President of Monumental Basketball Michael Winger dove into what to expect from the Washington Wizards,
Amid a nine-game losing streak and holding sole possession of the league's worst record, the Washington Wizards will return to action on Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers in the first of five consecutive games at home. While the Wizards have shown of signs of optimism including Tre Johnson's career day sparking a near-second half comeback for Washington against Charlotte, the second half of the season will mark a chance for the rest of the roster to prove himself after Michael Winger, the president of Monumental Basketball, declared the organization has "completed the deconstruction phase" with eyes now on the ascent in the Eastern Conference.
Alex Sarr, averaging a team-high 17.4 points and 7.3 rebounds, has enjoyed one of the biggest developments among his draft class as Winger noted he's "having an All Star type season."
"He's becoming one of the most dominant big men in the league at the rim on both ends of the floor."
Winger also pointed to Kyshawn George, averaging 15.5 points, 5.1 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game in 35 appearances, as one who has already materialized into "one of the more well-rounded players in the NBA" while pointing to his youth and ability to fill up the stat sheet.
Bub Carrington, Tre Johnson and Bilal Coulibaly joined Sarr and George as players who "embody the Wizards DNA, but the front office is also looking ahead at key roster decisions with a handful of players on expiring deals.
Winger also pointed to the trio of two-way players - Tristan Vukcevic, Jamir Watkins, Sharife Cooper - along with Malachi Branham who enter the second half of the season on expiring deals.
"We have to make decisions on them in June," Winger said on Friday. "We haven't seen much of what AJ [Johnson] can bring. Will Riley hasn't gotten the opportunities that we would like for him to have. And of course, I sure wish Cam [Whitmore] was healthy."
But Winger also declined to set expectations for how competitive the Wizards will be in 2026-27, while he remained non-committal about the Wizards' cap space with Washington currently entering next season with the second-lowest payroll across the league.
"Whatever we do with that cap space, it might evaporate in the next two weeks. We just don't know. But we'll do something creative with that cap space. It could be acquiring a player, it could be trading for a player, it could be re-signing some of our own players. We're working through all those scenarios right now."
Winger also gave his assessment of Brian Keefe, who has served as the team's permeant head coach for nearly 18 months after taking over as interim nearly two years ago to the day. Keefe is 36-129 as both an interim and permanent head coach with the organization.
"I think Brian has done a remarkable job. I think Brian has done everything we've asked him to do. He's developed young athletes. He's built a culture of competitiveness, accountability, togetherness and joy. He marks us out there every day, coaches these guys on both ends of the floor. He's built an amazing coaching staff," Winger said. "I'm very, very pleased with the job that Brian has done."