Decisions. Decisions. With the 2021 NBA Draft and free agency drawing nearer, the Washington Wizards will have to make some tough choices when figuring out how to reconstruct their roster for next season. After losing to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1st round, GM Tommy Sheppard made it clear that this team won’t be running it back. They need to be better.
The changes have already started. The Wizards have not made any changes to their roster since their season ended, but they have hired a new coach. Wes Unseld Jr. has replaced Scott Broks, ushering in a new era of Wizards basketball. Now, it’s time to build.
The NBA draft is always a good time for teams to execute trades. Just last year, there were a total of 17 draft-day trades that took place. The Washington Wizards were involved in one themselves when they traded Admiral Schofield and their 37th pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Cassius Winston (53rd pick) and a 2024 second-round pick. It was the second year in arrow that the Wizards made a trade on draft night. In 2019, they traded into the second round to acquire Schofield.
This trade did not pay many dividends, as Winston only played a total of 98 minutes all season. However, the front office may take a bigger swing this year as the Wizards try to make that jump into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference.