direction like the Pistons last season. Be bad for one last year, hopefully draft a top tier talent, sign some good vets (or keep the vets they already have, I don't really know their contract situation), internal improvement from young guys like Sarr, Coulibaly, Carrington and they could be out of purgatory and in playoffs contention by 2026-27.

The current front office is doing a good job.

[basketballRob]

I think they've gotten screwed in the lottery.

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[wegotthabeet]

Love what their front office is doing, but they don’t have a foundational piece yet. Is anyone on their roster a top 2 core player to build around? I don’t see it. Some nice players though.

[Rafael122]

What direction are they going towards next season? If they are going to tank than next season will be a lot of growing pains and the vets might tune out.

The biggest issue with us has been that our old idiot GM in 2020 traded Wall and a future first round pick that still has restrictions through next year's draft. We needed to strip it down and rebuild anyway but its probably taken a year or two longer than it needed to just because you almost have to be bad so the pick doesn't convey.

My guess is the jumping off point will be 2026-2027. As of now $100 million in cap space, another pick in a good draft. I think the shift towards contending for a playoff spot will start then.

$100 million in cap space, how? Isn’t there a cap floor you have to meet. Did you guys give anyone a contract this off season?

Middleton, Smart, Holmes are all expiring contracts. We just have our kids on rookie contracts so if my math was right, we're at like $60 million in salaries with a projected $164 million salary cap next season.

It will give us maximum flexibility. If a team wants to move off a contract, we'll take it plus a pick or two. Maybe we offer Austin Reaves, for a example, a big contract, or send out offer sheets to a guy like Dyson Daniels or Tari Eason. A lot more options when you have cap room.

[Wingy]

I'm in a weird position as a DC resident/sort of fan because I think the front office is basically doing all the right things but I also don't think any of their prospects right now are like "Wow this guy has future star written all over him". It's a lot of smart draft choices that look like they could become solid players in the future and maybe one or two of them become more than that but we'll see.

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Doesn’t look that exciting to me either. They need to A) get one of the guys from the upcoming vaunted class and B) have them actually pan out.

Otherwise they have some nice up and coming pros, but they have the look of a mid-LEast team, maybe lower playoff seed team if the current cast develops well.

[HotelVitale]

Im kinda confused by the premise here. The team has a few interesting young guys and a few rotation-y vets. The team is also clearly bad and has no specific path to getting better beyond the usual tanking and lottery-wishing.

There’s nothing to suggest they’ll turn the corner soon—sometimes that happens to tanking teams but sometimes teams flip between tanking and mediocre for years and years too. None of their young guys is so good that they’ll definitely carry them behind that (no one’s close really), and there’s no other obvious move in the horizon that will catapult them either.

Why is the situation better than that?