The Washington Wizards can’t afford to whiff this offseason.
In a somewhat surprising move, the Washington Wizards are now in search of a new general manager. After spending 20 years within the Wizards organization (in various positions in the front office), Tommy Shepard has been fired from his duties as the team’s president and general manager. Heading into one of the team’s biggest offseasons in recent history, the Wizards are now in search of a front-office leader.
Overall, the Wizards have missed the playoffs in four of the last five seasons. Heading into the offseason, it’s clear that something needs to change if the team is looking to make a return to relevance in the Eastern Conference. And the belief was that part of that change included a new leading voice in the front office.
How will the Washington Wizards approach the offseason?
It’ll be interesting to see how the Wizards approach the offseason now that they will be under new leadership. We may not get clarity until a new general manager is hired but there should be a baseline of demands for whoever wants the job. In somewhat of a demand list (from the fanbase), we explore three things that the new general manager must do this offseason.
Offseason demand No. 1: Don’t whiff in the NBA Draft
One thing that the Wizards can’t afford the general manager to mess up on is the NBA Draft. Over the past few seasons, the draft has not been kind to the Wizards. Washington has had three top 10 first-round draft picks in the last four seasons. Rui Hachimura was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers this past season, Johnny Davis looks like a potential bust, and while Deni Avdija has shown some promise, he’s not nearly the player the Wizards believed he’d be when he was selected No. 9 in the 2020 NBA Draft.
In short, the Wizards need to make a smart and thoughtful selection with their projected top 10 pick in this year’s NBA Draft.