The Washington Wizards haven't had a good season in years.
In fact, Washington hasn't truly been competitive in quite some time.
With their last trip to the Eastern Conference Finals coming in 1979 and their last series win in the NBA Playoffs coming in 2017, it's been a long time since Wizards fans felt like their team has had a chance to compete for anything.
The writing was on the wall for several years that the Wizards needed to hit the restart button but with the front office refusing to face reality, it put Washington back several years.
After moving on from John Wall, Russell Westbrook and eventually Bradley Beal, the Wizards were left with little to nothing to show for it.
Not to mention, even the departures of both Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma brought Washington a very minimal return.
Between Washington's refusal to accept that a rebuild was needed and their negligence allowing them to miss out on the value their star players once had, it only put them in. a position that by time they hit the restart button, fans were already growing impatient.
Now with the rebuild finally upon us, fans are itching for the Wizards to compete in a wide open Eastern Conference sooner rather than later.
With an offseason filled with several big moves including the additions of CJ McCollum and Cam Whitmore on the trade market; plus the incoming draft class headlined by Tre Johnson, fans have been eager to hear that Washington was on the verge of competing for a playoff spot.
And with Whitmore's irrational confidence about the Wizards potential this season, it only added to the eargerness of the fanbase.
However, head coach Brian Keefe was forced to bring the fanbase back down to earth with the harsh reality that the rebuild is just getting started.
"We’re still in the building phase," Keefe said. "People are going to start separating themselves.”
Keefe was forced to be the bearer of bad news, but it's not like fans aren't aware that what he's saying is true.
Washington can't exit the rebuilding stage until they find a cornerstone to be the team's next franchise player.
With Sarr, Coulibaly, Carrington, George and even Johnson still not proving they can be that guy (YET), the Wizards will remain in the rebuilding phase until they can find the player to build around moving forward.
Eventually, that will happen, but for now the Wizards will continue building towards the future.