There was a time when the Washington Wizards were mired in mediocrity and content with it. They were racking up eight seeds and first-round exits like rent was due, until they brought in Will Dawkins and Michael Winger to run their front office.
Their first move was trading beloved franchise figure Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns for an absolute haul of draft picks, signaling that the organization was finally willing to embrace a rebuild.
Since then, Washington has stockpiled draft picks, taken on bad contracts, and drafted great young players to build for the future. From Alex Sarr to Bilal Coulibaly to Kyshawn George to Tre Johnson, the Wizards young core has a bright future.
The front office was able to cash in during the trade season this year, as they acquired veteran All-Stars Trae Young and Anthony Davis to help their core grow. While Young and Davis won’t have an impact this season, they will be ready to help Washington contend starting next season. The Wizards rebuild is almost complete, but if this one final thing happens, they could be championship contenders.
A top-three pick would give the Wizards one of the brightest futures in the NBA
Whether it’s Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, or Cameron Boozer, if Washington manages to get a top-three pick this year, then their contention prospects look much brighter. Even with the moves they made for Young and Davis, the Wizards maintained control of all their first-round picks, including this season’s.
Peterson, Dybantsa, and Boozer may be the most prolific top prospects we have seen in quite sometime. Peterson has the potential to be a 20 point per game scorer from day one, Dybantsa is the perfect all-around wing for today’s NBA, and Boozer has a level of physicality and dominance that could make him a walking 20 PPG and ten rebound per game guy during his prime.
Adding any of those three to a team that feature Young, Davis, George, Johnson, Sarr, and Coulibaly makes the Wizards a sneaky team in the East. They would have a unique blend of versatility on both ends of the floor and enough scoring to keep up with anyone.
This season looks like the last one the Wizards will tank. They are ready to compete in the East next year and if they can add a generational prospect to the mix, they will have one of the brightest futures in all of the NBA.
