4 Questions facing the Washington Wizards after the trade deadline
By Jack Skolnik
1. Are the Washington Wizards going to retool or rebuild?
The first question on our list is one that arose because of the deadline as opposed to a question that was left unanswered.
With the moves that the Wizards made at the deadline, it did not necessarily answer if they are buyers or sellers. The trade for Jerome Robinson was a great move by Tommy Sheppard to bring in a young prospect for virtually nothing (mirroring the Moe Wagner deal).
However, it did not really make them “buyers” as Robinson does not do a whole lot for you to win right now. On the other side of things, it did not really make them sellers because if they were, they would have moved Davis Bertans.
Both of these components lead to the bigger question of what the Wizards plans are for the next few years. Do they want to retool or rebuild? Franchise star Bradley Beal has made it clear that he wants to win and he wants to win now.
With John Wall due to be back soon, this will at least aid Beal’s wishes a little bit. But beyond those two, the rest of the roster’s ability to compete at a high level is still unknown.
The assumption is that the Wizards will bring back Davis Bertans whose shooting and ability to stretch the floor will only be maximized with the return of Wall. Outside of this though, there are not a whole lot of guys on the team who are currently built with the “win now” formula.
Tommy Sheppard has done a nice job of adding a lot of solid young pieces to this roster including Rui Hachimura, Thomas Bryant, Moe Wagner, Isaac Bonga, Troy Brown Jr. and now Jerome Robinson. The issue though, is that these guys are more built for the type of franchise that would be going through a rebuild.
With the Wizards current roster including two veteran stars in Beal and Wall, Davis Bertans and then a bunch of young prospects, it is hard to call what the Wizards direct plan is.
Obviously, some of this may be answered in free agency this summer, but right this second with the roster built how it is, the Wizards may hit a crossroads and a decision will have to be made.