The main task is still to mess up! Crazy stocking of first-round picks. Who will the Wizards leave the 100 million space to next summer?

Review of last season

As a historically weak team, the Wizards were still in the training period to tap their internal potential last season. Except for Poole, most of the main players were inexperienced recruits. After a record of 2 wins and 18 losses, there was no performance... In the middle of the season, the Wizards also sent Kuzma, who obviously had no training value, to the Bucks in exchange for Middleton, who had one and a half years left on his contract, No. 23 pick AJ Johnson, and the right to swap the first round in 2028.

In the end, the Wizards' record was settled at 18 wins and 64 losses, ranking last in the Eastern Conference, last in the league in offensive efficiency, and 27th in defensive efficiency. But with a 14% probability of getting the No. 1 pick, it can be considered a successful completion of the task.

Offseason operations

Pool for CJ. The only big trade the Wizards made during the offseason was to use Poole + Saddiq Bay + the 40th pick in exchange for CJ + Olynyk + 1 future second round. Then the Wizards sold Olynyk and acquired Branham + Wesley + 1 from the Spurs in the future second round. This wave of transactions is enough to prove that the Wizards have a very clear idea: after decisively letting go of Smart and Brogdon, they must first clear out Poole, who occupies a lot of ball rights and is still in his prime, to make room for the growth of the team's young guards. At the same time, they will harvest CJ's expiring large contract, which can not only fill the poor line in the new season, but also use the experience of veterans to lead these small guards in the team.

Collect the discarded players from other teams and draw lottery tickets. Similar to AJ Johnson and Branham, the Wizards continued to collect first-round picks given up by other teams during the offseason. They traded Colby Jones from the Thunder for Dillon Jones (recently waived by the Wizards) + 1 second round, and used 2 second rounds to acquire "White Devil" Whitmore from the Rockets. This is a completely low-risk, potentially high-return operation.

Sign Bagley with a minimum salary of one year. After releasing Holmes, the Wizards were severely lacking in depth at the center position, so the Wizards chose to sign back Bagley, who had just been sent away last season, to ensure interior rotation.

His performance in the draft was mediocre. As a reward for their poor performance last season, the Wizards had a 14% chance of getting the No. 1 pick, but in the end the No. 1 pick was taken by the Mavericks, and their pick dropped to sixth. Their favorite Bailey was also intercepted by the Jazz at No. 5. Therefore, with the sixth pick, the Wizards unsurprisingly selected the remaining top-six pick - Trey Johnson. As a disciple of Durant, Trey Johnson is the purest scorer in this class. He has elite offensive talent and good size for the same position. However, the problems of inefficiency in attacking the basket, negative defense and poor decision-making are also prominent. If they want to develop him into a star or a super six, the Wizards may have to spend a lot of thought and time. The Wizards also used the 21st pick in the first round of the draft to select Will Riley, a tall wing who can organize offense with the ball but has problems with shooting and defense, adding some diversity to the team's forward position.

Current main lineup

Guards: CJ McCollum, Carrington, Trey Johnson, AJ Johnson, Branham;

Forwards: Middleton, Koulibaly, Keshawn George, Kispert, Whitmore, Champany, Will Riley, Gill;

Center: Sarr, Bagley, Vukcevic (two-way).

Expected starting lineup: CJ, Carrington, Coulibaly, Middleton, Sarr.

Outlook for the new season

Super clean salary structure

Open the Wizards' salary list, and you will find that a full 9 players are still in the rookie contract period. The team is completely supported by the expiring contracts of CJ (30.67 million) and Middleton (33.3 million), barely reaching the league's "poor line" requirements. Such a clean salary structure can create great flexibility for the Wizards next summer. It is expected that there will be more than 100 million salary space, which is rare in today's league. So, here comes the question: There is space, but which big-name star would be willing to join such a team?

Judging from historical experience, the Wizards will most likely face the embarrassing situation of "having money and nowhere to spend it." A more realistic plan is to use salary space to act as a trading hub, absorb junk contracts while obtaining draft asset compensation, or target the restricted free agent market to make premium offers. If they are ultimately unable to attract top free agents, Wizards fans may have to endure at least 2-3 failed seasons.

A bunch of lottery tickets really can’t win any prizes?

Looking at the Wizards' young players, from high-ranking picks such as Sarr, Koulibaly, and Trey Johnson to mid-to-late first-round players such as Kispert, Keshawn George, Whittemore, and AJ Johnson, almost all of them have insufficient strengths and obvious shortcomings.

So compared to the inability to attract big-name stars, the bigger problem facing the Wizards is actually the personal growth and functional limitations of these young players: Can Sarr and Coulibaly make the ball? Can Trae Johnson develop playmaking skills? Can Whitmore be reused? Can Carrington and Keshawn George be more efficient?

Record prediction

Taking into account the current team structure and draft picks, the Wizards' record in the new season is not expected to have a major breakthrough. It is likely to be around 20 wins and once again compete for the bottom position in the Eastern Conference. In the long run, the Wizards have a large number of young players and future draft assets but lack a real core. How to use the huge salary space next summer will directly affect the Wizards' progress. It can only be said that reconstruction is often not accomplished overnight, but the Wizards' long and smelly road to complete ruin seems to have been waiting for time to prove it.