Every Strength Outlined by Wizards GM in Preseason Media Availability

Washington Wizards General Manager Will Dawkins sounds energized over the various roster and staff tweaks he's orchestrated over the course of his squad's offseason.

Jan 9, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards general manager Will Dawkins introduces newly acquired Wizards guard Trae Young (not pictured) at a press conference prior to the Wizards' game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For all of the complaints that some pundits have with the Washington Wizards- the demanding veterans, a potential prospect logjam, the unproven coaching staff tasked with balancing this subtly-lengthy priority list- they'll be, at the very least, markedly different from the sub-20-win operation that fans have come to know.

General Manager Will Dawkins, one of the management group's frontmen who's most-closely associated with the draft decisions, signings and trades that account the organization's patient vision, is understandably excited to see his process come together on the court upon next month's regular season tip-off. And he should be; after years of angled losing in the name of bolstering draft odds, he's finally set to move forward with the prospect bed and support system he's built into Washington.

Those underlying concerns with the challenging road ahead aren't going anywhere, but he listed out a number of strengths he's envisioning within the situation he's curated over the course of his first preseason media availability.

Enhanced Buy-In to the Long-Term Build

"I have to give our players a lot of love for the way that they focused on those things this off season. They really tried to make some personal connections to where it be organic, so they really knew each other on and off the court. I think, May 6. They were all back. There was multiple, at least double digit guys back May 6 in the gym working. July, I think you guys saw it, and most of you covered it- to have the entire team in Vegas to support the younger guys playing Game One, Night One in Summer League, that was big time, and we were able to get those guys to work out at the same time, so that was good.

Trae Young, Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George and Anthony Davis at the Wizards Summer League game 🔥🔥

EVERYONE IS WATCHING AJ'S DEBUT pic.twitter.com/omIVuOvLaB

— WizardsMuse (@WizardsMuse1) July 10, 2026

"In August, it was all player led. You guys can ask them on Monday. The veterans got together and said, 'Let's let's do something in August.' And they all went out to L.A. and they hooped and went to dinner and got to know each other.

"Then we were like, 'All right, guys, take your time getting back in, but like at the beginning of September, start trickling in.' They all came back in August, and even I went away for Labor Day weekend. They stayed here, and I got back from Labor Day, and all 17 guys on the roster were here. The commitment to each other, the commitment to really buying in, trying to build that synergy, and hoping that it translates so you can have tough conversations on the court, in the locker room, and really know where people are. So they've been playing, they've been together, we think it's a good thing."

Noteworthy Athleticism Lining the Deep Roster

"You look at the height. I think we're like top two in height, up there in length as well. The height, length and the versatility that we have will allow us to play different ways, different styles. The depth of our team provides optionality on a given night for Coach [Brian] Keefe and his staff to figure out how they want to play big, small, a lot of guards, a lot of bigs. Like we we can keep a lot of people on the floor at different times and matchups.

Jan 9, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Newly acquired Washington Wizards guard Trae Young (R) celebrates from the bench with Washington Wizards forward Tristan Vukcevic (00) against the New Orleans Pelicans in the second half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"That's the fun part, and I talked to the guys about this, is I think we have a lot of players that deserve to play, and that goes into the depth of our roster and a lot of guys that worked and got better this summer. That's what we want, and we want competition going into camp, and we want the players that initially aren't in their rotation to start the season to continue to work really, really hard and push themselves, and when they get their opportunity- because inevitably, everyone always does- be ready to perform and make it hard for the next person.

"So again, that's what we're trying to cultivate. I think that's what we have, we just got a lot of competitive guys in the locker room, so I expect it to be a fun and energetic camp for us."

Dawkins would later go on to pinpoint the Wizards' bolstered size at center, especially-important following a season in which they were regularly out-classed on the glass and defending the rim.

"I would say the depth of our team at the big spot when you're adding someone with Anthony Davis and Deandre Ayton, who is a starting-level center in this league and probably the best backup center in the league, I feel really good about the depth there...our players have gotten stronger, have gotten better. I think they build their confidence, but again, we haven't seen any competitive games, so I think some of it will take care of itself. We want to see improvements on both ends of the ball, specifically defensively, and I think our size will help us with that."

AB from @lockedonwizards asks Will Dawkins about the biggest area the team has improved from last season.

Will Dawkins says the depth of the team when it comes to size.

Adding Davis and Ayton who he called a "starting level center and probably the best backup in the league." pic.twitter.com/Pn9AzFjdLT

— SleeperWizards (@SleeperWizards) September 24, 2026

Healthy Mixture of Youth and Veterans

"I also think that we're going to take pride in being exceptionally young. We're not running from that. We see that as a strength of ours. We'll see when the final rosters come out, but I assume we'd be bottom third in age again. We're not going to roll out the youngest lineup in NBA history yet, but we will still play a lot of young lineups.

"Even when you look at the level of experience or games played with having champions in AD and Khris Middleton, the guys that were deep deep playing in the June, Trae [Young] and Deandre, we're still probably going to be bottom third in terms of gameplay and experience. So we see that as a opportunity, and for us, we we want to find a way to take advantage of that.

Apr 2, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) looks to pass as Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) defends during the fourth quarter at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"And we talk to the guys about that all the time. They're really looking forward to attacking the unknowns in the season. I think that's the best way to say it. They're eager to embrace all that comes with this phase, which is starting to climb as an organization. Like, that's a fun phase. There'll be ups and downs, but they're really looking forward to enjoying and embracing that."

Further Belief in Reinforced Coaching staff

"I have a lot of confidence in Brian Keefe, full confidence in him to develop the roster and continue to take us into the next phase was in basketball. [I'm] happy to commend him for the summer he had internally. Kind of looked at where we were at, how we get better, how to get the staff better.

"And happy that we were able to bring in Coach [Steve] Clifford to be a consultant. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Will be someone really good, not only in Brian's ear, but helping developing our coaching staff. Bringing in someone like Patrick Ewing, who knows the city, who knows being a No. 1 pick, who knows the pressures of trying to win at a high level, Hall of Famer, Top 75 player, that experience is really really important to us. It's amazing how humble those guys are to the success of their guys. They are truly good people, and then we get to add Cody Toppert, who was the head coach of our G League [team], who's always around.

Feb 22, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards head coach Brian Keefe looks on during the first half against the Charlotte Hornets at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"We feel like our staff is deeper. [Keefe] spent a lot of time with our guys and with the staff trying to figure out the best ways to utilize them. So for me, I like where we're at and where we we're allowed to go at this phase of what we're doing."

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