The Washington Wizards aren't close to contending for an NBA championship, and there's no denying that they may not find themselves in the postseason any time soon.
However, the Wizards are in the beginning stages of their rebuild and with many talented young players on the roster such as Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George and even Jordan Poole, the future in Washington has potential. In addition, the team is also the front runner to earn the No. 1 overall pick for this upcoming NBA Draft.
With many top prospects headlining this draft, having a top 10 pick is not only desriable for many teams in the league, but for rebuilding squads like the Wizards and the Utah Jazz, the top pick could immediately give them a boost in their rebuild and that's because the winner of the sweepstakes likely will have Cooper Flagg repping their team in the coming months.
Flagg's decision on the draft has yet to be announced, the expectation is that if he does declare, he will be the top pick. For the Wizards and their fans, that's the leading reason why their 10-win season up to this point has been bitter sweet.
However, some believe that Flagg would be wasting his time in Washington.
Bill Simmons doesn't want Flagg in D.C.
Bill Simmons made it clear on his latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcats that he doesn't want a unique talent like Flagg to land on a team like the Wizards in the draft. Simmons feels that the Wizards aren't close to contention and that it would be a waste of a generational talent to land in Washington on a team who's future core is far from decided
"I don't know how many guys on the Wizards are even going to be on that team in the next three years. You want to build around him right away," Simmons said.
The dream scenarios that Simmons hopes Flagg would land with would be a squad like the San Antonio Spurs to pair the Duke star with Victor Wembanyama. And while that would be an ideal fit for any NBA fan (outside of the Wizards), that's simply just wishful thinking if they don't someone win the No. 1 overall pick at the NBA Draft Lottery.
There's no doubt, that if the Wizards earn the top pick and Flagg is available, they will likely select him. In fact, I don't believe there's a trade package, or a scenerio where even if Flagg says he doesn't want to suit up for them (like Sarr did to ATL last offseason) that the Wizards would actually pass on the versatile playmaker.