Despite drawing consistent praise through his midseason moves, general manager Will Dawkins and the Washington Wizards front office ranked among the worst in the NBA, according to one outlet
Grade the Washington Wizards' front office
Within the span of a month, the Washington Wizards altered the outlook of its rebuild by acquiring 14 combined All Star selections after trading for veteran NBA stars Trae Young and Anthony Davis.
While the team standing with the second-worst record in the NBA at the All Star break, the short term question is whether fans will get a chance to see either star in action through the final 29 games of the 2025-26 season, though general manager previously noted that it is "highly likely" that both return to the court at some point this season.
But that hasn't stopped the naysayers from throwing skepticism around the Wizards moves and leadership with Washington moving down four spots from last year to rank 22nd in the NBA, according to one outlet.
Sam Quinn of CBS Sports compared Washington to Utah, who is fresh off a $500,000 fine from NBA commissioner Adam Silver for tanking. Both teams are also heavily in the 'tankathon' race through the end of the season with top-eight protected picks in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft. Yet Quinn pointed to the quality of the returns between Washington and Utah at the trade deadline given the Jazz acquired Jaren Jackson Jr., a younger piece closer to the prime of his career.
"The basic idea of the Young trade made some sense. They badly needed an offensive organizer to help their young players take the next step developmentally. He doesn't have to be a long-term piece. Washington can see how this plays out on his expiring deal next year," Quinn added.
The caveat was Quinn noting the emphasis on expiring deals and unfavorable draft picks to make the moves a possibility, doing so while trading five players on expiring contracts. But he did point to the Wizards' future contingent "heavily on the 2026 lottery now," though there's a debate just how true that is.
Does the trajectory of the Wizards change if you add AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Caleb Wilson or Cameron Boozer? No doubt, and nobody would argue against that. The top of the upcoming draft has consistently been viewed as one of the strongest in years, maybe decades, with a chance to add franchise-defining talent for teams at the top.
But the other side of the trade is the veteran experience that the Wizards' young pieces like Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington, Will Riley and Bilal Coulibaly can gain from the championship and NBA star power experience added to the roster with Trae Young and Anthony Davis now in DC.
While Quinn noted that Washington "just jumped the gun a bit" on speeding up its rebuild, it's also the reason the Wizards are viewed as a potential top-six team in the early outlook of the Eastern Conference ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Especially for a front office that was able to turn the Bradley Beal supermax and Kyle Kuzma into multiple draft picks over multiple years to now pair with Young and Davis - at least in the short-term.