NBA Executives Buying Into Wizards' Plan

The Washington Wizards may be at the bottom of the NBA, but rivals can forecast their rise.

Feb 10, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) handles the ball against San Antonio Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox (4) during the first quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images | Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

The Washington Wizards are the league's worst team at 9-45 during the All-Star break.

While being the worst team in the league isn't much of a surprise, the Wizards have a plan to get out of the basement soon.

ESPN draft analyst Jeremy Woo spoke to an NBA executive who believes that the Wizards are on the right path.

"In general their plan is pretty foolproof as long as they stay patient with it. Everyone wants to compare it to the OKC model -- I think you could use Houston as a better example," one Western Conference executive told Woo.

"Take tons of swings, and if you're decent at drafting, you're going to find some good players."

Wizards general manager Will Dawkins was with the Oklahoma City Thunder for 15 years before coming to the nation's capital, spending his final three years as vice president of basketball operations. He saw the Thunder go from a rebuilding team to drafting three future MVP's in Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, only to see that blow up. Then, he also witnessed the Thunder's latest rise, which now has them back at the top of the NBA.

On top of that, head coach Brian Keefe also has ties to the Thunder, where he served as an assistant coach from 2007-15 and again from 2019-20.

The Houston Rockets are also a team that the Wizards can look at, especially with four first-round picks as the former had four years ago in 2021. Out of those four, Alperen Sengun became an All-Star and Jalen Green could be on his way towards that.

Not every step of the way is going to be successful for the Wizards, but they are taking enough steps to where some of them will get Washington somewhere.

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