Hiring Of Michael Winger Should Mean A Rebuild In Washington

The Washington Wizards have arguably been one of the most irrelevant NBA franchises over the past few years, going nowhere despite legitimate attempts at upgrading the roster.

The trades for Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porziņģis were, in isolation, fairly decent in terms of their individual production. Kuzma broke out as a fringe level All-Star, and is looking at a major payday this summer after averaging 21.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists this season.

Porziņģis, who struggled after being brought to the Dallas Mavericks via trade in 2019, has rehabbed his value since becoming a Wizard at the 2022 trade deadline, finishing this year averaging 23.2 points, and 8.4 rebounds.

You’d think that type of contribution next to franchise star Bradley Beal – himself average 23.2 points and 5.4 assists – would form an effective Big Three in the capital, but the team won just 35 games, and the trio missed a total of 67 games collectively.

The Wizards failed to build up anything of substance next to their primary trio, rarely using last year’s Top 10 selection Johnny Davis, and even sending out Rui Hachimura to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he found his footing.

At the end of the season, the franchise sought a new direction in leadership, firing general manager Tommy Sheppard, and replacing him with Michael Winger, formerly of the Los Angeles Clippers.

It goes without saying that the Wizards are now changing course, presumably fed up with lackluster results and a product that has failed to capture the interest of NBA fans.

Armed with the eighth pick in the deep 2023 draft, Washington’s first task is to get a player who can help reshape the roster down the line. They also have the 42nd and 59th selections, both of which they should make, and keep, to optimize their youth movement.

Next up, it’d be prudent of the Wizards to be open to sign-and-trade arrangements for Kuzma, as his status as a likely unrestricted free agent (pending he declines his player option of $13 million) gives him all the power. If he, and a team over the cap, wish to make a deal happen, the Wizards should be open to taking on a bad contract for draft pick compensation, and ship out Kuzma.

The same could be said of Porziņģis, assuming he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Like Kuzma, he has a player option. Unlike Kuzma, Porziņģis is looking at a payday of $36 million next season if he picks up his option. If he instead opts for long-term security, and sacrifices next year’s salary, Washington should once again be open for business, and offer up Porziņģis in sign-and-trade scenarios.

Should Porziņģis pick up his option, and return for one final season, the Wizards should look to move him by their own accord.

That brings us to Beal.

The soon-to-be 30-year-old has a no-trade clause in his contract, preventing him from getting traded without his consent. That means Beal pretty much determines his own future.

Even if Washington finds a trade that makes sense for all sides, Beal have veto right, and could use it if he believes the team he’s going to gives up too much. We saw this scenario play out in 2007 when Kobe Bryant opted to veto a trade to the Chicago Bulls, believing that the inclusion of Luol Deng in the trade was too much for Chicago to relinquish.

As such, the first step in getting closer to a Beal trade is communication. Winger and Beal have to get on the same page, and map out a plan to get him elsewhere, where he has a chance to win, and the Wizards get back a youth package, setting them up for the future.

Make no mistake, however, this will be a long process. Any return for Kuzma and Porziņģis will be less than their market worth, and the same could be true of Beal, simply to the contractual status of all three. The Wizards are likely to suffer defeat in all three trades, but should go through it anyway to get out on the other side. The cap flexibility provided for the future will open up a world of possibilities, where the Wizards can spend the next few years accumulating assets via renting out their cap space on poor deals.

Given the new CBA, plenty of expensive teams will look to shed salaries, as to ease their luxury tax payments, and the Wizards should be standing by, arms open, and offer that tax relief to teams for the price of draft picks.

While the team is likely going to be terrible over the next two-to-three years, it at least sets a direction, and one that the fan base can get behind.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.