The disastrous 2022 offseason will haunt the Washington Wizards for a long time
By Cem Yolbulan
Maybe it’s better to look ahead. Maybe it’s best not to dwell on the past and its mistakes. This is good advice all aspects of life. However, it’s incredibly difficult to do as a Washington Wizards fan. Unfortunately, the past mistakes for the Wizards were so egregious that they continue to haunt the franchise. The most egregious of them all were the series of moves in the 2022 offseason that set the organization significantly back. Let’s remember them and make sure they are not repeated under the new Michael Winger regime.
In the summer of 2022, the Washington Wizards were coming off a 35-win season, in which they weren’t particularly close to a play-in or playoff berth. Bradley Beal had missed more than half of the games. He was at a sub-All-Star level even in the 40 games he played.
Giving Beal a no-trade clause cost the Wizards a solid return in a Beal deal
Yet, this didn’t stop the Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard to give Beal a maximum contract extension worth 5 years, $251 million, including a no-trade clause, and a player option at the end. This not only made Beal one of the most overpaid players in the league, but also incredibly difficult to trade due to his right to veto any deal. This was basically the most player-friendly offer any team can make to any player under the league’s collective bargaining agreement. The fact that the Washington Wizards didn’t negotiate with Beal and extract a single concession is completely unacceptable.
This resulted in the Wizards having to accept a sub-par trade package for Beal this summer. Yes, there is some upside in this package as Washington has first-round pick swaps with the Suns in 2024, 2026, 2028, and 2030. Few of these could convey, but the fact that the Wizards failed to get even a single guaranteed first-rounder or an intriguing young player in a deal where they traded their franchise star is a massive failure.
Unfortunately, the organizational mishaps of 2022 summer don’t end there.
Trading Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who was one of Washington’s most consistent and productive players in the 2021-22 season, to the Denver Nuggets was an awful decision as well. Trading a valuable 3&D wing in his prime, who went on to be a starter on a championship team, for Monte Morris and Will Barton turned out as one would expect. Barton was so bad that Washington waived him mid-season. Morris had a decent season but the Wizards just traded him to Detroit for a single second-round pick. In the end, the Wizards traded away one of the premier 3&D players in the league for a second-rounder in 2027. That is highway robbery by the Denver Nuggets.
Drafting Davis 10th overall could haunt the Wizards for a long time
On top of it all, they completely fumbled perhaps the most consequential decision for the future of the Washington Wizards. With the tenth-overall pick in the draft, they selected Johnny Davis out of Wisconsin. Some of the other players Washington could have drafted include Jalen Williams, Jalen Duren, Mark Williams, AJ Griffin, Tari Eason and Walker Kessler. There is a real possibility that Davis ends up as the worst lottery pick of the 2022 NBA Draft.
The only solid move of the last offseason for Washington was the signing of Delon Wright. He was a very impactful player off-the-bench, contributing at a high-level in the games he suited up for. Yet, that was not enough to salvage the what has otherwise been a horrendous offseason for the Wizards.
One doesn’t need the benefit of the hindsight to realize how bad of an offseason this was for the Washington Wizards. It was disastrous at the time and everything that happened since then only strengthened that reality. It might take a while to clean up the mess created by the 2022 offseason, but at least the Washington Wizards are finally in capable hands.
