The Washington Wizards begin the 2024-25 regular season Thursday night at Capital One Arena against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, as they look to rebound from their worst season in team history.
They won only 15 games last year as they’re in the early stages of a rebuild. Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole were the team’s top two scorers last season. The Wizards selected Alex Sarr, the 7-foot big man from France, with the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft.
They also acquired two young players via trades during the draft: Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George to go along with their young core, which includes 2023 first-round pick Bilal Coulibaly and 2021 first-round pick Corey Kispert.
The team added veterans Jonas Valanciunas and former University of Virginia star Malcolm Brogdon in the hopes that the team could be competitive this season.
Former WTOP Sports Director and Wizards play-by-play voice Dave Johnson joined WTOP on Thursday to preview the Wizards season.
Listen to the full interview below or read the transcript. The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Dave Johnson: This season, 2019 was (Washington Nationals manager) Davey Martinez said ‘Bumpy roads lead the smooth places’ and of course, the Nationals won the World Series, but he was talking about a season. The Wizards are on a longer journey. And look, they’re transparent about it. We use the rebuilding, whatever phrase you want to use, but we’re going to watch before our eyes and hopefully listen to young players develop. And the goal is to be a championship contender, a sustainable team that will make deep playoff runs in multiple years.
As we know, the Wizards have flirted with success and not always been blessed with good luck, i.e. injuries. So now look at the lineup, and it’s 19- and 20- and 21-year-olds. And I know we’ve got a young team when I can add three of our main players up and still not reach my age and I’m not that old. I’m not even that retirement age, yet, I don’t think. So the point being is this season to me is going to be like last season. It’s about fun. Now I know when I say last season, you’re like, ‘Whoa, is he lost his mind. They only won 15 games.’
This team is not going to be about did they win 15 (games)? They did 20? It’s, ‘Are they developing, are they getting better’ because when this team and the goal is to eventually be a 50-win season. Nobody’s going to look back and say back in ’23 they only won 15 games. They’re just going to worry about the fact that we got to become a 50-win team, and that is the goal. And it’s not easy in this league. But the exciting part is this rookie class, the young players, they’re fun to watch. And so fun is the word.
Michelle Basch: And consistency is key, right?
Dave Johnson: Yeah, and but guess what? We all were young once, even me and all of the people listening. Think about when you were 19 or 20 years old at your craft or your profession. Were you always consistent? Probably not. And so this is what’s going to be fun. We’re going to have moments like, ‘Wow, Alex Sarr. He’s arrived.’ And then there might be games where you’re like, ‘Well, not yet.’ It’s a league where, if you look at who’s winning the titles, they’re with veterans. They reach to a point where they’re ready to be champions like the Boston Celtics. But they’re doing it with players that have played several seasons in the NBA. You don’t win titles with rookies, but you win titles by developing talent, by drafting well.
We have a very exciting draft class, and Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington is from Baltimore, and Kyshawn George — all first-round picks, and all have excited in the preseason. So when you look at a draft class in a first round, you have three picks, you’re hoping, ‘Well, we hit a one or two. That’s great.’ But so far, it looks like the Wizards have hit on all three. And this is, you know, Bilal Coulibaly was the rookie last year, and as my season ticket holder friends say, ‘Bilal Cool Baby.’ You know, because he is ‘Cool Baby.’ He’s 19-20 years old. He’s from France. He’s smooth.
The fans are having fun with this team, knowing it’s not about 15 or 20 or 30 wins. It’s not about making a playoff run this year. It’s about developing. So, I know this is kind of a strange thing, but in weird sense, the pressure’s off. We’re not going to worry about, ‘Oh my god, we lost two games in a row or whatever.’ So just have fun. Enjoy it.
And you know what, when this team does become and reaches its goal, and now all of a sudden, is really starting to shake up the NBA. It’s going to be that much sweeter.
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