Washington Wizards: Assessing Tommy Sheppard’s first season as general manager

Kawhi Hachimura

Immediately after Ernie Grunfeld was fired in April of 2019, Sheppard was given the interim general manager tag while owner Ted Leonsis put out some feelers for other potential general manager candidates. Meanwhile, Sheppard got to work and selected Rui Hachimura with the ninth pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

Selecting a player while on the interim GM title is never easy, and the Hachimura pick was surprising, to say the least. And not without a bit of risk. Hachimura may have been a slight reach at number nine (with most mocks at the time having him between #2-18), but the Wizards saw a player who could make an immediate impact in year one.

Hachimura may not have had the same ceiling as some other players who may have been on the board, but Rui came in and did exactly what was expected of him. He was able to start from day one and excelled on the court in the areas many expected. He showed a knack for being able to get to the rim and became a solid rebounder for his position. Hachimura put all the draft night questions to rest and finished his rookie season with second-team All-Rookie honors.

At the time of the draft, many wanted to see the Wizards take a bigger swing considering how bare they were in the assets department. Drafting a high floor/low ceiling player of Rui’s caliber was looked at as a ‘safe’ pick, but it ended up working out for the Wizards.

Low-Risk Investments

After the draft, Sheppard was then given the full-time job and went straight to work. With not a lot of cap space to work with, Sheppard showed a lot of poise during free agency and made something out of nothing:

• Re-signed Thomas Bryant to a three-year/$24 million deal
• Signed Ish Smith to a two-year/$12 million deal
• Acquired Mortiz Wagner, Isaac Bonga, Jermerrio Jones, and a 2022 2nd round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for cash considerations.
• Signed Isaiah Thomas to a vet minimum.
• Acquired Davis Bertans from the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Aaron White.
• Acquired CJ Miles from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Dwight Howard.

Sheppard was busy wheeling and dealing in his first offseason. The highlights: acquiring Wagner, Bonga, and Bertans for virtually nothing. Those three guys played valuable minutes in year one and even if things do not work out with any of them (Bertans signs elsewhere this offseason, Wagner and Bonga don’t develop) Sheppard barely gave up anything to get them in the first place. Bertans showed that he can be one of the best shooters in the league and Wagner and Bonga showed flashes of what their future could hold while still on team-friendly deals.

Bryant’s extension was another easy move to make with Bryant coming off of an impressive first year in Washington. He may not be the ‘center of the future’ and I think the Wizards realize this, now. But having a high energy scoring center off the bench is a luxury. Only making $8 million a year with two seasons left on his deal and only 23 years old, Bryant is also a very easy trade asset if the Wizards decide to make a move.

The Ish Smith signing came a bit out of left field, but it worked out. Signing him to a two-year deal so that he can back up John Wall when he returns from injury makes sense. Smith likes to play with a similar uptempo style so even when Wall sits, the Wizards can still push the pace.

The Dwight Howard trade was kind of a wash, the Wizards wanted to rid themselves of the ugly player option that Howard had on his deal after he played just nine games the season prior. They did get rid of Howard, but CJ Miles suited up for the Wizards only one more time than Howard did.

The one major mistake was bringing in Isaiah Thomas. Thomas did not really fit with the timeline the Wizards are currently on. Not surprisingly, he became a defensive liability in his short stint and never really got on track while in D.C.