The Washington Wizards are set to return to action on Friday night with a matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks at home in front of the fans at Capital One Arena.
Washington enters the back half of the season looking to prioritize the development of their young core as the team enters one of the most important offseasons of their rebuild. As of now, the Wizards have the best odds to land the No. 1 overall pick to earn the chance to select one of the most coveted prospects in recent years, Duke's Cooper Flagg., that is if he declares of course.
And while Flagg potentially being named a Wizard sooner rather than later, fans will have to wait for the moment they find out who their team will be adding to their squad to likely build around as their future cornerstone.
However, one thing fans may not have to wait for is the debut of the Wizards newest additions in Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart.
Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart both not listed on injury report
Since making a flurry of moves at the trade deadline, the Wizards have held off on the debut of two of their newest members, and arguably the biggest acquisitions of the deadline.
Obviously, Washington doesn't have much to play for down the final stretch of the season, but that won't stop the team and first-year head coach Brian Keefe from doing everything they can to continue focusing on the development of the young players the team plans to build around moving forward.
In fact, the team's development is the driving reason that general manager Will Dawkins made the move to bring in two experienced veterans who have won at the highest level. Both of which, are expected to make their debuts on Friday night against the Bucks barring any last minute issues.
Both Middleton and Smart have had the opportunity to play in the NBA Finals and while Middleton is the only one to win a championship during his appearance, it could be good to have different perspectives on the team.
Middleton knows what it takes to win a championship and Smart knows how it feels to lose on the biggest stage of the league. Their ability to mentor this young group and not only use their leadership and experience to help the development of the team, and impact winning will be huge. And it all starts tonight when both of these savvy vets hit the court to represent the Wizards for the very first time.