Just four seasons ago, do you know who the opening day starters were for the Washington Wizards? It was Tyus Jones, Jordan Poole, Deni Avdija, Kyle Kuzma, and Daniel Gafford. That team won 15 games, and not one of those starters is on the team today.
Tyus Jones barely plays meaningful minutes in Denver, Poole is in and out of the rotation in New Orleans, and Avdija blossomed into a star in Portland, but never realized his potential in Washington, Kuzma is more known for his Twitter takes than his on-court play in Milwaukee, and Daniel Gafford is a serviceable center in Dallas.
General manager Will Dawkins and president of Monumental Basketball Michael Winger became the men in charge of the Wizards' front office during the offseason before that year, and since then, the roster has undergone substantial changes to go from a perennial bottom feeder to a team with genuine playoff aspirations and an electric young core.
The Wizards' roster turnaround is truly remarkable
In just four seasons, the Wizards went from the roster seen above to a team with two All-NBA talents, one of the best young cores in the league, and savvy veterans to help guide the team to where they want to go. It all starts with extremely forward-thinking trades the Wizards' front office has made.
Last offseason, the Wizards were able to flip Jordan Poole into CJ McCollum, who was on an expiring contract, making him much easier to use as a trade piece, and he was. Just a couple of months into the season, the Wizards made their first splash in acquiring All-Star point guard Trae Young, who was injured at the time, for McCollum's expiring contract and Corey Kispert.
Getting a player of Young's caliber without needing to give up any draft capital is incredible business, but they weren't done. They also managed to buy low on Anthony Davis, who was a distressed asset coming off of a forgettable Mavericks tenure, but when healthy, he's still a top-20 player in the league.
They managed to get Davis for nothing but filler contracts and two first-round picks (none of which were their own). These stars were the perfect ones for the Wizards to acquire when they did, because they didn't go against the mission of the season: tanking for AJ Dybantsa, which they ended up doing successfully.
The Wizards were able to add a future superstar to their already promising young core with pieces like Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, and Tre Johnson, while also acquiring proven star-level talent for extremely cheap. That's the stuff of elite front offices: buying low and reaping the benefits.
Just four seasons ago, the Wizards were the butt of every NBA joke, and now, no team would want to face a healthy Wizards squad in the first round of the playoffs.
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