The Washington Wizards have been bottom-feeders for the past few years, and now that the Bradley Beal era is officially over, they have entered a full-on rebuild.
The years of John Wall and Beal leading Washington through a playoff run are over, and the days of Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma spearheading a franchise-worse regular-season run are here.
But before the Wizards officially disbanded their previous core, they welcomed a new star into the mix - big man Kristaps Porzingis - for a brief period of time.
When Porzingis first got to Dallas, he was fresh off an ugly stint with the Dallas Mavericks. But according to Washington veteran Anthony Gill, who spoke with Jared Weiss of The Athletic, all of the rumblings about Porzingis post-Dallas couldn’t have been more wrong.
"He came into the locker room the first day and it was clear that a lot of those things that were said about him about how he was not a great teammate, everything was totally the opposite. He was one of the greatest teammates we’ve had here. He was unbelievable, man."Anthony Gill, via Jared Weiss
The Mavericks traded for Porzingis in hopes of pairing him with Luka Doncic, but the duo didn’t work out. After a few injury-filled years, they shipped him off to Washington.
Porzingis’ injuries prevented him from having the impact most people expected him to have in Dallas, leaving the fanbase frustrated with his impact on the team.
In addition, he and Doncic didn’t get along too well during his time there. And with Doncic being the clear face of the franchise, it became very obvious which piece of the puzzle would eventually have to go.
With the Wizards, Porzingis enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career, but he wasn’t there for long. Though the team wasn’t very good, Porzingis’ numbers were excellent.
He spent a season-and-a-half with the Wizards before getting traded to the Boston Celtics during the 2023 offseason. Alongside the rest of Boston’s core, he led them to a 64-win record in the regular season.
Now, despite being injured for the majority of the postseason, Porzingis is ready to help the Celtics square off against the Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals.
His time in Boston has been nothing but positive, with teammates and coaches speaking very highly of the big man, just as Gill did.
Maybe things didn’t go according to plan in Dallas, but it seems like Porzingis is still well-liked everywhere else he’s been.