The Washington Wizards for much of the last decade have been the laughing stock of the NBA.
After countless years of seeing talented player walk in and out of their doors, represent the city on their chest and suit up in the team's colors, the Wizards have nothing to show for it.
Whether it's the culture of the team, the lack of a major market or just the bad luck surrounding the franchise, Washington has not been looked at as an attractive destination for players acrpss the league.
As a result, it's been hard for the Wizards to build a contending team for the fanbase to be proud of. With a new regime, Washington hopes to turn things around and do a full 360 and put together a roster that can not only compete now, but for years to come.
To do that though, they'll have to almost certainly build majority of their team through the NBA Draft. Fortunately for them, the top teams in the playoffs right now are proving that this is a more than realistic goal for the Wizards to achieve.
And with a solid start over the last couple of seasons, they've already gathered some key pieces to position themselves in a good place.
Wizards following the top teams' blueprints
The top teams in the NBA right now have built most of their core through the NBA Draft and they've put themselves in position to compete for a championship.
When you look at the Boston Celtics, they've drafted both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, as well as reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard.
Looking at the Oklahoma City Thunder, while they didn't draft Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, they made the right moves through the draft to surround him with top talent once they found out he was the guy. With picks like Jalen Williams, Lu Dort and Chet Holmgren it goes to show just how important it is to build the correct foundation.
To take it a step further, look at the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic. They both drafted the foundation of their teams and when they were close to competing, they went out and found some key pieces after becoming a suitable destination for free agents and now they both found themselves in the mix.
But even outside of drafting, the personnel that each of these teams have to have wings who can defend multiple positions on the floor, and glue players to help make everything work proves to be essential.
For the Wizards, they're not close to being on the level of these teams, but they have done a tremendous job putting themselves in position to be.
With players like Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George and even AJ Johnson, Washington has players that can develop into what they need to compete right away. And if they're able to ace their upcoming draft picks, it only adds pieces of the puzzle for the Wizards to inch closer to their ultimate goal.