Wizards rebuild has separating factors others should envy

There's no denying that the Washington Wizards are in the midst of a long awaited rebuilding process.

General manager Will Dawkins has made it a point of emphasis to focus on the future of the teams and along the way he's done a great job acquiring young talent with high upside to build around.

Following the addition of Tre Johnson and Will Riley in Wednesday's first round of the NBA Draft, the Wizards now have one of the best mixtures of youth talent in the league, not factoring in rebuilding teams like the San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder, who have clearly left the realm of "rebuilding" at this point.

Aside from names like Johnson and Riley, Washington has the likes of Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George and even AJ Johnson as players with extreme upside and raw talent.

However, it's not solely what the Wizards have done adding young players to their roster that makes their rebuild so intriguing, but instead the fact that Washington has seemingly made it a point of emphasis to surround the young core with a number of veterans to provide leadership on and off the court.

Dating back to last offseason when the Wizards landed Malcolm Brogdon in a draft night deal to follow it up with the free agency addition of Jonas Valanciunas, it was clear what direction the Wizards were heading in with how much they coveted veteran presence.

To follow those moves up, Washington added another pair of veterans ahead of February's trade deadline with the additions of Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart.

Now, they've kept the trend alive before the NBA Draft even began by putting together some pre-draft fireworks in a blockbuster trade to exchange Jordan Poole and Saddiq Bey out for CJ McCollum and Kelly Olynyk.

The underrated value that veterans bring to a rebuilding team is something that Will Dawkins refuses to overlook.

Sure, the priority is player development and allowing young guys to improve on the court, but understanding how to attack every day life in the NBA through ups-and-downs, even when your number isn't called is half of the challenge.

Not to mention the lessons these vets can teach the Wizards youngsters along the way.

San Antonio and Oklahoma City both did it with the addition of Chris Paul, as well as other prime examples like Al Horford's time with the Thunder.

There's value in more than just finances and trade assets in the addition of veterans and the Wizards are showcasing that through their rebuild.